wrr1020

Hey all, was curious if anyone knows of any good group rides in the Burbank area or surrounding areas. I'd like to start getting into group rides with a fairly fast pace. I'm not new to riding but fairly new to group rides, i've only done one. I heard of the really fast paced ride around the Rose Bowl, anyone know what time they meet up and what days its on? Any comments would be appreciated, thanks.

chefxian

Barry Wolfe ride tuesday and thursday

YosemiteGirl

Velo Studio in Burbank does a Friday morning ride, but it isn't long or fast - 20-ish miles. H & S Bikes on Victory Blvd. does longer/faster group rides, but not as regularly and you have to watch their facebook.

The San Fernando Valley Bike Club has at least 3 rides per week, with slow/medium/fast groups so even though the starts are sometimes a drive. That might work for you! I'm not fast enough and can't go far enough for those yet.

Have fun! I live pretty close to Disney in Burbank and do a lot in Griffith Park, but I'm slow

wrr1020

Thanks for the comments. Most of my riding is being done in the Griffith Park area as well, mainly cause of the lack of cars for the most part. Living in Burbank also helps, i don't like having to throw the bike in the car to go for a ride, i'd like to be able to ride to the group ride meeting point. Yosemite girl, what kind of mileage are you currently doing?

mkadam68

Tues & Thurs evenings. Start at 5:55pm at lot K (south end of Rose Bowl). They do 10-laps (~31 miles total). Very fast. If you're not light-weight, it hurts. Make sure you have experience riding in a close-knit pack. You should know how to not overlap wheels, touch shoulders, and ride in a paceline.

Ride runs during the summer (time change to time change).

volosong

How do the pack view solo riders on "their" route? I'd like to ride that course, but don't dare ride with the pack, (no experience, so I'd be a danger to myself and others). It might be fun to try it for a few hundred yards or so, but no more than that.

wrr1020

I'm pretty sure i can hang with the group, i just don't have much experience riding in a pack. If i do this ride i'd hang out towards the back of the pack until i'm comfortable in the middle or front of the group.

acu

I also live in Burbank and I do the Griffith Park ride often. Mount Hollywood Drive is always a challenge. Like you, I dislike taking the car to ride somewhere. I typically ride my bike to CSUN to ride with SFVBC at 630 AM Saturdays and join up with them. They always ride at 800 AM. I would do one of their shorter rides which when added to the CSUN/Burbank mileage turns out to be between 50-60 miles. That's all I need on a Saturday.

I'd like to ask you to join me, but it sounds like you go at a much faster pace.

mkadam68

Absolutely no problems. There are a ton of people there, on bikes, walking, jogging, roller-blading. Only problem we ever had was some dude jogging away from us (back to us) while carrying an Olympic-style Barbell on his shoulders, sideways He finally changed and got on the other side of the road and now runs facing us.

Only thing: make sure you can ride in traffic. If you can do that, you'll have no problem getting passed by 100 guys going 25-30mph. Ride straight, don't weave left & right, and don't get spooked as we pass by.

Also, if you hear us yelling, it's not at you: we yell at ourselves "Hold the line!", "Get out of the gutter!", things like that.

mkadam68

Good plan. Just watch the accordion effect in turns #1 & #2 (north side of the loop).

wrr1020

Might ride it tomorrow, looking forward to it if i do come through. Is that 5:55 start time set in stone. Does it ever start later or earlier?

wrr1020

Maybe we can ride sometime. What speeds are you riding at?

mkadam68

Yeah: set in stone. About 1/3 to 1/2 of the riders start in lot K with the rest jumping on as they ride around the loop.

The "official" start/finish line (an oak? tree on the left) is actually about 1/2-mile up the road from the start at lot K. The group does a very slow parade up to and (somewhat) past the start/finish line. The first lap is also usually a little slow, but it picks up tremendously after that.

chefxian

The bowl last week avgd 27.5 on Tues, Thursday is generally slower. Please ride in the back if you are not familiar with pack riding. You may get yelled at for crossing the yellow line although people do it to get better position. If you feel comfortable and decide to move up in the pack please hold your line in the turns. Turn 2 is where the crashes happen in the past. HAve fun, plus where can you ride with pro's without having to pin a number on?

sdgrannygear

I highly discourage you from riding the rose bowl ride if you've only done one group ride. being fast is one thing, knowing how to ride in a pack, especially that fast is an entirely different beast. Even if you are riding near the back, you can still cause an accident, the good thing is that you'll take out fewer people. Basically as someone else mentioned, you are going to get accordioned and even if you think you are fast, you are going to get a completely different workout. What happens is you are going to keep on hitting the afterburners to keep up with the pack, you will sometimes get delirious and you might hit someone else's tire in front of you or to the side if you haven't already been dropped. Anyway, the people that do these rides are kind of agro and if you don't know what you are doing, they are going to give you hell. I urge you to practice riding in a moderate paced group first. Something like the 8am montrose group.