Patrick Brady - Bicycling Los Angeles County: A Guide to Great Road Bike Rides

Preface

Since the age of six, when I outpedaled the babysitter who was acting as my training wheels, the bicycle has been one of my favorite expressions of freedom. Any time I look at a map, I see a point of convergence involving me, my bicycle, the future, and fun. In my life, the bicycle has served as a great deal more than just exercise or transportation. Its the source of my social life, many of my peak experiences as a human being, and much of my mental health. The simple fact is, I love cycling as much today as I did when I was six.

In early 1996, I was a freelance writer living in Northampton, Massachusetts, which is in the Pioneer Valley, an area considered by almost anyone who has ever lived there to be a little slice of heaven. I spent my summers road riding, mountain biking, and inline skating. And I spent my winters cross-country and downhill skiing; I was even an instructor in cross-country skiing at a local ski area.

I wasnt making much of a living, though. And when a chance emerged to move to Los Angeles to join the staff of Bicycle Guide magazine, I leapt. Arguably one of the most respected cycling magazines ever published, BG was known for high editorial standards, and its editors had a reputation for being both knowledgable and fit. The friend and University of Massachusetts, Amherst cycling teammate who recommended me for the gig, a current Bicycling contributing editor named Alan Cot, lamented that Id be moving to the on-ramp to the apocalypse. I reminded him that I had grown up in the Deep South (without mountains or coastline, the Mississippi Delta isnt my idea of pretty) and went on to say that I believed I could find plenty to enjoy in the greater Los Angeles metropolis. Boy, was I right. Living in Los Angeles has been an odyssey. Ive lived all overthe West Side, the Santa Clarita Valley, and the South Bay. Each has its charms.

As a staffer for BG , I endeavored to learn about the rides and races around the area. I joined a variety of clubs, drove to races several area codes away, and branched out on my own from time to time. The fact is, Ive been a student ever since.

In 2002, after many fits and starts, I launched Asphalt Magazine , a road-cycling publication aimed at the dedicated cycling enthusiast. I believed that there was a need for a journal that spoke to hard-core roadies. Asphalt was praised for its high editorial and print standards and enjoyed enthusiastic support from its readers and the industry. Unfortunately, the abrupt departure of my partner doomed the magazine.

In promoting Asphalt , I traveled to many different group rides in LA and Orange County. The incredible variety of riding conditions and climatic variation has never ceased to amaze me. However, Asphalt ceased publication before I had a chance to do a feature on the range of riding here. That desire has been nagging at me until now.

People talk of the incredible riding in the Bay Area. San Francisco has a much better reputation as a place to enjoy cycling than Los Angeles does. A friend, the noted cycling author and Marin County resident Owen Mulholland, lends his considerable intellect to the task of pitying my predicament (suffering the ills of LA) whenever we are on the phone. Frankly, this is my chance to set the record straight.

Its true that the cost of living and traffic can make life in Los Angeles difficult and frustrating. However, it hasnt been so bad to cause me to consider moving away, at least, not more seriously than as an idle fantasy. My typical Sunday ride meets in Manhattan Beach and heads to Malibu, where we ascend Topanga Canyon Road, bomb down to Mulholland, and climb Piuma or Stunt before the drop to the beach and the flat return home. Theres a turnout on Piuma (marked as a waypoint in this guide) with a view of the mountains rushing headlong into the ocean that is of such breathtaking grandeur and sweeping drama that I am reminded how grateful I am to be alive. Im also lucky to enjoy such beauty on a routine basis.