what is the terrain like around there for training hills?

There are lots, lots, lots, lots of hills around Santa Monica. Go north on Pacific Coast Highway. Turn right onto any mountain road. Ride all day uphill. Venture north of Sunset Boulevard into the residential neighborhoods. Grunt your way past Steven Spielberg's house in the Pacific Palisades. Santa Monica itself is not very hilly. But from Malibu to Hollywood, you'll find hills hills hills hills and more hills. Plenty of fellow bicyclists, too.

How long is that usually for a ride and what's the traffic like around the hills?


thanks for the input

If you approach your rides scientifically, i.e., with a good street map allied with a topo map, you can conceivably string together an 80 mile+ hill ride. Traffic-wise, apart from several major north-south thoroughfares - specifically Kanan-Dume Road, Malibu Canyon-Las Virgenes Road, Topanga Canyon, Roscomare Rd., Beverly Glen, Benedict Canyon, Coldwater Canyon and Laurel Canyon - traffic in the hills is pretty okay. It doesn't hurt that LA drivers are mostly quite courteous when it comes to cyclists. They can be preoccupied, but they seldom try to run you down. Let your freak flag fly. Wear your loudest, tightest lycra. Nobody in LA will give you a second glance. BTW, it also helps to avoid Sunset Boulevard as much as humanly possible.

Hi, I agree that the Santa Monica and Malibu area might have the best hills in the LA area but the loop around the Palos Verdes Peninsula is ripe with fast flat areas, awesome cimbs and a terrific switchback road with a wide bike lane..
Get your Thomas Map or Mapquest and find Malaga Cove Plaza. Take P.V. Dr. North to P.V.Drive East....and turn right. Take another right on P.V. Drive South and it automatically leads to P.V. Dr. West back to Malaga Cove Plaza. It is a 21 mile journey, with great scenery as well. And plenty of cyclists.
Good Luck 5KBob (Ride and Run Hard)

I live in West Hollywood and ride a little further east most mornings but some pointers:

- Benedict Canyon: This is actually a great ride. It's a gentle uphill most of the way so it's not a heart buster but there's wide shoulders on both sides and the motorists have always been great. Less traffic than you think both ways. Right now there's construction blocking the way to Mulholland and I just venture into the residential streets off the detour and it gets stupid-steep really fast.

- Sunset: I use it as a connecting route but don't ride anywhere West of Whittier going either direction. That's rolling the dice.

- Sunset Plaza Drive. A residential street between La Cienega and Holloway on Sunset that's so steep I haven't been able to get past the first 1/2 mile. (ed note: I'm also an overweight newbie but damn it's steep).

- I see lots of bikes on Mandeville Canyon Rd. It's an up and back though.

- Coldwater Canyon: Wouldn't recommend it going up but it's great coming down. Wide shoulder, few blind spots and decent drivers. Great for descending drills because you've gotta stay on our toes for a 10 minute descent. Absolute blast!

There are much house construction debris and cars and blind spots.

There are much house construction debris and cars and blind spots.
I agree. I used to ride up Mandeville all the time to go mtn biking in Sullivan Canyon. Over the years, I noticed that it's not as safe (not that it ever truely was safe) as it was in the past. More home constructions projects have made it a busier and crowded street in some sections. Just too many blind corners to round.

Also, just my opinion, I don't think the local residents there are that fond of cyclist taking "their" roads. They drive fast up and down that street. Also, mtn bikers have not left a good impression of riders up there. Not all of them, but some mtn bikers don't respect the residents up there playing loud music and changing on the streets.

I would have to ammend my previous post. I've done it a few times and it can be quite hairy with all the trucks on the road. John Brazier, a La Grange member who occasionally posts here as Owen Meany was nearly killed on Mandeville in September. A teammate nearly met his maker about 4 weeks ago when a cement truck was blocking the road around a blind sharp corner.

For the hills I just head farther west into the Palisades around Amalfi. Plenty of pain in that area.

i'm going to second the riding in Rancho Palos Verdes/Rolling Hills Estates. i do about half of my climbing-training in this area, although i live in Long Beach. how hard of a climb do you want?

(MODERATE) start at PV Drive West. ride up the switchbacks on PV Drive East. you can either turn around at the school at the top of the climb and descend back down the switchbacks, or you can continue on past the school and descend down some fun, twisty, narrower roads (be aware of blind corners) when you get to the intersection with PV Drive North, make a left, then continue on- you will eventually end up back at Malaga Cove on PV Drive West. the switchbacks are great. this is my favorite climb.

(MODERATE/HARD) start at PV Drive West, ride up Hawthorne to Crest, make a right on Crest, then make another right on Crenshaw. at the end of Crenshaw is Del Cerro park. if you feel like stopping for a minute, walk over to the cliff at the far end of the park and take in the incredible view. on a clear day you can see the Newport Beach Pier to your left, the hills of Malibu to your right, and Santa Catalina Island in front of you. the descent back down Hawthorne can be very, very fast if there is no wind, but be aware of gravel in the sweeping righthand bend by the park.

(VERY HARD) start at the intersection of PV Drive East and Crownview. ride up Crownview. yes, it is steep, but it is possible with a 39x25. the cul de sac at the top has an awesome view of the Port of LB, downtown LB, and the mountains on a clear day. i've done this climb twice, and neither time was enjoyable. people standing in their lawns will look at you like "WTF?!" when they see you riding your bike up this road. still, if you feel like challenging yourself, go for it.

the riding in Rancho Palos Verdes and Rolling Hills Estates is beautiful. enjoy.

A loop my friend has been trying to get me to do, but which is a little too intimidating: PCH north to Malibu Cyn. Malibu Cyn to Mulholland Hwy. Mulholland Hwy to Topanga. Topanga back to PCH. PCH south back to SM. He says it's about 48 miles round-trip. There are some serious climbs, as well as long, long stretches between signs of civilization (which is a good and bad thing, IMO).

Does anyone know if PCH is ride-able yet?

Don't know about PCH, but as of yesterday, I heard that Topanga was still closed and expected to remain closed for a while.

Don't know about PCH, but as of yesterday, I heard that Topanga was still closed and expected to remain closed for a while.
Jeez. You'd think it'd been raining a lot or something.

Mulholland Hwy, eastward from Malibu Canyon-Las Virgenes to Topanga is at least three-quarters uphill, but the slopes never get very gross. Maybe a couple 9% patches, but mostly 5%-7%. It's actually quite pleasant and beautiful. I do it semi-regularly, as part of one of my longer rides from my house in Sherman Oaks.

Malibu Canyon, however, may be another matter. I've never ridden it south to north, but I used to live in Malibu and commute to Northridge, and it never seemed particularly bicycle friendly. Long grades. Heavy traffic. Harried commuters (like I was). That @#$%^& Malibu Tunnel. BTW, were you in town when the naked pink lady was painted over the entrance to the thing? It was a major scandal of the hippie era. A local cause celebre.