Routes from Santa Monica to Glendale
 

Well my offices are moving from Sherman Oaks to Glendale next month. Bummer. I used to ride occasionally to work and home, however it's much tougher to get to Glendale. The new offices are right on Brand Blvd in downtown Glendale. Anyone have a good, safe route to Glendale? I've Googled it and can't find much that doesn't involve a boat load of lights and traffice. Alternative suggestions?

Cheers

Rob

There's a poster in the following thread that commutes from Silver Lake to Santa Monica. He/she posts directions from SM to West Hollywood but could probably fill you in on the best route from there to Glendale.

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...ta-Monica-Blvd

Have you been to Glendale? It's gotta be one of the last places anybody should ever ride a bike. Cops are awful there, as are the drivers. Way too many guys with anger management problems driving around in $70k cars at twice the speed limit.

I work in Glendale.

As for any other city or route, look for wide streets first and foremost. Then favor the ones that have a parallel side street running alongside the main one. Parts of West Glenoaks Boulevard in Glendale, CA has much of this for the east/west direction. Avoid San Fernando Rd. if you possibly can unless you enjoy riding on a sidewalk (it's that bad). For north/south direction, I mostly use Brand Bl. & Glendale Bl. (not Glendale Ave.-traffic far too fast and narrows rapidly below or south of Mountain St. and especially below or south of the the 134 Fwy.).

I should know as I did not know better when I was younger. I rode my bikes there many, many times and even lived somewhat nearby at one time. When I do visit Glendale today for any reason on a bike, I make sure to stay on the road (not the sidewalks) and obey all traffic laws.

I rode Santa Monica to Los Feliz for many years (we moved into a warehouse in Culver City in December so that's changed). I rode a few hundred commutes. I tried everything. In the end, I got used to taking Santa Monica Blvd all the way to Hollywood at least, and sometimes to the end at Sunset Junction. There are many hairy parts, like Wilshire/SM Blvd, the nether zone between BH and WeHo, the bike lane-less parts of SM Blvd in WeHo and Hollywood.

The side streets can be dangerous places where commuters, the desperate breed that they are, search for short cuts and do erratic things.

If I were doing that commute, I'd take SM Blvd to the end. Shimmy across Sunset and take Griffith Park Blvd to Hyperion. Hyperion over the bridge across Atwater and up Brand Blvd. There will be thousands of cars. I've been hit three times between Westwood and WeHo: two right hooks and a dooring. Give yourself lots of room; don't ride in the door zone. Pass on right with great caution and lower speeds. I always like one way of my commute to be early morning or later evening. Don't overheat as much, less cars. You can really let loose.

Did you used to commute over the Sepulveda Pass? That has it's own harrowing spots. My ex-gf lived in Encino and I would often ride to Santa Monica from there. Crazy but fun.

You could also take the bus downtown and ride up the river path.

Good luck! Be safe!

Hey Rob, I hope by this time you've found a safe route from SM to Glendale. Well in case you're still looking for one, I just want to share my route. I actually live here in Glendale and I work at Olympic & Bundy. This is my route to get home. I take Santa Monica Blvd. > left on Crescent Hgts or Crenshaw > right on Fountain all the way to Hyperion to Glendale Blvd to Brand Blvd. It takes me about 1 hr and 15 min (with an average speed of 15-16 mph). Good luck and be safe!