Upcoming Rides

Every Thursday, 8:30 a.m. (* unless otherwise specified). 

* For Thursday, July 4th only; our regular Triple Dipper Ride will be replaced on that date with our traditional holiday ride.  See the tab labeled "Firecracker Special" on this page for details (note the different start location).  Except for Thursday July 4th, the Triple Dipper Ride, remains unchanged until further notice.

Start Location: Ballona Creek Bridge.  From I405 exit Culver Blvd and head West or take Rte 90 West and take Culver Blvd exit turn left. Right on Esplanade St, left on Convoy St, and right on Pacific Avenue. Park by the Lagoon on the right. The bridge is about 2 blocks North on Pacific.

For a map and directions to the start, click Start.

Riders usually goes South to Palos Verdes on the bike path and then do some riding on the Peninsula. There are optional climbs including the 3 “dips” which give the ride its name. The group usually stops for a break at the Golden Cove shopping area. Occasionally the group will decide to vary the route and explore specific sites elsewhere in the city. A typical day is 40 - 50 miles but often individual riders either cut the day short or add extra miles as desired.  Contact Nancy Domjanovich nancydomx@nullicloud.com for details.

Check out our weekly newsletter here to get a preview of some of our past rides...Newsletter (http://www.lawheelmen.org/vp-newsletter)

We hope to see you there!

 Sunday,  June  30 – 8:30 a.m   

Start Location: WILLIAM PEAK PARK in BUENA PARK.  From Artesia Frwy (91), off & South Knott Ave  mi, L - El Dorado Dr. to Park.

For a map and directions to the start, click Start.

Routes: 

• Long – 71 miles – 4300 feet of elevation gain (barometric)
• Medium – 59 miles – 2600 feet of elevation gain (barometric)
• Short – 31 miles – 600 feet of elevation gain (mapping software)
• Combined Routes

These are nice routes and I’m not giving up on them, but the problem continues to be lunch. With the demise of the Yorba Linda Knollwood, we really haven’t found a convenient alternative that fits with this route. Last time we just went to McDonalds, They had been pushing their new chicken sandwich and I thought maybe it was worth a try. It wasn’t. It looked like it was made somewhere else and simply microwaved to heat it up before serving it. You don’t go to a burger place for chicken. However, on the May 26^th ride Chris Hedberg and I noticed a Raising Cane’s restaurant and discussed the fact that neither of us had been to one and wondered what it was like. It turns out there is a Raising Cane’s on today’s route, not far from where we formerly had lunch. So, let’s try it out. The routes remain the same. You might think from the title that we will be riding to Knott’s Berry Farm, but actually we start within sight of the park. Both long and medium routes head to Yorba Linda for lunch at Raising Cane’s (which specializes in chicken fingers by the way). The long takes 10 extra miles getting there, including a trip over Turnbull Canyon and a climb over Fullerton Road, while the medium goes pretty much directly there. Both routes return together with some additional climbing in the Anaheim Hills. While this is going on, the short riders are touring northern Orange County on their own. When we return to the start you can usually see people riding one of the roller coasters at Knott’s while you load your bike. Let’s hope Raising Cane’s turns out to be good because there just isn’t much else in the area. 

Thursday, July 4th - 8:30 am.

Start Location: EL DORADO PARK in Long Beach. From San Diego Frwy (405), off & North/East on Studebaker 1 mi. to Park. Park in Library lot on right just before Spring St. 

For a map and directions to the start, click Start.

Routes:

• Long – 41 miles – 800 feet of elevation gain (barometric)
• Medium – 37 miles – 400 feet of elevation gain (mapping software)
• Short – 25 miles – 300 feet of elevation gain (mapping software)
• Combined Routes

It’s the 4^th of July and it falls on a Thursday this year. I imagine that means a lot of people will be taking tomorrow off to make it a 4-day weekend. Reminds me of when I worked for a bank and we never got the Friday after a holiday (such as Thanksgiving) off because there is a depression era law that prevents banks from being closed more than 3 days in a row. A lot of us would try to take the Friday off as a vacation day, but we couldn’t all do that at once and they wouldn’t believe you if you called in sick. Well, those days are behind me and now. I don’t even know where the weekend begins or ends. Every day is a weekend day. Anyway, we will be celebrating the 4^th as usual with our own bike ride. Like most of our holiday rides, these are relatively short and easy. I suppose that is to give you time to get home and celebrate the holiday in other ways. The rides are so short, you really need to slow down or you will arrive at lunch before the lunch spots open. The long and the medium are the same as they wander around the Long Beach area until they eventually stop in Long Beach or Belmont Shores for lunch. The long makes a run up to Signal Hill (for a nice view from the park up there) before returning to the start while the medium heads more directly back. The short is pretty much a shorter version of the long and medium, riding in the same area. The long has only about 800 feet of climbing and that includes Signal Hill, so you can imagine how flat the medium and short are. They are all short enough that you should get home in time to watch some fireworks. You will also get home in time to calm your pets for a night-long barrage of illegal fireworks that usually doesn’t stop until about 3 a.m. We generally stay together on this one and the trip up to Signal Hill for a group photo is always fun. We also often see a few members out on this one that we don’t see on other rides. 

 

 Sunday,  July 7th – 8:30 a.m   

Start Location: BOYSEN PARK in Anaheim.  From Artesia/Riverside Frwy (91), off & south on State College Blvd, R - Vermont to Park.

For a map and directions to the start, click Start.

Routes: 

• Long – 60 miles – 1800 feet of elevation gain (barometric)
• Medium – 56 miles – 1100 feet of elevation gain (barometric)
• Short – 36 miles – 500 feet of elevation gain (mapping software)
• Combined Routes

The river in today’s title is the Santa Ana River and all three routes ride down this river trail from Anaheim to the Huntington Beach area. A few years ago many cyclists were hesitant to ride this river because of the extensive homeless encampments along the banks. However, those have been removed and the last time I was down there, they have not crept back in (at least on the same side of the river as the bike path). So, don’t let that keep you away. Today the short route goes down the river almost to the coast, has lunch and then returns up the river. Both the long and medium take the river all the way to the coast and then head over to Balboa Island followed by the Back Bay and a portion of the San Diego Creek trail. The long makes a few extra loops for added mileage and adds a climb through the Tustin Hills, but both work their way back toward the start, eventually hitting the river once again for the final portion of the return. So you get the river at the start and at the end. Only the long does any significant climbing and even that is not so bad. This time of year I like to schedule coastal routes and these routes do go to the coast. However, they start and return inland so the return could be hot. If the heat is too much, I would suggest switching from the long to the medium which cuts the return short and avoids some significant climbing. 

All Newcomer Rides are announced on our Meetup Group...

 Los Angeles Wheelmen Hosted Bike Rides 

 

Typically we offer one or two Sunday rides per month; these are announced around the middle of the prior week.  Join the Meetup Group to receive email notices.