Greetings all LA cyclists,

I'm a Brit who's going to be staying in LA for quite a lot of this year and am looking for advice on group rides/any fellow weenies in the area.

Doing a bit of research (googling) tells me that there are a few clubs around and the closest is 'velo club La Grange' meeting in Santa Monica This looks great with a good variety of rides, however all the rides are pretty early......

My work is pretty flexible so I can fit in rides whenever, happy to ride with cyclists/triathletes. If there are any local forum members who might be able to show me around that would be much appreciated!

Cheers,
Alasdair

Rock n Road has some great group rides.
They have multiple shops.
The owner, Matt, is a great guy that rides.

I can put you in touch with a few people I know in Brentwood. I don't live there any more but if you have a FB account you can PM me and I can make an introduction. My friend Haldane used to run the Yahoo team and now coaches.

It gets crowded there but there are some great rides.

Thanks both for your info, sending PM's now

I live in Brentwood.
Say hello, too.

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Exp001

I ride around Santa Monica to Rancho Palos Verdes quite often, so if you're near the beach we might be able to get a ride or two together.

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Felt FC: viewtopic.php?f=10&t=116061

Thanks prendrefeu and system787, will be arriving mid Jan so I'll get in touch

Also keen on getting in some racing if anyone has some info on that? Not sure what phase in the season you're in or if it's an all year round thing considering the awesome weather?

Crits/RR/TT all is good

Good thing you like Crits, because that's pretty much all there is out here.
Ok, there are maybe 6 or 7 genuine road races, but they're all early in the season and if you miss them, well... sadness.

The majority of the season is late January through mid-July, typically. From mid-July through August there are fewer races, but there is still racing. It mostly slows down in that time because of the summer temperatures. It all closes in September, where CX picks up through December. MTB racing is pretty much year round, mostly focused on February through August.

Southern California Racing is under this sub-org of the USA Cycling org: http://scnca.org/
Northern California will have more Road Races, and if you love races with a lot of climbing that's also the place to go. They have Road Races, comparatively, all the time.
http://www.ncnca.org/

It's a big state, keep in mind that in size Great Britain would cover only a bit more than half of California.

Enjoy your time here, and check out the Climbs USA thread for some awesome riding tips if you want to just enjoy what we've got instead of riding around in circles.

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Exp001

If you are willing to drive there are interesting road races with big climbs in the summer, all north-east of LA in the Owens valley-
Whitney Portal stage race, Death Valley Road stage race, Everest Challenge.

www.lagrange.org/

Rode with them this summer. Great training.

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My Parlee Z1

Crazy, I just spent a long weekend LOVING the riding around LA. Specifically, I did the Simi Valley group ride on Saturday, the LaGrange Nichols Canyon ride on Sunday, and a KILLER Canyon climbfest outside of Malibu (starting from Santa Monica) on Friday.

I loved riding in the area, despite the temps in the 50's. The views back over the valley and out over the Pacific from the canyons were unreal. Truly Epic. Stunt and Piuma are worth a descent and climb each!

Best source I found in my research, other than the La Grange Velo website, was doing keyword searches in ridewithgps.com. I made most of my routes public, so if you have questions about any JN2Wheels maps, let me know.

I may end up in LA, depending on the crazy process of Medical Residency match... Crossing my fingers!

Great, thanks for the info JN2Wheels. Give me a shout if you hake it back. 3 weeks and i'll be in LA!

Right, I'm arriving tomorrow and have the first couple of days sorted. I'm planning on a long ride on Sunday 100-130km. Something taking in some of the local mountains hopefully and am looking for a recommendation.

Has anyone got any suggestions of where to go, preferably with a good coffee stop along the way? I would be very keen for some local knowledge and company so if any LA members are keen please get in touch....

(pace negotiable but pref c.20mph)

You can try the below: (88Km with 1,000m ascent)
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/219901228

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My Parlee Z1