I'd like to try the Salton Sea loop, too. Yes, its desolate, but I like that environment::
https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/..._id=17434&v=AW
Others on my list:
* SLO - to - LA, and LA - to - San Diego/Mexican border (two separate trips)
* Big Bear /Holcomb Valley Loop in the San Bernardino Mtns. (only about 22 miles)
* All they way to the Mt. Baldy ski lifts from Glendora (I've made it up to the Icehouse Canyon parking lot a few times)
* Palomar Observatory
* Although not in So Cal, I'd also include the hi-profile climbs around the San Francisco Bay area - Mt. Diablo, Mt. Hamilton, Mt. Tamalpais, and a few other lesser-known hills that will remain unmentioned.
* The SFO - to - LA coastal ride; do it as a solo ride.
* Big Pine to White Mountain (asphalt's end at the Patriarch Grove).
* Onion Valley and Whitney Portal, too.
* Death Valley - ride it from the Ubehebe Craters (north end) to the Amaragosa Springs (south end)
* This on Catalina Island:
https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/..._id=19285&v=2h