Pacific Coast route to Placentia, CA

[Nubo]

Riding down from SF in a few weeks.  Looking for the best route east from the coast, to Placentia.  So far the best bet looks like heading south to Costa Mesa and then taking a river-trail northeast; but that is a fair bit of back-tracking.  Are there any decent rides that provide a more direct route?

[whittierider]

More direct, sure, but unfortunately, not pleasant ones, as far as I know, and I've been living and riding in this area for decades.  I sure wish there were a bike trail running from approximately the airport (LAX) straight east to the SART you mention.  You could take something like Imperial Hwy, but you'll go through some really bad neighborhoods and bad roads on the way.  Going down PCH to the SART may be the best.  There are long portions of PCH with no stops, and of course there will be no stops on the SART.  You will normally have a tailwind the whole way.  PM me if you want some detailed info on what I think is the best way to do this.  In spite of new pavent, it's kind of ugly going east through Wilmington and part of Long Beach, but not particularly dangerous for an experienced cyclist (I definitely recommend a mirror though), and it turns nice again after that.

[aggie]

I have to agree with whittierider.  There isn't a real good shorter way to get to Placentia from the LAX area.  That said the most direct way would be to take Washington Blvd in Marina Del Rey until it runs into Lambert in Whittier.  Goes east on Lambert until you run into Kramer in Brea.  Take Kramer south for a couple of miles and you are in Placentia.  Washington isn't pretty but it will get you there.

[smokingflowers]

I live in Fullerton which is next to Placentia and I agree with the other two.  The best way is the river trail.  I don't even think it's that much further out of the way.

[Nubo]

The SA River trail worked wonderfully.  A great non-stop ride for the last few miles of my trip!

A few tidbits for anyone else who might follow

- the trail is intended to hook up with the southern terminus of the Huntington Beach trail.  As such, there are no obvious markings or signage for anyone on a bike cruising down PCH.  I guess I was expecting some dramatic signage    If southbound, you need to get off the road and onto the bridge sidewalk, to connect to the beach trail which circles under the bridge onto the river trail.  Or, just get on the beach trail at any number of opportunities prior to reaching the SA river.

-for a while you have a choice of riding on either side of the river.  The south path is paved, north has dirt/pea gravel.

-At one point the south side path terminates thanks to the Riverview Golf course.  There is a rusty iron bridge to carry you to the north side, where the paved trail continues.  The intended turn at the bridge is not well marked; only a bit of striping on the pavement tells the tale.  Miss that and you may be wondering why you've turned off onto a baseball field  

But again, it's a great ride.