Dereksd

My gfs family is in Burbank and we will be there visiting on Jan 1st. and i was wondering if there were any decent distance rides(40 plus) starting in or around Burbank. Im pretty novice with climbing but im comfortable in traffic and all that so if anyone knows of any decent routes (street or bikebath doesnt matter to me) give me a heads up.

Would love to make it to the ocean maybe Santa Monica or Venice.

Also if any riders wanna meet up let me know. Ill slow you down but i promise a fun time haha

urbanknight

Glenoaks is your friend.

If you like climbing, take Glenoaks to Sunland (right) until it merges with Foothill and then go left on Oro Vista, which becomes Big Tujunga Canyon. Climb to the top and come back down for about 50 miles, or continue to make a left on Aliso Canyon, left on Soledad Canyon, left on Sand Canyon which becomes Little Tujunga, and a left on Foothill to make it a loop that should get you 80-90 miles. Similar to this route here.
https://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united...dena/276937608
Or you can cut about 30 miles off that loop by skipping Little Tujunga, like this.
https://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united...dena/236841180

Less climbing but still scenic would be to take Glenoaks northwest to join this route for a total of about 50 miles.
https://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united...28388974754335

I can't think of any fun way to ride from Burbank to the Beach.

Oh, and I am barely finding any time to ride with the newborn in the house, so if I can pawn him off on the in-laws, I'd love to slow you down. I'm a teacher, and will be on vacation then.

Dereksd

awesome thanks for the help! yea just shoot me a message if you want to meet up

urbanknight

Now that I'm not rushing out the door to visit family, here are a few more of the rides from my repertoire that you might like.

You can pick this one up in Burbank, and add a lap around the Rose Bowl or a trip over Griffith Park Dr if you want a few more miles.
https://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united...wood/246564220

This has the short but steep Little Tujunga climb and would be about 40-45 miles if you started in Burbank.
https://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united...27930382788537

Another scenic one out north that would be about 65 miles.
https://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united...12838874325730

Finally, you can get to the Mt Wilson observatory by taking Big Tujunga (becomes Angeles Forest) to Upper Big Tujunga (right), then a right on Angeles Crest and left on Mt Wilson. You can also go left instead of right at Angeles Crest to ride to Newcomb's Ranch for a nice mid-ride meal. Both are pretty epic climbing rides in my book.

big john

Brian, he did say he was novice at climbing.
If you want to go to Santa Monica, take Riverside Drive west and Van Nuys south to Ventura Bl, west to Sepulveda, south to Constitution, through the VA hospital and onto San Vicente, west to Ocean and voila.
Locals such as urbanknight could distill this somewhat.

urbanknight

I hadn't thought of that to get to Santa Monica. I guess I just don't like traffic, but the OP said he's fine with it. He could also take Coldwater Canyon or Laurel Canyon south from Ventura to Mulholland and make a right, then left down Skirball to get back to Sepulveda. Aside from the initial climb (Sepulveda does that too, anyway), it's mostly rollers along Mulholland if I recall correctly.

Dereksd

yea im really green with climbing but distance and traffic are not a problem. thanks for helpin me with routes guys helps me out alot

kenrudman

A nice long ride out of Burbank would be to head down Victory to Riverside (in Griffith Park) and jump on the LA River Trail. Take that south to the Rio Hondo Bike trail, connect to the San Gabriel River Trail and go all the way to Seal Beach. Only problem is that you will need to navigate some city streets from where the initial part of LA River trail ends (near the 110 Freeway interchange) and starts again near Chinatown. LA River Trail also goes to the beach, in Long Beach, but it's a much rougher ride, both in terms of path condition and scenery. If you're interested, I can find you the exact turns to make to connect the two river trails through downtown.

Dereksd

that be awesome if you could do that ken. no rush im not goin for a month so just whenever you have time.thanks again guys really means alot. ive been lurking this site for awhile but im scared to post cause im super green about bikes and bike knowledge.....i just have a bike and i ride it haha

urbanknight

That's what we're here for, and maybe you'll get me back with some decent routes in San Diego some time. My brother-in-law lives there, and I'd love to bring my bike along the next time we visit.

Dereksd

oh yea urban we can ride in san diego whenever your down just shoot me a PM whenever your down here i know some fun rides with great views

kenrudman

Okay, two different links. One from Google Maps from the newly opened end of the top section of the River Trail to the top of the lower section of the trail that leads to Long Beach:

https://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&sour...lci=bike&via=1

The second link is from the LA River Ride which was a century that I did last spring from Griffith Park down to Seal Beach and back. You can see that we rode a longer section of city streets (from mile 16.88 to about 25.15 on the route) since the upper section of the River Trail was not as long as it is now. Note that the first part of this ride wound its way through the park first, so it's really only about 5 miles from the start of the path (near Victory and Riverside in Burbank) to the end of the upper section.

https://connect.garmin.com/player/35973534

Then you'll have about 8 miles through some interesting, but less than beautiful city areas before you join the LA River Trail which runs to Long Beach. This trail is not so pretty in long stretches, but around Imperial Hwy you can cross over to the other (East)) side and pick up the Rio Hondo River trail which then connects to the San Gabriel River Trail which is very pretty and goes all the way to Seal Beach in the OC.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...les_bike_paths


Hope this helps!