Los Angeles County · California · 285 ft
Los Angeles, California
Coast path, canyon climbs, one big mountain road
Cycling in Los Angeles
Los Angeles is a cycling city in zones: a 22-mile car-free beach path from Will Rogers State Beach to Torrance, canyon climbs in the Santa Monica Mountains above Malibu, Griffith Park's car-free roads and the LA River path on the east side, and Glendora Mountain Road in the San Gabriels. The zones sit 20 to 40 miles apart, so most visitors rent a car. Alaska, Southwest, Delta and American all check a packed bike as a standard bag (Sept 2026), one West Hollywood shop builds a shipped one, and two Santa Monica shops rent a road bike. Bring yours for three days or more.
- Best months
- October to May. The coast rides all year; the canyons and Glendora Mountain Road are hot by late morning from June to September, so those start at dawn.
- Nearest airport
- Los Angeles International (LAX), 12 mi
- Major airport
- Hollywood Burbank (BUR), 12 mi
- Group rides
- 52 weekly rides listed
Group rides around Los Angeles
Free, recurring, open to anyone. The fastest way into a town is somebody's Saturday ride.
Saturday 5 of 10
- NOW Ride (Saturday, Santa Monica)
- The Donut Ride
- Big Orange Club Ride
- Friendly Donut Ride (FDR)
- SFVBC Saturday Club Ride
Sunday 5 of 19
- Different Spokes Sunday Ride
- LA Wheelmen Sunday Ride
- Nichols Canyon Ride (Velo Club La Grange)
- Big Orange Team Ride
- Wheatgrass Ride
During the week 5 of 25
Organized rides in Los Angeles in 2027
From the 2027 calendar. Dates marked projected follow last year's weekend; check the organizer.
Clubs and collectives in Los Angeles
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Different Spokes Southern California
The LGBTQ+ cycling club. Sunday rides with a start and route that rotate and are posted on the club calendar; no-drop.
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Velo Club La Grange
The Westside club. Weekday rides (Tue, Wed, Thu and Fri, 6:30 am) leave 26th and San Vicente in Santa Monica (Marina Ride, Mandeville Canyon, Gravel Wednesday, Amalfi Loops, Marina Lite; 15 to 26 miles) and the Nichols Canyon ride (Sundays, 8:00 am) leaves Raymond Fouquet Square in Westwood. Every one is open to non-members; helmet required, no earphones. A monthly women's ride (3rd Saturday of the month, 8:00 am) for female-identifying riders at a social pace where, the club says, no one gets left behind.
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Big Orange Cycling
The South Bay club, and the one page that lists the South Bay's rides: the Donut (Saturdays, 8:00 am) from Avenue I and Elena, Redondo Beach; the New Pier Ride (Tuesdays and Thursdays, 6:40 am) from Manhattan Beach Pier; the Wheatgrass (Sundays, 8:00 am) from Malaga Cove Plaza; plus its own Saturday club ride (Saturdays, 8:00 am, usually) and Sunday team ride (Sundays, 7:00–8:00 am, varies with the season). The Friendly Donut Ride (Saturdays, 8:00 am, usually) from Miramar Park is the no-drop one. Show up.
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Bicycle Kitchen
The volunteer-run co-op at 4429 Fountain Ave: walk in, no membership, no fee, and fix your own bike with their tools and their help. Open Monday to Thursday evenings and Saturday 12 to 3; call ahead, (323) 662-2776, because nights get cancelled. Thursday is the gender-expansive wrench night, in their words for women, trans and non-binary folks.
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Wild Wolf Cycling Collective
A collective that says it centers all gender-expansive and women riders, founded and led by BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ riders, all skill levels. Social rides, monthly bike campouts, wrench classes and skill shares around LA. No fixed weekly ride on its site; join the Slack through the form on the site or follow @wildwolf.cc for the next one.
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Black Girls Do Bike: Los Angeles
The LA chapter of the national group, which describes itself as a community of women and girls of color who ride. The chapter runs through its Facebook group (facebook.com/groups/BGDBLA), where rides are posted; join the group and ask for the next one. No ride schedule is published on the site.
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Los Angeles Wheelmen
A recreational club with a ride every Sunday from a different start around LA, Orange and Ventura counties, with easy, moderate and ambitious routes, and a smaller Saturday group on shorter, harder ones. Guests ride with a signed waiver; helmets mandatory; the month's schedule and route sheets are on the site. It puts on the Grand Tour double century in late June.
How Los Angeles rides: the zones, getting here
About Los Angeles
Los Angeles fills a basin between the Pacific and the San Gabriel Mountains, with the Santa Monica Mountains running east to west through the middle of it. Downtown is the centre of nothing a rider needs; the riding is on the edges. LAX sits about 12 miles southwest of downtown on the Westside, Burbank about 12 miles north for Griffith Park and the Valley, Long Beach 17 miles south for the South Bay.
The city is big enough that this guide names its zones by name: the Westside and the coast (Santa Monica, Venice, the beach path), the Santa Monica Mountains (Latigo, Mulholland, the Rock Store), Griffith Park and the river (Los Feliz, Silver Lake, Frogtown), the San Gabriels by way of Pasadena and Glendora, the South Bay and Palos Verdes, and the Valley. Every listing below says which one it sits in.
Riding in Los Angeles
The ride for the day you land is the beach path: 22 paved miles along the sand, flat, no cars, turn around whenever you want. The signature climb is Latigo Canyon out of Malibu to Mulholland Highway and back down to the coast, about 44 miles and 4,000 feet. Griffith Park's roads above the Observatory are closed to cars and loop with the LA River path for a 26-mile ride you can start from a Los Feliz hotel. Glendora Mountain Road is the steady 5 percent time-trial climb of the San Gabriel foothills, 8.6 miles and 2,300 feet, and the road on to Mt. Baldy makes it a 51-mile, 6,850-foot day. The Donut loop around Palos Verdes is the South Bay's Saturday: the Donut Ride (Saturdays, 8:00 am).
The group rides are the way in. Velo Club La Grange runs weekday rides from 26th and San Vicente in Santa Monica (Tue, Wed, Thu and Fri, 6:30 am) and the Nichols Canyon ride from Westwood (Sundays, 8:00 am), open to anyone. Big Orange Cycling lists the South Bay's rides: the Donut (Saturdays, 8:00 am) from Redondo Beach and the New Pier Ride (Tuesdays and Thursdays, 6:40 am) from Manhattan Beach. Different Spokes Southern California is the LGBTQ+ club with a Sunday ride (Sundays, 8:00 am). LA Critical Mass (Last Friday of the month, 6:30 pm, rolls 7:29 pm) gathers at Wilshire and Western. Sidewalk riding is legal in the city; the boulevards between the zones are where you stay alert.
Getting to Los Angeles
Fly into LAX (about 12 miles from downtown, closest to the Westside) or Burbank (about 12 miles, closer to Griffith Park, the Valley and the Pasadena side; a smaller airport that is faster to get out of). Long Beach is the South Bay airport, Ontario the one for Glendora Mountain Road. You will want a car: the zones are 20 to 40 miles apart, and rental offices at LAX are off airport by free shuttle. Ride apps pick up at the LAX-it lot next to Terminal 1; book an XL for the bike case. The Bring-your-bike page has the airline rules, the shipping option and Metro's bike rules.
Weather in Los Angeles
Loading the forecast for Los Angeles…
Live forecast from Open-Meteo. Times are local to Los Angeles.
Questions about riding in Los Angeles
Should I bring my bike to Los Angeles?
Yes, for three days or more. Alaska, Southwest, Delta and American check a packed bike as a standard bag, $45 to $50 each way (Sept 2026), and Bike Shop LA in West Hollywood receives a BikeFlights shipment and builds it. Renting only wins on a one- or two-day trip, and nobody rents a gravel bike.
What does it cost to fly with a bike to LA?
On Alaska, Southwest and Delta a bike case under 50 lb is a standard checked bag, $45 for the first bag (Sept 2026); American is $50, or $45 paid online. Oversize fees are waived on all four. United's page would not load when we checked, so confirm it yourself.
Do I need a car to ride in Los Angeles?
Yes, unless you stay on the Westside and ride only the coast and La Grange's Nichols Canyon ride (Sundays, 8:00 am). The Westwood ride start is about 11 miles from downtown, Pasadena and the San Gabriels about 18 the other way, Glendora Mountain Road another 20 beyond that, and the canyon climbs start in Malibu.
Where do group rides start in Los Angeles?
Velo Club La Grange leaves 26th and San Vicente in Santa Monica on weekday mornings (Tue, Wed, Thu and Fri, 6:30 am) and Raymond Fouquet Square in Westwood for the Nichols Canyon ride (Sundays, 8:00 am), open to non-members. The Donut Ride (Saturdays, 8:00 am) leaves Avenue I and Elena in Redondo Beach, and the NOW ride (Saturdays, 7:15 am) leaves 701 Montana Ave in Santa Monica. Different Spokes, the LGBTQ+ club, rides Sundays (Sundays, 8:00 am) from a rotating start. LA Critical Mass (Last Friday of the month, 6:30 pm, rolls 7:29 pm) gathers at Wilshire and Western.
Can I rent a road bike in Los Angeles?
Two Santa Monica shops rent one worth the day: Helen's Cycles has a carbon Cannondale SuperSix at $120 a day, less for three or five days, and Bike Attack has Shimano 105-level Bianchi and KHS bikes at $50 a day, first come first served (Sept 2026). Neither lists sizes, so call with your height. No gravel or mountain bike rental was confirmed.
Is the beach path open after the Palisades fire?
LA County's page lists the path from Will Rogers State Beach to Torrance Beach. North of the path, PCH from Chautauqua Blvd to Carbon Beach Terrace is a Caltrans fire-repair work zone with cones, 25 to 35 mph and weekday single-lane closures (Caltrans and the Santa Monica Daily Press, May to Sept 2026). Check the Caltrans page before riding PCH north of the path.
Los Angeles: the town
- Population
- about 3.9 million (2020 census)
- Time zone
- America/Los Angeles
- Official site
- lacity.gov
- Visitor info
- discoverlosangeles.com
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Checked September 30, 2026. Businesses open and close. Call before you count on anyone.