Lesper4

Its funny how local west side people like the Santa Monica's and the east side people like the San Gabriel's and the same for the OC. I have only climbed a few in the Santa Monica mountains, Rock Store which is nice but I think there are better, Stunt (hated it, but it was at the end of MC and cold) and, Potero from Oxnard/Ventura. I am sure if I lived out there I would like them more.

ovoleg

That climb is ridiculously steep to the point of zero fun.

eja_ bottecchia

Your observation makes perfectly good sense. It is a question of proximity.

A year and a half age I went up GMR with a bunch from the C&A group. It was fun and I enjoyed the ride up (although it was hotter and dryer than I would normally like). But it was a long drive there and then back home. The drive there was OK, but after a day of climbing I was not looking forward to a long drive home--took some of the fun out of the ride.

The climbs that I listed are all within riding distance from my home. Because many of the climbs intercept I can always modify the ride to make it shorter or longer.

We are truly blessed in So. Cal. that wherever we may live, we are always close to some fantastic riding and climbing!

eja_ bottecchia

Only some short stretches have steep climbs. Most of the segments are fairly reasonable.

come Ovo, I am sure that you have done steeper climbs in Mother Russia.

ovoleg

The first(and last) time I went up Deer Creek, I was trying to go "easy", I was at 300W almost instantly and couldn't go any slower without mashing in 36/28. Every switchback I came across I couldn't even see the top. My heart rate was 5 beats from max most of the way up too...bleh Come on man you know you prefer Encinal

This is from a few months ago

eja_ bottecchia

. Ovo, I am an old, overweight man with four stents and aspirations ofrecapturing my long lost youth.

I climb as slow as a snail but I eventually get there.

i do like Encinal...but there are days when I look up the canyons and just stay on PCH enjoying a nice, flat ride. LOL

I leave all the hard efforts to you youngsters.

Have a great weekend.

ovoleg

you too man cheers!

Biker395 

All great choices.

I know this isn't in the spirit of the question, but my favorite climb is a little 100 foot climb I do every morning first thing on my commute to work. Nothing like a little climb like that to warm you up on a cold morning.

To those, I'd add Latigo and Piuma in the Santa Monica Mountains. Great twisty ascents with great views!

Latigo

eja_ bottecchia

Thanks!

Rick@OCRR

I agree Latigo is excellent and should be included in my list too. It was my first "favorite" climb back in the 70's. Still excellent today!

Rick / OCRR

diphthong

it counts. i said it can be short. heck, even some people's driveways would count after a hard day in the saddle.

deer creek has a bad rep and obviously isn't easy but has gorgeous views westward to the channel islands and has that short, mysterious little intro just off the coast highway before it ramps up.
the descent is a tough one tho. fistfulls of brakes. i'd rather tackle deer creek any day vs the eastbound potrero stretch or southbound hwy 23/westlake dr up to mulholland. those two are just sadistic.

diphthong

and there's one i forgot about in san diego county, on hwy 94 about 5 miles east of jamul. it's the nearly mile ascent up to the dulzura cafe/post office area. some nice curves, fairly descent shoulder much of the way and i think the steepest little section weighs in at approx 5% grade but most of it is < 4%. a fun descent too.

Carbon Unit

I like Newport Coast and San Joaquine in Newport Beach. The hills that I find painful are not necessarily steep but long. Both of these roads are at least 5 to 7 miles of climbing.

Elvo

More like 1-2 miles =)

diphthong

^dreamcrusher. lol.

rubic

My favorites are Latigo, Piuma and Stunt due to, yes, proximity. Another favorite is Woodley Hill which is a short 'speed bump' on Woodley Ave going north between Plummer and Lassen in the SFV. Its one of those short and steep wake up calls that gets us going.

CommuteCommando

Yep. I listed mine earlier and proximity to home, or work, was a factor in each one. I did GMR too, but the drive was, well. . . a drive.

You have me by one stent. I am working on getting a custom bumper sticker; "Living Vicariously Through My Inner Child"

eja_ bottecchia

Hey CC, good to hear from you. Let me know when you source the bumper sticker. I will buy a couple myself.

BTW, had the first stent unclogged, and 4 put in (one inside the first one) at Scripps Green Hospital. Wonderful hospital and Torrey Pines is da bomb for nice, scenic bike rides!

CommuteCommando

Got my first two at Scripps Grossmont, the third was a re-stenting at Tri City Oceanside. Got a follow up in a couple of months, and may get a couple more. Since those will be non-emergency, hopefully I'll see some improvement in performance.

YOJiMBO20

My regular climbs are Mt. Helix via Lemon Ave and Mt. Soledad via Via Capri or Soledad Mountain Road.

I want to try riding over Sunrise Highway one of these days, but I don't really like to drive to rides.

diphthong

la mesa area-right? you can ride up to the mt. laguna store and back with it being approx a century ride and and roughly 7,000 ft
elevation gain...

or you could park at the 8 fwy/old hwy 80 parking lot at the julian/cuyamaca sp exit off the 8 fwy (about a 20 min drive
from la mesa) and do the laguna/cuyamaca triangle ride which is 50 glorious miles. probably my favorite ride in the county. do yourself a favor
and do it on a weekday and do it counter-clockwise. you have the beautiful descents along the open part of sunrise highway (where the desert and
mountain vistas are in your vision much of the way) and the freshly paved hwy 79 just south of paso picacho campground in cuyamaca rancho sp.
main points of difficulty are the 2 mile ascent to guatay near the beginning and the 11 mile ascent to the mt. laguna store from pine valley.
the good news is that you knock out 80% of the climbing in the first 20 miles and the remaining 30 are downhill, flattish or less than a .5 mile
uphill. your traffic control consists of 3 stop signs. mt. laguna store is a perfect place to stop for snacks/hydration (opens at 9am if memory serves)
at the 20 mile point. very little traffic on non-holiday weekdays and sunrise hwy sees about 20% of the traffic that hwy 79 sees, which makes it
better to ascend.

https://www.strava.com/activities/29161361

Blue Belly

So many great climbs in SoCal, alone. There are a few short climbs that I would stack together after work just on the west side of the Rosebowl. Deer Creek, down towards Oxnard in the Malibu mountains. Decker Canyon was always fun. I thin the most challenging for me was always GMR & up Baldy. The top of Baldy was exactly 50 miles from my doorstep. 100 mile RT always made it the perfect sat training ride.

blarnie

May Canyon. Closed road. 5 miles of up. Steeper at the bottom. Can be very windy at the top. Really nice views of the SFV. The road itself is technical on a road bike. Hardly ever see anyone else on this road.

Carbon Unit

It feel longer plus there are side roads off of Newport Coast that adds to the length.

Nachoman

I don't like going up, or down, Via Capri. Too steep!