Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

[bobbirob22]

thanks for the info centrider, im highly interested in the santa anna river trail and the san gabriel trail. I watched a video of the trails online. california seems to be a really good bike friendly place. I hope to take all the trails from northern ca to southern cali in the future. I plan on biking to cali from kentucky then spend a couple months along the coast (from north to south) and hopefully when im done i will have ridden all the trails. but my trip is a long time away. im planning to do it in a year or more(cause i gotta get myself in shape again) but when i do come to cali hope to see you on the trails. untill then, happy trails, and may the wind always be at your back..

 HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL

ROBERT

[whittierider]

I hope to take all the trails from northern ca to southern cali in the future.

There are probably a lot more down here than you want to try.  They're good for commuting if they go where you need to go, but some of them are not ones you would take just for the fun of it, mostly because they're definitely not scenic (unless you like passing the heavily grafitti'ed backs of buildings in industrial areas as you go down a concreted river).  As long as we keep our speed up, we're safe from gangs and other bad company, but some trails are not ones that I keep going back to for enjoyment.  The ones you mentioned however are mostly nice, and they're quite long.  The San Gabriel River trail goes about 38 miles, from the ocean to where Hwy 39 starts into the mountains.  You can go as fast as you want for most of it, not being slowed down by skaters and strollers and dogs.

[bobbirob22]

"" They're good for commuting if they go where you need to go, but some of them are not ones you would take just for the fun of it, mostly because they're definitely not scenic (unless you like passing the heavily grafitti'ed backs of buildings in industrial areas as you go down a concreted river).  As long as we keep our speed up, we're safe from gangs and other bad company""

now whittierider, youre getting me worried,lol, I never thought of a bicycle trail becoming a hangout for gangs and such, makes me have second thoughts about the trip...
I wanna stay as far away from gangs and other "bad company" as I can. maybe I should stick with the scenic routes?
are gangs and such a common thing in california? what are the worst places in cali for gang activity so I can stay away from those areas?

ROBERT

[whittierider]

now whittierider, youre getting me worried,lol, I never thought of a bicycle trail becoming a hangout for gangs and such, makes me have second thoughts about the trip...

There's no reason to be scared if you know what to do.  Even my wife and the neighbor woman each ride alone on the San Gabriel River trail.

As for the bad areas, I was thinking particularly of parts of the Rio Hondo trail and Coyote Creek trail, and even those aren't really too bad.  Other trails seem to go through some not-so-good areas as well, but in the many tens of thousands of miles we've put on the trails, we have never had any problem.  That's not to say I'd want my wife riding in some of those areas alone, unless she were faster.  Seeing cyclists' speed has various psychological effects on non-cyclists, and they won't want to tangle with you.  We've ridden the San Gabriel River trail most, since we live close to it.  It's pretty good, especially the 8 or so miles at each end.  I don't feel as safe as a pedestrian out there in some of the places we ride, but it's an entirely different story on our bikes.  As for the Santa Ana River trail, I think I'm only acquainted with the 20 or so miles of it closest to the ocean, and I don't remember any bad parts of that at all.

I wanna stay as far away from gangs and other "bad company" as I can. maybe I should stick with the scenic routes?
are gangs and such a common thing in california? what are the worst places in cali for gang activity so I can stay away from those areas?

I'm sure almost every state has their bad areas, and I'm not sure CA is any worse.  If you get into our area and want to be shown some great rides, PM me and I'll be glad to show you loads of them.  I'm sure others who live in L.A. and nearby coastal counties would say the same thing.  Last week we had a visitor from Colorado who brought his bike so we took him for a 30-mile loop in the local hills and he kept saying things like, "Wow this is beautiful!" and "What a beautiful ride!"

[mucknort]

I highly recommend "Franko's" Bicycle Maps of Southern California. They clearly map out cool routes on both city streets and the numerous dedicated paved bicycle paths. My parents live in Orange County, so I've only done rides there. 3 of my favorite bike paths are the "Santa Ana River Trail", the "Fullerton Loop", and the "Alisso Creek/Irvine Trail". The maps are well made and reasonably priced ($6).

http://www.frankosmaps.com/Orange_County_Trail_Maps.htm
http://www.frankosmaps.com/Los_Angeles_County_Trails.htm

[Aloha_Cyclist]

I rode from Santa Barbara to San Diego this past December using the ACA maps. (Pacific Coast Route - Map #5 Santa Barbara, CA. to Imperial Beach, CA.)
Would not have imagined it would be so enjoyable. I suspected riding through an urban sprawl like LA would be sketchy but that was hardly the case.

I'm sure riding in Summer would be an entirely different experience with more visitors/tourists crowding the bike paths along the beach areas.  The maps were spot on and guides one safely through the more dense areas, a positive first experience navigating with the maps.

Yes I would do this ride again anytime given the same conditions.   

[centrider]

Uh, just to avoid possible confusion (or add to it?) for people who come and visit So. Cal., the San Gabriel River trail is on the east edge of Long Beach, and the Santa Ana River trail comes out to Pacific Coast Hwy about 12 miles down (southeast) from the San Gabriel River trail.  The L.A. River trail runs down the west edge of Long Beach, coming out to the ocean about six miles west of where the San Gabriel River trail comes out.  Long Beach's coast although definitely not straight (especially with the shipping terminals), goes basically east and west, so you'll get pretty wet if you go south from Long Beach.

Your right about the distance from the San Gabriel to the Santa Ana.  I was calculating the distance from my home to the Santa Ana River.

 Thanks for catching that.

[thomj513]

I commute to work and back from Westchester around LAX through Hawthorne to Gardena.  14 miles one way - about 1 hour.  Nice ride if you go the right way.  Some bike path but mostly regular streets.

I also work in Gardena; Main St and Gardena Blvd.  What route do you use from the West Side?

[Leon DeGamme]

I live near El Dorado park in Long Beach and am interested in using the San Gabriel River bike trail. I would like to know how to get on the trail. I work until the very early evening and my friend and I like to ride at that time. I know that the park closes at dusk so entrance through the park is not available. Thanks in advance.

[whittierider]

Leon, we have gotten on and off many times at Willow in order to go between the trail and Palos Verdes.  There's good access to the trail on both sides of Willow.  You'll see it on the east side of the river.  Spring doesn't have access unless maybe you go up to the nature center parking lot driveway, and that's only on the south (east-bound) side of Spring.  Trying to visualize Wardlow, I can't think of an entry there either.  There are ramps at Carson, and a foot bridge across the river immediately south of Carson too.  (I've never tried to see what's on the other side of the river at that point.  It might just go to one of the residential streets to Los Coyotes, Studebaker, or Carson.)

[Leon DeGamme]

I will have to check out Willow for the entrance. do you know if its open in the evening?

[whittierider]

Since you don't have to go into the park to use that entrance, I have no doubt that you'll be able to get on.

[Leon DeGamme]

Thanks again for your help. I will let you know how it goes.

[Leon DeGamme]

I actually found an entrance on Wardlow that was much easier to park at. Thanks for the help.

[whittierider]

A friend suggested we ride downtown to see the Tour of California time trial Saturday.  We live maybe 20 miles east of there, and have always lamented that there's no good way to ride west to downtown L.A. and beyond to LAX.  He suggested Slauson as possibly the least of the evils, and take that to the L.A. River trail north and get off near Dodger Stadium.  I know there are discontinuities in that trail, but I don't know where, or what the best way is to get around them.  Does anyone have info or suggestions?  I kind of suspect the surface quality of Slauson is terrible and it probably has tons of traffic lights too.