Road Ride Report Marina Del Rey to Pacific Palisades to Manhatten Beach

Decided last night that I would bring my road bike every Sunday night and do a ride Monday mornings to let traffic settle down. Last time I headed south to Palos Verdes, Road RR here: Cruising the South Bay. I got off work this morning and decided to head north of LAX this time.

I drove about 10 min to Marina Del Rey and parked my truck. It cost $6 all day parking, but I knew it would be safe. I picked some maps, but didn't really need it, but wanted to see some of the connectors in case I wanted to do other routes in the future.





The weather was perfect. Cruising through Venice Beach, Santa Monica and towards Pacific Palisades was very scenic throughout.


Some new school skaters in Old Dog Town


The Lizard King himself.


Santa Monica Pier is a very recognizable








Riding towards Malibu, Will Rogers State Beach


After riding through Will Rogers State Beach, the bike path ends. I spoke to an older gentlemen and he said PCH would be the route along the beach from that point on after Temescal Canyon Road. I saw what little if any bike lane there was, so I opt not to it after an 11 hr shift. Instead I headed back south to Manhatten to get more miles in.


Heading towards Playa Del Rey


Made a stop at the Manhatten Beach Pier and took a Starbucks break at Manhatten Beach Pier before heading back to Marina Del Rey....,


Token Starbucks shot


.....before heading back to Marina Del Rey.


Today's stats were 35 miles, only 405 ft of elevation. Rode some streets on the way back to MDR,, but I stayed mostly on flat bike paths along the beaches. I mean why not.

I'll probably ride every Monday morning if time permits and I'm not too tired from working all night. I'd like to try and do some other routes near there so long as it doesn't take too much time to get there. So if anyone has any suggestions, let me know. Thanks in advance.

 

You should work for a PR company!

Nice report - I am glad you like the area. PCH is a bit tight but a lot of people ride it starting from the base of Temescal. Still, better to head south during the week.

There are nice roads in Palos Verdes if you head south from LAX. There is a nice loop that has great views and a bit of climbing but nothing terrible. If you park at Malaga Cove and do the PV loop (west, south, east, north) it is about 20 miles with one good climb. Of course, you can park anywhere along the beach and ride up there. That loop from my house in Manhattan Beach is about 38 miles and takes me about 2 1/2 hours (not including the stop at Catalina Coffee Company). There are great roads to climb but, since you are at the end of a long day, you might not want to beat yourself up.

 

Nice RR.

Del Rey is a good starting point. My wife and I use it fairly often for our casual bike journeys.

 

Thanks Mdm D, I love the South Bay and north of MDR to Malibu up to County line. I lived in Redondo near King's Harbor(97-99) and absolutely loved living there before I got a job with United Airlines and moved to San Francisco.

I saw a couple riders head north on PCH at Temescal, but I'll probably not try and wrestle with Monday morning commuters after my long night of work. I will definitely like to give the PV loop a try if I get a light night of work and have enough energy to ride it. Thanks again for the info. :beer:

 

Nice RR. Hit me up if you want to ride. I am staying in Redondo a couple nights a week for school. I can ride early mornings or evenings. There is a group ride through MDR every Tues and Thurs. The South Bay is nice but I like the hills and open space of SW RivCo.

 

you could park in the same place, take almost the same route, then cut inland at West Channel Rd., there are other bike friendly ways to get there too (San Vicente, etc) and go up and climb Mandeville Canyon and/or Westridge (steeper) to the top.

 

Why not just go a little further north and go up Las Flores? I'm not sure about traffic though on a weekday. But you could hit Mulholland or Stunt Rd for a killer climb/workout.

 

You can also take the bike path south from Del Rey towards Manhattan but make a left at the canal instead and head inland (east) up near West LA College and check out the early arrivals. It's a gradual uphill (3% grade maybe), but not much and the coast back down to Del Rey is a nice cruise.

But not near as nice as cruising the beach.

 

I plan on doing the PV "donut loop" next.

http://www.geoladders.com/show_route.php?route=529

Thanks for all the route recommendations. Lots of options, but summer is close and I'm sure I'll be doing the cruise along the beach more and more.