Roadie: Route Advice Through Long Beach

Discussion in 'The Roadie Hangout' started by crispy, Jun 10, 2014.

  1. crispy

    crispy Wannabe

    Joined:
    Nov 10, 2005
    Messages:
    2,219
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    36
    Occupation:
    Engineer
    Location:
    Moreno Valley, CA
    Home Page:
    Hey STRoadies! I have the opportunity to make a big ride down to Ventura and I think I'm going to try and get my first double century in. I'll be taking the river trail down to PCH and then I'll start heading north. I want to stay along that coast as much as I can. I don't usually get to ride by the ocean and I think it'd be fun. The only issue is, I've never been riding in that area. Can anyone more local to the area give me the roads to do and roads to don't through Long Beach, Redondo Becah, Santa Monica, Oxnard, etc....?
     
  2. CarbonLegs

    CarbonLegs Search for ultimate ride.

    Joined:
    Oct 11, 2012
    Messages:
    1,116
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    36
    Occupation:
    Moto Tech
    Location:
    In a crappy State
    No matter what, stay away from 4th & Cherry Via LB-

    GL
     
  3. adzints

    adzints New Member

    Joined:
    Nov 16, 2011
    Messages:
    16
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    1
    Occupation:
    FF
    Location:
    San Clemente
    Which river trail? HB along Santa Ana river or LB along LA river? I spent months going over maps and driving routes hoping to commute from Redondo Beach to West Long Beach. The truth is that nothing is a good option. Getting from HB river trail/PCH through most of Long Beach will be best if you link up with the bike path along the beach. Begins in belmont shore (PCH to 2nd to Bayshore Ave) where you can ride the path all the way to downtown and ride up the LA river trail. From there, you can use Anaheim, but it is Brutal. The bridges across the harbor (if you take Ocean Blvd North--which is actually West) are not suited to safely bike across, so you are stuck using regular surface streets such as Anaheim or Willow. Willow turns into Sepulveda and eventually PCH again, but you will miss all of PV. With Anaheim, you can at least use Palos Verdes Dr. North to route yourself to the coast. Hope that helps and good luck.
     
  4. crispy

    crispy Wannabe

    Joined:
    Nov 10, 2005
    Messages:
    2,219
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    36
    Occupation:
    Engineer
    Location:
    Moreno Valley, CA
    Home Page:
    Sorry, SART into HB. I will look into taking the bike path along the beach. This will also be on a weekday, if that makes any difference.
     
  5. da big hills

    da big hills happy night trails

    Joined:
    Jan 2, 2011
    Messages:
    1,442
    Likes Received:
    52
    Trophy Points:
    48
    Occupation:
    daily night grind
    Location:
    Conejo Valley
    #1 you are going west, north is the other way.
    #2 there is a bike path on the beach from Palo to Sunset. After that it is PCH to Los Posas, turn north and cruze the strawberry fields to Pleasant Valley west. Take that and jog north to 5th st. 5th to the ocean then west on seaward to the bike path near the Ventura pier. Follow the bike path west to Carp or go north to Ojai and over Casitas pass. Bike path ends in carp, parallel 101 over Ortega hill and you are in Montecito. Trail starts there and goes west till you get to Hope ranch, Pick it up again in Goelta then it is back on the 101 (this time ON the 101) till you reach El cap. Trail starts again and ends at Refugio. Total elevation gain about 50'. Headwind except mornings
    Happy bike trails- bike lanes, and wide shoulders, but this trail is best heading east (downwind, ocean on your right)
     
  6. adzints

    adzints New Member

    Joined:
    Nov 16, 2011
    Messages:
    16
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    1
    Occupation:
    FF
    Location:
    San Clemente
    My wife makes fun of me....but I always "virtual drive" unknown routes using google. I have used it from Norcal, to Australia, to Florence, Italy. Anaheim is full of big rigs and pot holes. Ridable, but dangerous.
     
  7. da big hills

    da big hills happy night trails

    Joined:
    Jan 2, 2011
    Messages:
    1,442
    Likes Received:
    52
    Trophy Points:
    48
    Occupation:
    daily night grind
    Location:
    Conejo Valley
    just teasing on the 50 foot elevation gain, you will climb the 50 to 100 foot hills 4 times between Malibu and Los Posas. But those are the only hills on the entire route to Ventura.
     
  8. kcm

    kcm New Member

    Joined:
    Apr 24, 2012
    Messages:
    132
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    If you're going to cross Long Beach to PV/ Redondo Beach area from HBch area, you will have to cross over via PCH, to Seal Beach, then thru Belmont Shore area, via 2nd Street. The beach trail stops at Sunset Beach. You can pick up the beach trail again in Belmont Shore area but it will continue west, then head north via the LA River. The bike path doesn't cross you over to the PV side... The big road block is Terminal Island bridge x 2 and harbor areas. Like earlier post, you have to head north via LA river, then cross Wilmington/Harbor City via Anaheim, PCH, or Willow... I don't recommend this at all. Anaheim and PCH sucks for street ride. The quickest way to cross is Anaheim however...Wilmington area is generally not all that great. Best to ride during the day, not at night...
     
  9. allroy71

    allroy71 Member

    Joined:
    Jan 23, 2007
    Messages:
    389
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    16
    Occupation:
    touching people
    Location:
    Fullerton
    Home Page:
    Like others have said, the LB part to PV is tough. A few years back I would do something like this. You really have to feel confident with semis and road debris.

    http://goo.gl/maps/mwTvs

    from there you can take PV Drive south to Redondo Beach.
     
  10. ericfoltz

    ericfoltz Active Member

    Joined:
    Nov 30, 2006
    Messages:
    1,367
    Likes Received:
    3
    Trophy Points:
    38
    Gender:
    Male
    Occupation:
    Photographer
    Location:
    Out on the Road
    Home Page:
    Here's the route I took from Leo Carrillo SP to Irvine last week. I would just reverse it.

    http://app.strava.com/activities/150732240

    There is no easy way to get through Long Beach/Wilmington area so I suggest just getting on PCH and getting it over as fast as you can. Once you get to Redondo you can jump on the beach trail that will take you all the way to Will Rogers SP above Santa Monica. The route is well marked the whole way.
     
  11. hav77

    hav77 Member

    Joined:
    Sep 28, 2008
    Messages:
    305
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    16
    Occupation:
    Environmental Planner
    Location:
    Westminster
    Nice. Did you go bikepacking? Been thinking about a doing a bikepacking trip up to Pt. Mugu so your route is perfect.
     
  12. giantschwinn

    giantschwinn Member

    Joined:
    Oct 24, 2007
    Messages:
    475
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    16
    Location:
    Aliso Viejo
    I used to commute from Torrance to Irvine on my road bike. The route that I found that's relatively safe with a bike lane is taking the 605 river path from Seal Beach and then take Del Amo Blvd. Del Amo is a good street for bikes with a bike lane most of the way through decent neighborhoods. Del Amo dead ends in Torrance, you then take 190th to Redondo Beach and hop on the strand. The downside of this is you will miss the scenic route through Palos Verdes but you might not care because you have enough mileage for the day.
    https://www.google.com/maps/dir/33....0x80dd2d90582d3f7f:0x22080db0ad7dd79f!1m0!3e1
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jun 12, 2014
  13. mrjonger

    mrjonger New Member

    Joined:
    May 18, 2011
    Messages:
    65
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    I've never been down Del Amo, but given the description, I'd highly recommend this over taking PCH or Anaheim. If you want to go through Palos Verdes - From Del Amo, you can head south on Figueroa which is very wide most of the way. West on Lomita and North on Vermont. Slight right (NW) at Palos Verdes Drive North. Swing a left on Palos Verdes Drive East and right on Palos Verdes Drive South. Alternate route, just stay on PV Dr North and it'll get you to the same place. This gets you close to the bike path in Torrance Beach (i.e. Redondo Beach). You can use this bike path all the way to Santa Monica-ish and jump on the 1 as shown in the Strava link in an earlier post.

    https://www.google.com/maps/dir/33....dd4a2137fa55e5:0x33b0f7bdcf725df6!1m0!1m0!3e1
     
  14. ericfoltz

    ericfoltz Active Member

    Joined:
    Nov 30, 2006
    Messages:
    1,367
    Likes Received:
    3
    Trophy Points:
    38
    Gender:
    Male
    Occupation:
    Photographer
    Location:
    Out on the Road
    Home Page:
    I rode to Fort Bragg and back. I camped most of the way with some motel nights mixed in.

    R2RD14.jpg
     
  15. hav77

    hav77 Member

    Joined:
    Sep 28, 2008
    Messages:
    305
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    16
    Occupation:
    Environmental Planner
    Location:
    Westminster
    Wow! There and back. That's almost the Great Divide :) What are some campgrounds that you found good to stop at?
     
  16. ericfoltz

    ericfoltz Active Member

    Joined:
    Nov 30, 2006
    Messages:
    1,367
    Likes Received:
    3
    Trophy Points:
    38
    Gender:
    Male
    Occupation:
    Photographer
    Location:
    Out on the Road
    Home Page:
    These are reviews of the Hiker/Biker sites.

    The best:

    Salt Point SP
    Big Sur SP
    New Brighton SP
    Samuel P Taylor SP
    Half Moon Bay SP
    San Simeon SP

    Worst:

    Leo Carrillo SP (Homeless Camp)
    Carpeteria SP (Homeless Camp)
    Pismo Beach SP (No H/B site)
    Bodega Bay SP (H/B site is a sand pit)

    I planned my ride around camping M/T/W/F/S with motels on Thursday and Sunday to get reduced rates.

    You can read more at: http://ericfoltz.blogspot.com/

    IMG_0468w.jpg
    Monterey Bay
     
  17. crispy

    crispy Wannabe

    Joined:
    Nov 10, 2005
    Messages:
    2,219
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    36
    Occupation:
    Engineer
    Location:
    Moreno Valley, CA
    Home Page:
    So, I just played around with using STRAVA to map a route (always used ridewithGPS.com in the past). Does anyone know if the elevation on the STRAVA ride mapping is accurate? I've had really good results from ridewithGPS.com to where my final ascent showed within 100ft of their shown elevation.

    Anyways, here is the route on STRAVA. I might edit it a bit more, plan some bail outs (just in case), and map in stops for food/water. STRAVA suggests just sticking with Anaheim through long beach. RidewithGPS.com had my go up to some side streets once crossing the bridges. I'll be familiar with the side streets just in case the traffic on Anaheim is really bad. I do log a lot of miles on mountain roads, so I am used to close traffic, just not big rigs.

    http://www.strava.com/routes/464567
     

Share This Page

Help keep STR alive, please click the donation button below