Mountain Biking on the Sullivan Trail in Santa Monica

Perfect

January and February in Santa Monica are truly ridiculous in terms of winter weather. While not tropical, it's a cool, mellow 50-60F, or pretty much perfect for running, cycling, mountain biking, and other outdoor ventures. To add insult to injury to the poor East Coasters (I'm not hating - I lived there for 30 years!) there's deep powder snow just 2 hours inland at Big Bear mountain, so you can literally go surfing and skiing in one day. 

I've been trying to maximize my daylight workouts during this season, as the evening night-time and gym workouts can get to be a real grind during the weekdays. I took these pictures on a solo mountain bike ride this past weekend up my favorite workout trial, the Sullivan Canyon trail up Capri Drive in the Pacific Palisades. It's a 10 minute drive from my house, and a spectacularly beautiful network of nearly isolated trails that are perfect for hiking, running, and mountain biking. During these winter months, I can't express how happy I am to live on the West Coast and be able to do this - it's good for my soul, body, and spirit, and I feel more alive every time I get outdoors.

I haven't had the chance to take photos on my road bike climbs in the Santa Monica mountains and Malibu, but believe it or now, the views are even more spectacular than the ones you see here. And my pictures don't even come close to doing it justice. So if you can find an excuse to come on out here during the winter, get on over, and make a trip to the mountain trails. They're close, free, and fun!

Nice kickstand!

My old-school steel mountain bike doubles as a commuter bike. I bought this bike used off Craigslist for $150 two years ago from a woman who had upgraded her bike. It weighs 35 lbs, complete with rear-rack and kickstand (!). I still have yet to upgrade to clipless pedals, as I often ride it during the week with regular shoes.

I get a lot of funny looks when I start the climb at the base from other mountain bikers who often ride $2000+ dual suspension and carbon / Titanium bikes in the 20lbs range, but even they know that it is all about the rider - I can drop the vast majority of them on the very first climb here despite my beginner-looking bike.

As nice as this looks, it's orders of magnitude better in real life

The spectacular views start right off the get-go, and lever let up. These are desert mountains, and this road is a steady climb, so it differs than some of the more technical "singletrack" tree-covered trails you'll see other folks doing. We have these types of trails here in SoCal as well, but I find that as I get older (yes, I'm a ripe old 33 now!) I'd rather have a hard but technically easy climb versus falling over repeatedly on some nasty rocks and roots. Although I'm known to let it rip on those courses from time to time as well with the right motivation.

Being outdoors in the mountains is my favorite aspect of LA and the West Coast

One of the best aspects of these mountains is the solace. It is never crowded here, even on gorgeous perfect weekend days, and the vast majority of the time, I can ride solo for the entire ride. The steep incline of the trails right from the get-go keep most of the riffraff off the mountain, which makes it a haven for hikers and athletes. It's still patrolled regularly though, and I'll always see at least a few other bikers and hikers out on the trail as well, so if I ran into trouble, there wouldn't be any big problems about getting lost in the wilderness.

Nonstop scenic views

All of these trails interconnect in the Santa Monica mountains, and you can often get a view of the other parallel trails on adjacent ridges. They're all slightly different, and all are great rides. The best part is that they're all within a 10 minute drive of my apartment. 

More spectacular canyon views

The "gate." There's some real punishment on the mile climb right past that bar!

The "gate" that is the midpoint of the Sullivan canyon climb. Lots of groups use this point as a regroup station, but I rarely have company up here. I also just noticed that my rear reflector is pointing all haywire and I should probably just take it off.

The "Valley" as viewed from Mulholland Drive

This is the view of the "valley" north of Santa Monica viewed from the top of Mulholland Drive, which is the main ridge on top of the Santa Monica mountains, and a hub for many of the trails.

Nonstop climbing. It's a lot harder than it looks.

The climbing doesn't let up much though, so it's definitely not a pleasure cruise on the bike. I actually didn't climb the small trail you see at the very top on this picture; there are lots of small singletrack trails like that one which go off the main road, and are usually substantially more technical to ride. I'll ride up the steepest hills, but it can get REALLY nasty on the way down if you're not prepared. I'd only do that steep a decline with proper protective gear, including a full-face helmet.

Back to civilization where the really, really rich people live

After a short drop downhill, it's back to the community road at the foot of the mountain. The houses here are gigantic mansions, mostly blocked from view by high foliage, but home to stars and celebrities such as Steven Spielberg, who lives right down this very street. That's also not my car - mine's a lot cheaper. 

Happy trails!