pool: westwood recreation center, right behind the huge federal building on sepulveda, just past wilshire.
good lap swim hours, maybe $2.50, 25 meter pool. also, dedicated water running lane. free parking.
westside biking, that's challenging:
1. bundy north, almost to the end, turn right at the stop sign on chalon road, go up, past mt. st. mary's college, carefully down that hill, SHARP right on norman place (i think that's its name), which takes you back to bundy. use that last part as a lap.
2. up mandeville canyon (5 miles) to the end, and maybe do one or all of three short, very steep roads off to the left, near the top.
i hope this all goes well for you.
peggy

Don't park at the observatory. Instead, you can park along the street at the base at a few places 1) near the greek theater (head north up Vermont or Hillhurst and park on the east side by the golf course), 2) on the east side by I-5 (enter the park from the south on Crystal Springs and park about 200m in, or from the North off I-5 exit Colorado), or 3) park on the west side on Fern Dell. Most people stick to the east side of the park for safety sake, as rolling along Los Feliz can be harry if traffic is bad. For an hour or so ride, Griffith is good, but I wouldn't ride there every day.

Other places to ride include heading out past Santa Monica on the PCH and getting into the canyons above Malibu, heading north from La Cañada up Angels Crest to Red Box (and beyond - Mt. Wilson is fun, but may be closed by now - you can also simply park at red box and ride off from there to get in some altitude).

Not sure about where you'll be staying, but since you mentioned Griffith, I suspect it will be somewhere near downtown. If so, trail running in Griffith is good if you don't mind the occasional 15% grade for a quarter mile. Swimming... I dunno. I have a LA Fitness membership and will hit up the pool at the club in Hollywood (at Highland). Send me a PM if you have any more questions or want some company/guide on a ride or run.

Peggy,

Thank you. I went to school right off Wilshire. So I imagine finding Westwood Recreation Center won't be difficult. Would you happen to know the days and times for lap swimming off the top of your head? If not, I'll do a quick search and make a call. As for the bike routes, again, thank you. They do sound challenging, but fun. I look forward to it. Although, I think I'll leave the tri-rig behind and take the road bike for quicker maneuvering (hope it's not called for). I appreciate the information. Have a great day.

Respectfully,

-J

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Jehovah and family unity above all.

Or drive about 45 minutes south to Palos Verdes, you can have 50+ miles of uninterrupted climbing and ocean views, both for running and riding, with much lower traffic. Park at the Malaga Cove parking lot (mind the time restrictions) and pick a road. PV Drive (North, south, east and west) is a good local 'loop'

Great individuals like you MAKE this forum. I definitely appreciate the offer to join you, but running isn't really my thing and would slow you down. I posted here a long time ago, but just over a year ago I got struck by a vehicle while on the bike. Ended up with a broken femur and a nice titanium rod. Running is definitely a challenge......everything is. As for the bike portion, again, I would probably slow you down. Where I live, hills don't exist (sounds like you have plenty of them). Rough winds around here and that's about it. An ant mole would be a challenge for me, lol. Anyway, I do appreciate the offer. More importantly, thank you for the suggestions. I'll make sure to take them into consideration. As for where I'll be staying......Have family from Salinas, Soledad, Greenfield, Los Angeles and surrounding areas to San Bernadino, Baldwin Park and closer to Nevada. I'll be traveling and making all these rounds within a three week span. However, I do intend to stay in LA the majority of the time. The only concern I have is the weather. I hope it allows for some biking. We'll see....

I do have a couple of questions for you. How far past Santa Monica, more specifically, where would I park and what is the red box? Thank you.

Regards,

-J

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Jehovah and family unity above all.

Chirs,

This sounds like the perfect venue and exactly what I'm searching for. Thanks a mil.

I appreciate the information and will definitely make it one of my routes.

Respectfully,

-J

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Jehovah and family unity above all.

If you are going to ride, I would recommend getting out of the city. There is some great riding out of santa monica up pch to malibu. There is palos verdes for running and biking. On the eastside you have the san gabriel mts with angeles crest and glendora mtn road..

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2017 Cervelo P2
2017 Cervelo S2
itraininla.com
#itraininla

Where are you staying?

gymrat,

Thank you. Second person to recommend the SM/Malibu route. Will definitely be giving it a try. Cheers.

-J

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Jehovah and family unity above all.

This.

There's free parking in a lot off PCH near Pepperdine U. Drive there (approx 30 min drive from santa monica) and bike west. Gentle rollers, few lights, little traffic and great ocean views open up for 25-30 miles or so out past Pt Mugu. A Starbucks at Trancas Road is there for energy.

Plus, if you want to climb, just head north on any of a number of roads that climb into the Santa Monica Mountains. For me, this area presents one of the best overall places to ride in Socal.

Mulholland Drive is a must if you don't mind climbing. If you are REAL MADCORE, then you should definitely do this:

http://www.tourofcalifornia.org/...-double-century.html

Also heading into the Valley and do the Angeles Crest Hwy. Beautiful scenery and perfect pavement. You won't get much better than this.

All of this is really depends on where you stay as some routes/rides are a lot more accessible then others.

The easiest/best combo is to park down at will rogers(Pacific Coast Highway) and ride the PCH. You can pick a canyon and climb. If you are adverse to riding on PCH, go up Topanga to Old Topanga, take that to mulholland, pop a left, head over to stunt and ride up and over stunt and then descend down fernwood back to topanga and go home. If your feeling more adventurous and up for a longer ride, Ride pch 35-40minutes to latigo. Up latigo, right after small descent and right onto mulholland. Mulholland to piuma, piuma to fernwood, fernwood to topanga, topanga home. The possibilities are endless.

For running, you can run right out of will rogers on the strand or go up the hill and the state park is there with some great trail running. Swimming- head over to Santa Monica College for great lap swimming but if you find yourself in the southbay(hermosa,redondo, etc)- check out hawthorne plunge(almost always empty), torrance plunge(great lunch time group swims there) or the redondo high school pool(not sure on the hours there but the pool is nice).

Again, there are too many options to even name for the LA area but some are limiting bc of where you might be staying and what is the most convenient. The primary areas that you will hear about or that everything is broken up into are: Santa Monica's-access from PCH side, Santa Monica's(access from the valley), Palos Verdes, Griffith park area(I know very little about this area except I ran there a few times and it was serviceable), angels crest 'area'---> it's huge. Biggest things to realize is that driving places takes a while, you will encounter cars on your ride(especially on PCH) and the mountain climbs are unbelievable... think 4-9+ miles of switchbacks, ocean views and 'high' desert.

dbrienza,

I'm going to say it's either by Redondo or Huntington Beach. Turkey day+1 or 2 more days will be spent in Claremont. Then off to Salinas and then again, back to LA. Will be on the move most of the time we're there. Have plenty of Uncles/Aunts all over the map to visit. So the information you gave me will give me various options to consider and work with depending where I'm staying that particular day. With that said, thank you a great deal for taking the time to respond. You along with everyone else has provided me with great information. Seems like PCH (Hwy 1, I believe) will definitely be on the to do list. Weather permitting........


Many thanks,

-J

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Jehovah and family unity above all.

jaws20,

Will do. Thank you for the information.

-J

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Jehovah and family unity above all.

jxj,

You had me at "perfect pavement." Will definitely try the Angeles Crest Hwy. Please recommend an exit, parking and route. Thank you.

Not madcore at all unless you're talking about bunji cording, sky diving or kite boarding and would love to swim with the sharks, and this for a job...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFMHjDqHL_Y

Thank you,

-J

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Jehovah and family unity above all.

My parents live pretty close to the start of the Angeles Crest Highway (State Hwy 2) so I don't know much about parking.

Here is the route: http://ridewithgps.com/routes/1471466

I would recommend park at Rose Bowl (you may have to pay, though), and bike over to Angeles Crest Hwy. It's quite a bit of climbing but the grade is not too obscene.

The cars on the road and usually very friendly (I did get smoke blew all over me by a fire truck, though). The best thing is, there are almost no stop signs! You can just keep on going and going.

One warning though, bring lots of water. There are not too many chances of refilling your bottle.

Good luck

Great birds eye view. I'm really looking forward to doing some riding out there weather permitting (keeping fingers crossed). I appreciate the time you took to provide me with a map, route and other helpful tips. I'm pumped!! Already packed a few things.....

To everyone:

Seems like I pretty much have all the information I need. For all of those who chimed in or were about to.....Thank you.

Have a great day and stay safe.

Best regards,

-J

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Jehovah and family unity above all.

Second this recommendation, plus if you want a full day of riding you can ride along the beach strand from Santa Monica/Venice all the way to PV and back.

Redondo---go ride in Palos Verdes
Huntington Beach---PCH, up the hills above Newport, Santa Ana River trail, or north on PCH to San Gabriel River Trail
Claremont---GREAT riding opportunities---Glendora Mountain Road is pretty much perfect, but you also have 6-10 other canyons/climbing rides in the immediate vicinity
LA--if you can stay in Pasadena (10 min to downtown LA) vs LA proper your quality of life/riding will be much better. Heck, even Glendale isn't too bad.

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"There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old's life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs." John Rogers

Red box is a parking lot a the base of mt. Wilson on angels crest hwy where there is, literally, a red box. It's about 20 miles up the mountain from the start of angels crest at foothill. If you want to ride up that bit (2500' up to redbox) you can park at the shopping area right at that corner.

As for riding up into the hills above Malibu, as stated before you can take topanga up to mulhoand and ride west. I would stay off that anywhere east of the 405 though, as it tends to have some traffic and drivers thrashing around the curves. Still a good ride, but not if you're aren't accustomed to riding in traffic.

Even easier - look up "LA Tri Club" or "LaGrange" bike groups. Find out when the Sat departure is and go with either group. (It's around 7-8AM). You can't miss 'em - tons of riders in both in summer, although still a good crew during winter. Even if you do miss them, there are so many people meeting to ride the PCH/canyons in that area of Santa Monica on Ocean Ave that you'll definitely find someone to ride with.

LaGrange is slightly faster but still no problem to hang with - if you can do about 18mph solo, you're all set.

LA Triclub is slower - you should have no trouble hanging at all unless you're a beginner.

Time out.
I don't want to derail the thread because there is a lot of good information being shared, but mopdahl, I worked in the downtown LA area for 30 years and I have to know how you get from Pasadena to downtown LA in 10 minutes. Every time I drive from Pasadena to LA or back, it takes a lot longer than that unless it is between 2 and 5am (and even at those hours it can take 60 minutes).

In-and-around the Rose Bowl. Great running in the Arroyo. Good riding around there and into La Canada. And the pool is, of course, fantastic.

The riding and running in Griffith Park is also excellent.

I've logged countless miles both places.

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"Non est ad astra mollis e terris via." - Seneca | rappstar.com | FB - Rappstar Racing | IG - @jordanrapp

lightheir,

Easier indeed.....thank you for the information. Average is north of 18 mph (solo), but again, pretty much flat around here. However, I have ridden in Austin and Boerne, TX. Those hills make my legs hurt for the next couple of days and my avg. goes south of 17 mph. Am I allowed to admit that around here, lol.
It is what it is. Thanks again.

-J

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Jehovah and family unity above all.