I made this cycling trip December 1 to 10, 2021. The usual winter rain in Portland, Oregon was in full intensity, making cycling days few and far between, so I decided to head south to the sun for a 240 mile ride starting in Palm Springs and ending in West Los Angeles, California.
Day 1
I was excited to have my new bike, which I custom designed myself, and finished assembling (with some help from REI) the day before my trip. It's a bright teal-colored carbon fiber frame, so I named it Tealy Wheely. I packed up the bike and took advantage of a convenient non-stop flight from Portland to Palm Springs, California. There I met up with my cycling friend Marian from Colorado.
Day 2
We were up early, knowing we had a long climb of 2500 feet to our destination of Banning. After a croissant and coffee we headed north out of town and then west. We relied on our bike navigation app which took us up a steep 1742 foot climb over White Water Hill and then down the other side through a series of wind generator farms. As it turned out, this was the only feasible bicycle route, but it added a strenuous climb in 85 degree weather to an already all-day uphill route. We ended up on dirt and sandy tracks and even had to walk some sections. It was hot and exhausting and I began to suffer leg cramps. In the end, we bicycled for 8 hours with only a short break and vowed not to rely on the navigation app again without checking the topography. In the evening we dined on burgers and fries with lots of salt to replace that lost from our dehydrated bodies. I was in bed and asleep by 8 pm. It was undoubtedly the hardest day of cycling I had ever experienced.
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 | | Leaving Palm Springs |
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 | | Climbing Whitewater Hill |
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Day 3
We grabbed a coffee and croissant and were on the road at 7:30 am. After just a couple of miles we reached Beaumont, the highest point of our trip, and then started a long downhill on secondary roads - much of it following the railroad track. With cooler weather and a downhill grade, the ride was quite enjoyable and in stark contrast to the ordeal of yesterday. We stopped for a second cup of coffee and then continued past an old historic schoolhouse. The last 10 miles or so was on a paved bike trail along the Santa Ana River. After 38.4 miles in 3 hours of actual pedaling, we reached our destination for the day - Riverside, California, pulling into the hotel at exactly noon. We found a lovely café next to city hall and consumed a large breakfast of bacon and eggs. I relaxed in the afternoon while Marian took a guided tour through the historic Mission Inn. In the evening we were dazzled by the Christmas lights display around the Mission Inn, and found an excellent pizza at a very nice restaurant called Mario's Place.
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 | | Leaving Banning |
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 | | San Timoteo Schoolhouse built in 1882 |
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Day 4
We found a donut shop just across the street. The weather was cool and foggy. We followed the Santa Ana River Trail and in mid-morning stopped in the town of Norco for coffee. After passing by the town of Corona we intersected the Santa Ana River Bicycle Path again for several miles and then crossed the East Lincoln Avenue Bridge to East South Street on the west side of the river. We wound through neighborhood streets and found an IHop restaurant in Anaheim for a late breakfast. We arrived at my aunt's house in Fullerton at 3 pm after a 40 mile ride. There we enjoyed catching up on family news and relaxing that evening watching Netflix and that old hilarious movie "9 to 5".
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 | | Leaving Riverside |
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 | | Heading west near Highway 91 |
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 | | Santa Ana River Trail |
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Day 5
We left my aunt's place in Fullerton about 8:30 am. It was cool and slightly foggy as we wound our way through different neighborhood streets around Anaheim heading south. After an hour or more we reached the Santa Ana River trail again, stopped for a mid morning snack, and then continued south along the river trail until we reached the ocean. We then headed into Newport Beach arriving at 11 am, making good time over the 21.4 mile ride. We enjoyed some ice cream, walked out onto the pier, and then cycled the beachfront down to Balboa and back.
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 | | Leaving Anaheim on S. Walnut Street |
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 | | Santa Ana River Trail |
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 | | Newport Beach |
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 | | Surfers next to Newport Beach Pier |
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Day 6
We left Newport at 7:30 am in a cool light fog, did a short section of the Pacific Coast Highway, and were quickly onto the nice beach cycleway along Huntington Beach to Seal Beach, where we stopped for a full breakfast at Nick's Deli on Main Street. Another short highway section and we were on the very nice concrete beachfront cycleway through Long Beach past the Aquarium and the Queen Mary museum ship. The sun finally broke through. The route then ran onto Pacific Coast Highway through the busy LA Port area and Terminal Island. We had no highway shoulder and numerous semi trucks whizzed past - not the best part of the day. Fortunately we were able to do most of this section on the sidewalk. We made good time and arrived at our hotel in Redondo Beach at 1 pm after a 38 mile ride. In the evening, we cycled another 4 miles roundtrip into Hermosa beach for dinner at Hennessey's Irish Pub - the best part being a cold pint of Guinness on tap.
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 | | Huntington Beach Pier and Bikeway |
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 | | Alamitos Bay |
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 | | Long Beach Park & Aquarium |
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 | | Highway 1 near Wilmington |
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 | | Redondo Beach Pier |
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Day 7
We cycled from Redondo Beach, mostly along the beachfront strand, occasionally stopping to watch the morning surfers catching some waves. We reached the Santa Monica pier and then turned into downtown Santa Monica where we found a wonderful breakfast at Jinky's Cafe. Once fueled up, we continued along a mixture of urban streets and river trails, including the Exposition Bikeway, and Venice Blvd. to our hotel in West Los Angeles, near West Alta Vista Blvd and Beverly Blvd.
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 | | Redondo Beach |
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 | Santa Monica Pier
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 | On the Exposition Bike Path
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 | | Near Playa del Rey |
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Day 8
We had a leisurely breakfast at the hotel. We planned on visiting the Peterson Automotive Museum about 1.2 miles away and decided to rent electric scooters to get there. It was a fun ride. The museum is amazing and houses some of the most historic and valuable collections of automobiles in the world, including a special James Bond exhibit. We then returned on a free public bus to the hotel and picked up our bikes. We rode about 12 miles on a combination of streets and river trails to our final biking destination near the LA airport. Just as we arrived it started to rain. The location was perfect. A wonderful Greek Restaurant was attached right next to our hotel and the rental car was just a block away.
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 | | Petersen Automotive Museum |
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 | | First Motorized Vehicle to Cross the U.S. 1903 |
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 | | 2022 Hennessey Venom F5 - top speed 301 mph |
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 | | James Bond Exhibit |
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 | | Ballona Creek Trail |
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 | | South Sepulveda Blvd |
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Day 9
We picked up a rental car at 8:30 am and drove back through the rain to Palm Springs. As the rain let up we continued driving for several hours and made a loop through Joshua Tree National Park and finally returned to our hotel in Palm Springs. That evening we disassembled and packed our bikes, and enjoyed an excellent dinner at El Mirasol Mexican restaurant just a block away.
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 | | Driving Back to Palm Springs |
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Day 10
We dropped the rental car at the Palm Springs Airport and caught flights home. It was a great trip, especially riding the river and beachside trails. Cool and sometimes foggy mornings, with afternoon sun and temperatures in the 70s made for some very pleasant rides.
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