cycling in California is amazing, but the thing Europe seems to have over it is driver respect/road safety in certain parts of Europe that doesn't exist here in the states.
That's it. Same that appies to the California-Europe comparison, applies to Spain-Rest of Europe. Driver respect for riders in Spain is way ahead than the rest of Europe. And if you want more respect, you should avoid the tourist trap that are is Mallorca, where there are a ton of rentals driven by tourist from all over Europe, and go to peninsular Spain. Finally, if you are a proper cyclist (#5, HTFU), northern Spain is your final destination.
@@EmmanuelNataf Maybe in London. I have no issues with drivers in South West England. The only problem are crappy roads, but at least the drivers are not trying to kill you.
I was going to ask how the drivers were in general.. that’s a shame to hear they’re insane. Where I live (Brisbane, Au) there are some awesome rides and the weather is great, but wouldn’t recommend visiting.. I’ve been hit 4 times in the past 3 years.. its not that they’re overly psychotic, they’re just plain retarded and wouldn’t notice a cyclist until they’re sliding over their bonnet
LA appears to be similar to where I live (Brisbane, Aus).. great rides, fantastic weather.. but asshole drivers.. I’ve been hit 4 times in the past 3 years. They’re not that psychotic here, just plain retarded.. they won’t notice a cyclist until they’re sliding over their bonnet
@@josephsong8911 I've become numb to it, eventually I'll be a black and white Lycra stain on GMR and I'll have had a smile on my face when the Cadillac Escapade squashed me
I know it's just a fun little video, but comparing LA/California to "Europe" as a monolithic place in terms of riding is...interesting. Cycling conditions (roads, cycling infrastructure, drivers, weather) are SO different from region to region, let alone country to country. Somehow most people from the US and UK focus on Mallorca and Girona, but there are so many other places with great cycling culture. I was amazed how different riding in Germany is from riding in Switzerland or Italy. You should visit! edit: Ah, looks like you will very soon :D
I haven’t ridden in California but it does look incredible! One point I would make, and I think a lot of people in the US don’t realize, is that a week long cycling holiday in Spain is likely much more affordable than in somewhere like LA. Honestly even if you live within driving distance of LA, you could probably spend the same amount to go to Spain given how much cheaper accommodation and eating out is!
LA looks amazing; the Brian Safa clips got me convinced. The traffic down the coast seems a bit risky though. Some destinations that haven't been mentioned are Calpe (the number one most popular winter cycling destination for Euro pros), Tenerife and Granada. While none will score higher than LA on the weather, Calpe has excellent, endless roads and is very laid-back and safe for cycling. Mallorca is cycling heaven as well, and with regards to the weather: any pro will have to ride / train in some rain or chilly circumstances, if only to get used to it when such conditions are occurring in the actual races. I would also argue that at least 1-2 months of chilly and even wet weather are good for variety and even training: you can go more off-road and you won't melt when doing hard efforts on shorter climbs.
What a great intro to biking in LA! I've lived in LA for 4 years now without a car and while I've always bike everywhere, I've only recently embraced it as a hobby. Can wait to try some of these routes once I can afford a road bike and build up a bit more (lot more) cardio!
Went to Tenerife for the first time last year for a weeklong cycling trip. I can see why pros go there to train for the Grand Tours. The pavement is unbelievable, drivers courteous, food amazing, and views are absolutely breathtaking. You gotta go there next!
More of this! Thanks for the Strava links and also Phil’s interview. I’m strongly considering the Cookie Fondo in 2025. I’ve done Hollywood hills with the Rapha club ride before and it was a lot of fun, despite me also being at threshold.
LA seems way too car centric for me, with the need to hop in a car to head to your starting point. 1 more point for Girona, a more walkable city with civilized drivers.
Loved your interview with Mark. I admit I’ve been so busy the last 6 months that I haven’t watched many of your videos but I will make a point to watch and comment to help boost your awesome channel. I didn’t understand why I was captivated by your videos until hearing the interview today. It’s because you’re so talented and skilled in cinematic execution (something I don’t understand). So basically, your delivery seems effortless - although I now understand it takes a lot of heart and soul. Thank you PS - My husband grew up in Torrance. I grew up in Merced (NW of Fresno). We left CA in 1994. I really don’t think much about it anymore but this video makes me want to take a cycling vacay in LA area.
Every country in the world has the potential to be amazing for cycling, it all depends on cycling infrastructure and people's attitudes towards cyclists.
No doubt, LA has some amazing cycling, and the weather is generally perfect for it. But I agree, NorCal (specifically the bay) has just some of the best cycling in the country. The weather is nearly as ideal, there are just tons of different routes to various climbs, ridges, descents. The big 3 mountains (Tam, Diablo, and Hamilton) all offer different levels of difficulty and you can ride across the Golden Gate Bridge, (which always kinda sucks, but the views...) just can't do that in LA. Mitch! You did those steep streets in SF, come back and do some longer routes in Marin, the Peninsula, the East Bay! There's much for you to see!
@@dudfourthree I've done Hamiliton, Kings Ridge and Sierra. I prefer the weather up north as its cooler in the summer. And there are better bike lanes, at least around Santa Clara/San Jose area. King's Ridge was stunning. Hamilton was great I mainly liked that technical descent. Sierra stood out to me because of the steepness for the length. Not aware of one like that in LA. But we do have a lot of variety. He didn't mention Crystal Lake or Baldy. Which are probably the two hardest climbs around here.
Met a buddy on the Ponies ride visiting from Scotland. He insisted we climb Mt. Baldy (30 miles east of the county border) and by God, we took the train, midwinter, and did it. Another month I met an Australian who showed up without any other plan than “riding and eating through the city”. He titled our Malibu ride “Gotta get my Visa!” Here you’ll ride alongside a traveler, a world tour pro, or newbie who depends on you. We have as many unique cyclists as we do roads to share them with. Oh, and I too find myself stuttering over Celsius. Always a pleasure riding with (chasing) you, Mitch.
Also the weather point or not having rain; I find the nature in LA is just dry and desert like. Plus the road surface seems to be pretty bad in comparison to Mallorca at least.
Hello from a fellow French cyclist who actually lives in Nice and would never leave this place even for a fortune 😁 I would definitely love to try LA roads one day. I was there years ago but I was not into cycling at that time. LA looks awesome as long as you don't get too close to the city.
At the beginning of the video you stated, "everybody thinks that where they live has the best cycling." I live in Omaha, NE. A lovely city and a fine place to live, however, we do not have the best cycling here....
agree with Melbourne, Australia. Beautiful and there's some great places. but the really good places are outside of the city limits and comparative to europe.....don't stand a chance.
Upstate NY near Albany. To enjoy riding here you have to ride in a rural area. Pretty much all city and suburban roads are dangerous and unpleasant. Riding in the countryside is a joy, but you can only ride outside comfortably in May through October. I have to switch to running/lifting/zwift/occasional freezing cold ride for 6 months which kinda sucks.
Hey Mitch where in the Alps are you going to this summer? Will you be in Nice for the final stages of the Tour? As a native of Nice living in LA I'm happy to share recommendations with you (cycling and non cycling related!). Love the rides in LA, but the world class climbs a stone throw away the city and the food in Nice are hard to beat
I’ll take all the recommendations! Splitting my time between the French Alps (around Col du Galibier) and some of the Dolomites (gotta hit up a few stupidly steep Italian climbs)
@@MitchBoyer Do you plan to stop around Nice on your way to Italy? This is the area I know best. Also I have a video idea for you: why don't you join the French Mafia Cycling Club of Los Angeles for a ride before heading to our beautiful country? Croissants provided.
@@nicolasduhaut7233 Unfortunatley no Nice on this trip. I'm only dipping into the French Alps for a few days before heading to Switzerland and then Northern Italy. I might have to stop by the French Mafia Cycling Club just for the croissants 😜
@@MitchBoyer Let's make this happen! The FMCC rides every weekend around the Hollywood hills, SM mountains or Palos Verdes. It's a fun group, full of Frenchies 😁!
East LA county and the IE can be heatwave hell late June to early Oct where the long,mountain climbs, tons of hills, and more dirt riding. So best CA riding year round is up north for mid spring to mid fall. Late fall to spring is Socal if you avoid the heavy traffic areas.
I know Mitch rode a mountain bike many years ago. An interesting video could be of him getting a modern bike with the suspension dialed in for his weight and give it a try on local trails.
And on the topic that his zone 2 is like your zone 5.... and you already being an above average cyclicst makes me wonder - what would be the best area to ride for a below average Cyclist? Area that has nice roads, beautiful landscapes, low/allmost no traffic and not too much variation in altitude?
If you live in Los Angeles, the bike paths would be pretty decent. It doesn't have a great landscape, but it checks out all your other boxes. I recommend the Rio Hondo and San Gabriel bike paths. There are homeless people but I've never had a problem with them since I started riding 10 years ago.
The Donut, and Friendly Donut, rides are great if you live outside of Central LA or The Valley and don't want to hop in a car. Riding south of LA in Palos Verdes doesn't offer climbs as epic as Malibu, but it does provide fun climbs with stunning views of the ocean, LA county, and Catalina.
Drivers everywhere can be insane. Here in southern France I was riding through a natural park and a driver through trash at me when he passed me for seemingly no reason. I would love to see a video like this highlighting Mountainbiking/gravel in LA, since this has seriously changed my view of the city.
As a European I just can't even imagine to start my ride at another place than my home. Since I was little, we learned to be kind of ecological and autonomous with our bikes, so having to take your car to go to a place where it's safer to ride or just to narrow down the distance of your ride... Can't imagine. In that way, Nice (it's the only of the examples you named that I know, so I will talk about Nice) is a really "small" town compare to LA so in like 5 or 10km you are in the countryside from west to east to north with the diversity of landscapes, roads and nature you can get ! 20minutes from the ultra center of the city and you are cruising along the beach or in the "pre-alps" : short and steep climbs or mid long and not really steep ones (perfect for threshold sessions). And if you ride around two hours starting in the city to the mountains, you've got such epic alp's pass Of course that's really different from LA, can't judge if that's objectively better or not but to me, that's the most important thing !
I've lived all 36 years of my life here in LA. There are a handful of bike paths that are separated from traffic in the city but they are all along the same with man-made-grey-concrete river environment. Some of them are about ~45km long one way so they make a nice endurance ride (i.e. Rio Honda River Bike Path, and San Gabriel River Bike Path). And that's pretty much all we get in the city. To make it worse, those river bike paths aren't accessible for everyone. One might still have to drive to them. Personally, I think LA is trash to ride.
I agree with you! I can ride out from my door and within 15 mins I'm on a (1400 m HC) climb that lasts around 2 hours depending on how hard I'm going. If I want to continue, I can easily turn it into a 3500-4000 m climbing day (as long as I warn my wife ahead of time, lol). And when I get home I can go out to eat at my favorite restaurants. It makes a huge difference in quality of life :) Malibu is the best of LA, but there are lot's of proper mountain climbs all over the city. My hope with the video was to show people how good LA riding is, but I fear I turned too many people off with my hyperbole (obviously you can't actually compare one city to an entire continent) 😅 Like I said in the video, there is incredible riding everywhere!
@@MitchBoyer thanks for your feedback ! I definitely understand what you tried to show in this video and I love the fact that you open the door to discuss about it 👍 Would love to ride around LA someday, I hope for a day when planes won't be so bad for the planet 😭
Honorable mentions for me would be Glendora Mountain Road, Glendora Ridge Road to Mt Baldy, Crystal Lake (off Hwy 39) & the killer of all rides, Circle of Doom (Encanto Park/Angelus Crest Hwy/Hwy 39 (includes closed section)/Encanto Park)
Europe: Mont Ventoux, Tourmalet, Mortirolo, Cobbles sections of Paris-Roubaix, Paterberg, Koppenberg, Oude Kwaremont, Angliru, Canary Island High Altitude rides + good weather all year, Mallorca, Balkans, the Dolomites, countryside roads of Portugal or France, Vasque Country or Flanders (in general), cycling infraestructure of The Netherlands, Euro Velo, Camino de Santiago and so on, and so on... California: Sorry, I am going to leave the debate. We know how US always try to sell their thing as "the best", but comparing California with an entire continent as Europe is pretty lean. *Kindly, add more European cycling destinations, climbs or routes below 🙂
I wouldn’t include the Ardennes.. except for watching a historic race, who wants to ride in the rain and slip n slide in the mud? The Mediterranean islands look pretty good
We plan a trip to Westlake and ride the Malibu canyons (Latigo, Piuma, Yerba Buenu, Decker, Encinal....) to prepare for cycling the Alps and Dolomites in Europe. Those Malibu canyon roads are beautiful and quiet. The PCH is busy but not terrible. LA is easier for us to get to than Europe for great cycling. We will be back
@@MitchBoyer Excellent 🙌 Allez LA didn't show up on google maps "bike shop" search in the area but will give them a call. Maybe see ya around this weekend if riding.
I grew up in the Valley and I've been riding road and MTB in the Santa Monica mountains for 10 odd years. Yes, the terrain can be pretty, but as other people have said, the drivers here are nuts. And if you decide to go on some dirt, good luck finding shade, especially during the summer. People always say the weather here is amazing, but what they don't mention is when it's 100-110 degrees and there's no shade and no water stops around. I think the Bay Area could make a pretty good case for being just as good of a cycling destination as LA.
I’m fairly new to cycling. I live in the South Bay where beach rides are perfectly fine and Palos Verdes does have some fun climbs, but getting out to Malibu on PCH sounds pretty sketch and Griffith requires riding through the famously safe LA streets so I’ve definitely been missing out on all that LA has to offer.😂
It's great here, but I will say that Europe is mostly as good but the cars aren't trying to literally kill you the whole time. How you get treated in Spain is way way way different than I get treated here in Nor Cal.
Weather looks nice but the asphalt looks terrible. Been cycling in Utah, France, Spain, Italy, Greece, Sweden and Norway (where i live). Italy is hands down the best place to cycle!
I always poo pood LA since I grew up north of Sacramento and only ever really experienced LA in passing, never rode there. But I know that is an error. This video is amazing and makes me homesick! I also would say that up north going from Sacramento up into the Sierra Nevadas there is also tons of great riding but I have to agree with some of the other comments here that the drivers are just not as cyclist-tolerant in California. I live in Paris and riding to get anywhere requires busy roads but at least drivers are chill for the most part. No beach though... 😭 PS: My first year in France, I lived on the "route de Chamrousse" just outside Grenoble. That was when I was in my best shape ever. Just constant alpine riding and trail running and views for days, I sure do miss that...
I live in Markdorf (Germany) on the Bodensee. We have very cool route variety and I can access quickly and easily (without a car) routes in Germany, Austria and Switzerland… if you want you can ride around the Bodensee through 4 countries in 1 day 👍 your area in the US looks really cool 😎 I hope I get the chance to check it out some day… great content 🥳
Hi Mitch, it would be great to show you around Majorca this spring. We’re there from March to the end of May. If you’re interested give me a shout. I think you will be surprised. I use to ride LA alot but I my opinion Majorca is much better. Let me prove it to you.
dude, I live in Boston and the cycling is kinda.. bad. I have to go to NH to get anything close to what you guys have out there... You're convincing me to get a new job in LA so I can ride bikes.
I live in NorCal and have 2k foot climbs basically out of my door. However, I moved here from Boston and I loved the riding there too. There are way more options for chill rides through quiet countryside outside of Boston, and due to the nature of the roads out there, you can often have your choices of road to get through an area where in CA there’s only one road. It allows some more variety! What I don’t miss is practicing “climbing” the tiny hills in Arlington that would be a driveway here.
You're giving all our spots away Mitch! 😂 Angeles Crest I agree with the Palmdale Speedway portion of it is terrible. Better to park and ride after the fork in my opinion. Further over there is also GMR, Crystal Lake and Baldy. Last two being probably the toughest in LA. Crystal from East Fork is Hors category. Baldy looks just as tough. I've driven those Malibu canyons many times. Maybe have to make out to Latigo Tuesday for a long threshold effort. That looks fun. The drive out and back not so much.
GMR is a gem! Was trying to squeeze it into the video but there’s so much already. Latigo threshold workouts are about as good as you can make threshold workouts… at least the views on the descents are nice haha
@@MitchBoyer Yeah that's what I've been using GMR for. Perfect for threshold. Latigo should be a nice change of pace with that ocean breeze on the way down.
I would like to say i do not live at the best place to ride. I live in Longyearbyen, Svalbard. We have about 45km of roads, mostly gravel, practically never above 15°c. But we DO have the best views!
I would agree. As a Californian road enthusiast, cyclist and motorcyclist, if I didn’t go outside and enjoy the outdoors, California wouldn’t be worth it. Year around cycle season, all sorts of types of riding MTB gravel road town beach urban whatever. Phil had the KOM on all my local mountains too, I trust his opinion. 😂
Living in the Midwest isn’t the best for cycling but Minneapolis is still one of the best cities for cycling in America. No big climbs but great coffee and beer to stop for
Well what about cycling culture, infrastructure, traffic and drivers? Most of the roads featured in ths video I would probably avoid if they were in Europe, they just seem like wide open "main" roads. Part of what makes cycling in Europe great is the abundance of quiet narrow backroads with almost zero traffic.
17 Celsius isn't 2 Bad . Try 6-12 Celsius. Wouldn't live in Down Town or the Suburbs in LA. If there was a nice little town @ the bottom of these Climbs l would be up 4 it . Otherwise the Warm part of Spain 🇪🇸 in Winter & Andorra/ sLOVEnia in Summer ☀️
California might have a great climate etc for cycling, but overall i would expect Europe to have better cycling conditions when it comes to roads, safety standards etc. And when it comes to areas like Mallorca people on the Road just expcect Cyclist to be there - especially the early "vacation time for cyclist" on Mallorca is still kind of off season for regular tourist, so it is even better!
spectacular vid, love it! yeah angelest crest is kinda the worst lmao. People literally race that on motos all day long its super sketch. Griffith is my jam tho
Speaking as one who’s lived in Southern and Northern California for many years, there isn’t even a question. Europe is far better. The difference comes down to two points: First, road surfaces are better in Europe. California has an increasing number of chip seal roads that, quite simply, make for rough, teeth rattling riding. Maybe it’s a budget thing, but it’s lousy for biking. I long said gravel bikes should be renamed-to California road bikes instead. Second, drivers are far more patient and respectful of cyclists in Europe than here. In fact, it isn’t even close. I can ride in France or Italy for weeks or longer without ever worrying about close calls with overly aggressive drivers. Meanwhile, I can barely complete a short training ride here without having a close call or almost getting taken out.
Having ridden in both LA and different parts of Europe, riding in LA is definitely not better than Europe. It is underrated though because once you do get out of the city (which sucks to do and never feels safe because the US is so tunnelvisioned on cars) the riding is amazing. In Europe though... The riding is always amazing, much more diverse views compared to LA and much much much safer.
SOCAL SUPREMACY. I don't know how to explain it. Catching the sunset from the canyons, driving into Topanga, spending half a check on a nice italian dinner in laurel, dealing with the intensity of downtown. Dodgers games. Mexican food anywhere east of La Brea at night, weekend spent in the south Bay or any expensive beach down the coast south laguna into san clemente. 70 degree winters. It's obvious!
I was born and raised in L.A. and had no clue L.A. was a great place to ride a bike. The map around Griffith was amazing. One thing is I know L.A. divers hate cyclists. I've learned that L.A. is great for training but don't ride alone. Someone will run you down and not give a sh*t. Good luck.
I live in the west of the Netherlands and the cycling here is very very average. Too many intersections, too many traffic lights, too many other road users. It's one big traffic park.
As someone that lives in Utah, a state with some of the best cycling... the LA area and California in general is better, and almost certainly the best state in the country to ride.
It does look beautiful in LA wow, but the roads look terrible 😮, that being said , we have terrible roads in Belgium as well 😅 AND crazy car drivers...
USA would be good for cycling if you didn't have terrible drivers and car centric infrastructure. Like having to go on big highways to get to nice roads would ruin everything. In most of Europe from your door you can be on small winding country roads.
cycling in California is amazing, but the thing Europe seems to have over it is driver respect/road safety in certain parts of Europe that doesn't exist here in the states.
That's it. Same that appies to the California-Europe comparison, applies to Spain-Rest of Europe. Driver respect for riders in Spain is way ahead than the rest of Europe. And if you want more respect, you should avoid the tourist trap that are is Mallorca, where there are a ton of rentals driven by tourist from all over Europe, and go to peninsular Spain.
Finally, if you are a proper cyclist (#5, HTFU), northern Spain is your final destination.
@@DanielMartinezRomero Agreed. Non-existent in England, amazing in Spain.
We also have roads when you might never see a car at all
@@EmmanuelNataf Maybe in London. I have no issues with drivers in South West England. The only problem are crappy roads, but at least the drivers are not trying to kill you.
@@帥勾克里斯 Definitely better outside of the big cities
cycling in LA would be better than Europe if drivers in LA weren't borderline insane
I was going to ask how the drivers were in general.. that’s a shame to hear they’re insane. Where I live (Brisbane, Au) there are some awesome rides and the weather is great, but wouldn’t recommend visiting.. I’ve been hit 4 times in the past 3 years.. its not that they’re overly psychotic, they’re just plain retarded and wouldn’t notice a cyclist until they’re sliding over their bonnet
LA appears to be similar to where I live (Brisbane, Aus).. great rides, fantastic weather.. but asshole drivers.. I’ve been hit 4 times in the past 3 years. They’re not that psychotic here, just plain retarded.. they won’t notice a cyclist until they’re sliding over their bonnet
@@josephsong8911 I've become numb to it, eventually I'll be a black and white Lycra stain on GMR and I'll have had a smile on my face when the Cadillac Escapade squashed me
I think that drivers are insane everywhere. I live in Europe and I ride only cycling lanes as I would get killed on the roads.
Maybe not entirely drivers? America is very car-centric, having fast moving, wide lane roads causing unsafe conditions for cyclists.
You can't beat the alps and the dolomites in my opinion...
I know it's just a fun little video, but comparing LA/California to "Europe" as a monolithic place in terms of riding is...interesting. Cycling conditions (roads, cycling infrastructure, drivers, weather) are SO different from region to region, let alone country to country. Somehow most people from the US and UK focus on Mallorca and Girona, but there are so many other places with great cycling culture. I was amazed how different riding in Germany is from riding in Switzerland or Italy. You should visit! edit: Ah, looks like you will very soon :D
I haven’t ridden in California but it does look incredible! One point I would make, and I think a lot of people in the US don’t realize, is that a week long cycling holiday in Spain is likely much more affordable than in somewhere like LA. Honestly even if you live within driving distance of LA, you could probably spend the same amount to go to Spain given how much cheaper accommodation and eating out is!
Looking forward to “testing” this myself 😜
Cheaper and MUCH better accomodation in Europe.
What makes Girona perfect is how much respect cars give you, and the tarmac is excellent.
Agreed. Didn’t see a single pothole in 400 miles
Could you also do a similar video on the cycling in the Bay Area and San Diego??
yes please
LA looks amazing; the Brian Safa clips got me convinced. The traffic down the coast seems a bit risky though. Some destinations that haven't been mentioned are Calpe (the number one most popular winter cycling destination for Euro pros), Tenerife and Granada. While none will score higher than LA on the weather, Calpe has excellent, endless roads and is very laid-back and safe for cycling. Mallorca is cycling heaven as well, and with regards to the weather: any pro will have to ride / train in some rain or chilly circumstances, if only to get used to it when such conditions are occurring in the actual races. I would also argue that at least 1-2 months of chilly and even wet weather are good for variety and even training: you can go more off-road and you won't melt when doing hard efforts on shorter climbs.
Safa is a UA-cam cycling legend. Loved his l.a. vids of the coast going downhill
What a great intro to biking in LA! I've lived in LA for 4 years now without a car and while I've always bike everywhere, I've only recently embraced it as a hobby. Can wait to try some of these routes once I can afford a road bike and build up a bit more (lot more) cardio!
Went to Tenerife for the first time last year for a weeklong cycling trip. I can see why pros go there to train for the Grand Tours. The pavement is unbelievable, drivers courteous, food amazing, and views are absolutely breathtaking. You gotta go there next!
Dang this is a good video - Can’t wait for the alps video this summer.
More of this! Thanks for the Strava links and also Phil’s interview. I’m strongly considering the Cookie Fondo in 2025. I’ve done Hollywood hills with the Rapha club ride before and it was a lot of fun, despite me also being at threshold.
I’m in Montreal and it’s much cheaper for me to spend a week in Girona than a week in LA.
LA seems way too car centric for me, with the need to hop in a car to head to your starting point. 1 more point for Girona, a more walkable city with civilized drivers.
Food much better too
I live in LA and it’s much cheaper for me to spend a week cycling in Girona too!!
Loved your interview with Mark. I admit I’ve been so busy the last 6 months that I haven’t watched many of your videos but I will make a point to watch and comment to help boost your awesome channel. I didn’t understand why I was captivated by your videos until hearing the interview today. It’s because you’re so talented and skilled in cinematic execution (something I don’t understand). So basically, your delivery seems effortless - although I now understand it takes a lot of heart and soul. Thank you
PS - My husband grew up in Torrance. I grew up in Merced (NW of Fresno). We left CA in 1994. I really don’t think much about it anymore but this video makes me want to take a cycling vacay in LA area.
Every country in the world has the potential to be amazing for cycling, it all depends on cycling infrastructure and people's attitudes towards cyclists.
So happy to be riding with you out here! 🤩
Always fun trying to hold your wheels… even if I can only survive for a few seconds 😂
Vids keep getting better and better
Thanks dude!
True, CA has best cycling. But it's in Nor-CAL ;)
Truth
No doubt, LA has some amazing cycling, and the weather is generally perfect for it.
But I agree, NorCal (specifically the bay) has just some of the best cycling in the country. The weather is nearly as ideal, there are just tons of different routes to various climbs, ridges, descents. The big 3 mountains (Tam, Diablo, and Hamilton) all offer different levels of difficulty and you can ride across the Golden Gate Bridge, (which always kinda sucks, but the views...) just can't do that in LA.
Mitch! You did those steep streets in SF, come back and do some longer routes in Marin, the Peninsula, the East Bay! There's much for you to see!
This man does not lie. Just moved from SoCal to NorCal. SoCal riding is recreation whereas NorCal riding treats it as a sport it seems.
@@dudfourthree I've done Hamiliton, Kings Ridge and Sierra. I prefer the weather up north as its cooler in the summer. And there are better bike lanes, at least around Santa Clara/San Jose area. King's Ridge was stunning. Hamilton was great I mainly liked that technical descent. Sierra stood out to me because of the steepness for the length. Not aware of one like that in LA. But we do have a lot of variety. He didn't mention Crystal Lake or Baldy. Which are probably the two hardest climbs around here.
Lol here for the ensuing comment battle 🍿
Met a buddy on the Ponies ride visiting from Scotland. He insisted we climb Mt. Baldy (30 miles east of the county border) and by God, we took the train, midwinter, and did it. Another month I met an Australian who showed up without any other plan than “riding and eating through the city”. He titled our Malibu ride “Gotta get my Visa!” Here you’ll ride alongside a traveler, a world tour pro, or newbie who depends on you. We have as many unique cyclists as we do roads to share them with.
Oh, and I too find myself stuttering over Celsius. Always a pleasure riding with (chasing) you, Mitch.
Did not expect a Wilhelm scream.
🫡
Also the weather point or not having rain; I find the nature in LA is just dry and desert like. Plus the road surface seems to be pretty bad in comparison to Mallorca at least.
Hello from a fellow French cyclist who actually lives in Nice and would never leave this place even for a fortune 😁
I would definitely love to try LA roads one day. I was there years ago but I was not into cycling at that time. LA looks awesome as long as you don't get too close to the city.
At the beginning of the video you stated, "everybody thinks that where they live has the best cycling." I live in Omaha, NE. A lovely city and a fine place to live, however, we do not have the best cycling here....
agree with Melbourne, Australia. Beautiful and there's some great places. but the really good places are outside of the city limits and comparative to europe.....don't stand a chance.
Haha fair. I imagine the wind there is pretty gnarly
Upstate NY near Albany. To enjoy riding here you have to ride in a rural area. Pretty much all city and suburban roads are dangerous and unpleasant. Riding in the countryside is a joy, but you can only ride outside comfortably in May through October. I have to switch to running/lifting/zwift/occasional freezing cold ride for 6 months which kinda sucks.
If you only have a couple hours then I recommend Pedalers Fork, down 7-min, up Piuma, across Saddle Peak, down Fernwood, back via Old Topanga.
Great loop!
I live below Baldy. Love riding in SoCal.
You sold me onto sungod.. they’re amazing.
Hey Mitch where in the Alps are you going to this summer? Will you be in Nice for the final stages of the Tour? As a native of Nice living in LA I'm happy to share recommendations with you (cycling and non cycling related!).
Love the rides in LA, but the world class climbs a stone throw away the city and the food in Nice are hard to beat
I’ll take all the recommendations! Splitting my time between the French Alps (around Col du Galibier) and some of the Dolomites (gotta hit up a few stupidly steep Italian climbs)
@@MitchBoyer Do you plan to stop around Nice on your way to Italy? This is the area I know best.
Also I have a video idea for you: why don't you join the French Mafia Cycling Club of Los Angeles for a ride before heading to our beautiful country? Croissants provided.
@@nicolasduhaut7233 Unfortunatley no Nice on this trip. I'm only dipping into the French Alps for a few days before heading to Switzerland and then Northern Italy. I might have to stop by the French Mafia Cycling Club just for the croissants 😜
@@MitchBoyer Let's make this happen! The FMCC rides every weekend around the Hollywood hills, SM mountains or Palos Verdes. It's a fun group, full of Frenchies 😁!
East LA county and the IE can be heatwave hell late June to early Oct where the long,mountain climbs, tons of hills, and more dirt riding. So best CA riding year round is up north for mid spring to mid fall. Late fall to spring is Socal if you avoid the heavy traffic areas.
im a east coast guy but spent a year cycling in los angeles..great stuff and you will become a better climber...malibu is mind blowing
I know Mitch rode a mountain bike many years ago. An interesting video could be of him getting a modern bike with the suspension dialed in for his weight and give it a try on local trails.
Might need a break from road cycling after my trip this summer. Might be a good time to “cross train” by starting mountain biking again 🤔
And on the topic that his zone 2 is like your zone 5.... and you already being an above average cyclicst makes me wonder - what would be the best area to ride for a below average Cyclist? Area that has nice roads, beautiful landscapes, low/allmost no traffic and not too much variation in altitude?
If you live in Los Angeles, the bike paths would be pretty decent. It doesn't have a great landscape, but it checks out all your other boxes. I recommend the Rio Hondo and San Gabriel bike paths. There are homeless people but I've never had a problem with them since I started riding 10 years ago.
The Donut, and Friendly Donut, rides are great if you live outside of Central LA or The Valley and don't want to hop in a car. Riding south of LA in Palos Verdes doesn't offer climbs as epic as Malibu, but it does provide fun climbs with stunning views of the ocean, LA county, and Catalina.
Riding in LA seems fun. IF the car drivers weren’t completely out off their mind
No lies detected. I’m partial to La Canada / Pasadena but epic rides all over this crazy town…
what’s your fav route there?
Boyer-velo Tours of LA... When?
Come up to Norcal again and we can show you Iowa Hill Road for some tough hills. Team Coconut Cycling will come and support you
I will say, LA and the thousand oaks area are climbing DESTINATIONS
Drivers everywhere can be insane. Here in southern France I was riding through a natural park and a driver through trash at me when he passed me for seemingly no reason. I would love to see a video like this highlighting Mountainbiking/gravel in LA, since this has seriously changed my view of the city.
I live near the alps, so definitely keen on seeing this video.
As a European I just can't even imagine to start my ride at another place than my home. Since I was little, we learned to be kind of ecological and autonomous with our bikes, so having to take your car to go to a place where it's safer to ride or just to narrow down the distance of your ride... Can't imagine. In that way, Nice (it's the only of the examples you named that I know, so I will talk about Nice) is a really "small" town compare to LA so in like 5 or 10km you are in the countryside from west to east to north with the diversity of landscapes, roads and nature you can get ! 20minutes from the ultra center of the city and you are cruising along the beach or in the "pre-alps" : short and steep climbs or mid long and not really steep ones (perfect for threshold sessions). And if you ride around two hours starting in the city to the mountains, you've got such epic alp's pass
Of course that's really different from LA, can't judge if that's objectively better or not but to me, that's the most important thing !
I've lived all 36 years of my life here in LA. There are a handful of bike paths that are separated from traffic in the city but they are all along the same with man-made-grey-concrete river environment. Some of them are about ~45km long one way so they make a nice endurance ride (i.e. Rio Honda River Bike Path, and San Gabriel River Bike Path). And that's pretty much all we get in the city. To make it worse, those river bike paths aren't accessible for everyone. One might still have to drive to them. Personally, I think LA is trash to ride.
I agree with you! I can ride out from my door and within 15 mins I'm on a (1400 m HC) climb that lasts around 2 hours depending on how hard I'm going. If I want to continue, I can easily turn it into a 3500-4000 m climbing day (as long as I warn my wife ahead of time, lol). And when I get home I can go out to eat at my favorite restaurants. It makes a huge difference in quality of life :) Malibu is the best of LA, but there are lot's of proper mountain climbs all over the city. My hope with the video was to show people how good LA riding is, but I fear I turned too many people off with my hyperbole (obviously you can't actually compare one city to an entire continent) 😅 Like I said in the video, there is incredible riding everywhere!
@@MitchBoyer thanks for your feedback ! I definitely understand what you tried to show in this video and I love the fact that you open the door to discuss about it 👍 Would love to ride around LA someday, I hope for a day when planes won't be so bad for the planet 😭
I MADE THE CUT! I feel famous :P
🫶
Honorable mentions for me would be Glendora Mountain Road, Glendora Ridge Road to Mt Baldy, Crystal Lake (off Hwy 39) & the killer of all rides, Circle of Doom (Encanto Park/Angelus Crest Hwy/Hwy 39 (includes closed section)/Encanto Park)
Been waiting for this vid! Love it, I'm going to do Latigo for my next Malibu ride
Europe: Mont Ventoux, Tourmalet, Mortirolo, Cobbles sections of Paris-Roubaix, Paterberg, Koppenberg, Oude Kwaremont, Angliru, Canary Island High Altitude rides + good weather all year, Mallorca, Balkans, the Dolomites, countryside roads of Portugal or France, Vasque Country or Flanders (in general), cycling infraestructure of The Netherlands, Euro Velo, Camino de Santiago and so on, and so on...
California: Sorry, I am going to leave the debate.
We know how US always try to sell their thing as "the best", but comparing California with an entire continent as Europe is pretty lean.
*Kindly, add more European cycling destinations, climbs or routes below 🙂
Stelvio, Passo Rombo, Col de Galibier, Col du Telegraph, Col de L’Iseran, Sa Calobra
I wouldn’t include the Ardennes.. except for watching a historic race, who wants to ride in the rain and slip n slide in the mud? The Mediterranean islands look pretty good
California is bigger than any European country. Europe as a whole is just tiny compared to the US.
@@lolbubs11111 Geography differs from your afirmation.
California: 423.970 km²
USA: 9.147.593 km²
Europe as a whole: 10.530.000 km²
@@Oakpathetics I haven't mentioned the Ardennes. I guess you are mistaken it from Flanders.
Canadian rockies ..
Oregon coast ..
Bend Oregon..
Chang mai Thailand..
We plan a trip to Westlake and ride the Malibu canyons (Latigo, Piuma, Yerba Buenu, Decker, Encinal....) to prepare for cycling the Alps and Dolomites in Europe. Those Malibu canyon roads are beautiful and quiet. The PCH is busy but not terrible.
LA is easier for us to get to than Europe for great cycling. We will be back
Long shot but bike rental/shops in the Mt. Washington LA area?
I’m not sure if they do rentals, but Allez LA is a really great local shop in the area
@@MitchBoyer Excellent 🙌 Allez LA didn't show up on google maps "bike shop" search in the area but will give them a call. Maybe see ya around this weekend if riding.
Really been struggling 63 f 😅
Thank you for your concern 🙏
I grew up in the Valley and I've been riding road and MTB in the Santa Monica mountains for 10 odd years. Yes, the terrain can be pretty, but as other people have said, the drivers here are nuts. And if you decide to go on some dirt, good luck finding shade, especially during the summer. People always say the weather here is amazing, but what they don't mention is when it's 100-110 degrees and there's no shade and no water stops around.
I think the Bay Area could make a pretty good case for being just as good of a cycling destination as LA.
I’m fairly new to cycling. I live in the South Bay where beach rides are perfectly fine and Palos Verdes does have some fun climbs, but getting out to Malibu on PCH sounds pretty sketch and Griffith requires riding through the famously safe LA streets so I’ve definitely been missing out on all that LA has to offer.😂
It's great here, but I will say that Europe is mostly as good but the cars aren't trying to literally kill you the whole time. How you get treated in Spain is way way way different than I get treated here in Nor Cal.
come to socal. Makes norcal look like Spain.
Northern California (San Jose, CA and nearby cities) give LA cycling 😊a run for its money!
Long sleeves in 17°C - LOL!
Try living and cycling somewhere without a Mediterranean climate.
Would love to try cycling in SoCal though.
Haha very spoiled here. I moved from a much colder climate, it’s surprising how quickly I adapted 😅
Weather looks nice but the asphalt looks terrible. Been cycling in Utah, France, Spain, Italy, Greece, Sweden and Norway (where i live). Italy is hands down the best place to cycle!
La roads aren’t perfect but light years better than Massachusetts
Latigo beach, nice point break!
palos verdes, has a ride that is peaty good, phil has the KOM on switch backs
Granted, a lot of LA does look like a burnt Fallout hellscape, but the cycling season is basically forever.
"more of LA touches mountains than beaches." woah
I always poo pood LA since I grew up north of Sacramento and only ever really experienced LA in passing, never rode there. But I know that is an error. This video is amazing and makes me homesick! I also would say that up north going from Sacramento up into the Sierra Nevadas there is also tons of great riding but I have to agree with some of the other comments here that the drivers are just not as cyclist-tolerant in California. I live in Paris and riding to get anywhere requires busy roads but at least drivers are chill for the most part. No beach though... 😭 PS: My first year in France, I lived on the "route de Chamrousse" just outside Grenoble. That was when I was in my best shape ever. Just constant alpine riding and trail running and views for days, I sure do miss that...
I live in Markdorf (Germany) on the Bodensee. We have very cool route variety and I can access quickly and easily (without a car) routes in Germany, Austria and Switzerland… if you want you can ride around the Bodensee through 4 countries in 1 day 👍 your area in the US looks really cool 😎 I hope I get the chance to check it out some day… great content 🥳
and you can do it in 4 different kinds of weather in one week in Germany
@@elleffeff thats part of the variety 😂
Having cycled through 28 countries, my favourites are: Switzerland, Turkey, Cuba, Thailand, New Zealand
How much does it cost cost to rent an apartment and do a 2 week training camp in LA vs Mallorca? I bet it's more than double.
Hi Mitch, it would be great to show you around Majorca this spring. We’re there from March to the end of May. If you’re interested give me a shout. I think you will be surprised. I use to ride LA alot but I my opinion Majorca is much better. Let me prove it to you.
dude, I live in Boston and the cycling is kinda.. bad. I have to go to NH to get anything close to what you guys have out there... You're convincing me to get a new job in LA so I can ride bikes.
Don’t, LA sucks. I went to bike to Malibu and the it felt my life was in danger …. Cause of the cars
@@rodrigochaname I'd be interested to compare the two cities. I have biked in France and Switzerland though. It was pretty sweet.
I live in NorCal and have 2k foot climbs basically out of my door. However, I moved here from Boston and I loved the riding there too.
There are way more options for chill rides through quiet countryside outside of Boston, and due to the nature of the roads out there, you can often have your choices of road to get through an area where in CA there’s only one road. It allows some more variety!
What I don’t miss is practicing “climbing” the tiny hills in Arlington that would be a driveway here.
You're giving all our spots away Mitch! 😂 Angeles Crest I agree with the Palmdale Speedway portion of it is terrible. Better to park and ride after the fork in my opinion. Further over there is also GMR, Crystal Lake and Baldy. Last two being probably the toughest in LA. Crystal from East Fork is Hors category. Baldy looks just as tough. I've driven those Malibu canyons many times. Maybe have to make out to Latigo Tuesday for a long threshold effort. That looks fun. The drive out and back not so much.
GMR is a gem! Was trying to squeeze it into the video but there’s so much already. Latigo threshold workouts are about as good as you can make threshold workouts… at least the views on the descents are nice haha
@@MitchBoyer Yeah that's what I've been using GMR for. Perfect for threshold. Latigo should be a nice change of pace with that ocean breeze on the way down.
I would like to say i do not live at the best place to ride. I live in Longyearbyen, Svalbard. We have about 45km of roads, mostly gravel, practically never above 15°c. But we DO have the best views!
I would agree. As a Californian road enthusiast, cyclist and motorcyclist, if I didn’t go outside and enjoy the outdoors, California wouldn’t be worth it.
Year around cycle season, all sorts of types of riding MTB gravel road town beach urban whatever.
Phil had the KOM on all my local mountains too, I trust his opinion. 😂
Living in the Midwest isn’t the best for cycling but Minneapolis is still one of the best cities for cycling in America. No big climbs but great coffee and beer to stop for
Well what about cycling culture, infrastructure, traffic and drivers? Most of the roads featured in ths video I would probably avoid if they were in Europe, they just seem like wide open "main" roads. Part of what makes cycling in Europe great is the abundance of quiet narrow backroads with almost zero traffic.
17 Celsius isn't 2 Bad . Try 6-12 Celsius.
Wouldn't live in Down Town or the Suburbs in LA.
If there was a nice little town @ the bottom of these Climbs l would be up 4 it .
Otherwise the Warm part of Spain 🇪🇸 in Winter & Andorra/ sLOVEnia in Summer ☀️
I laughed in Oceanic Climate when he said they'd had a rough year because it was 17C and foggy outside LOL
California might have a great climate etc for cycling, but overall i would expect Europe to have better cycling conditions when it comes to roads, safety standards etc. And when it comes to areas like Mallorca people on the Road just expcect Cyclist to be there - especially the early "vacation time for cyclist" on Mallorca is still kind of off season for regular tourist, so it is even better!
spectacular vid, love it!
yeah angelest crest is kinda the worst lmao. People literally race that on motos all day long its super sketch. Griffith is my jam tho
Speaking as one who’s lived in Southern and Northern California for many years, there isn’t even a question. Europe is far better. The difference comes down to two points:
First, road surfaces are better in Europe. California has an increasing number of chip seal roads that, quite simply, make for rough, teeth rattling riding. Maybe it’s a budget thing, but it’s lousy for biking. I long said gravel bikes should be renamed-to California road bikes instead.
Second, drivers are far more patient and respectful of cyclists in Europe than here. In fact, it isn’t even close. I can ride in France or Italy for weeks or longer without ever worrying about close calls with overly aggressive drivers. Meanwhile, I can barely complete a short training ride here without having a close call or almost getting taken out.
Having ridden in both LA and different parts of Europe, riding in LA is definitely not better than Europe. It is underrated though because once you do get out of the city (which sucks to do and never feels safe because the US is so tunnelvisioned on cars) the riding is amazing.
In Europe though... The riding is always amazing, much more diverse views compared to LA and much much much safer.
SOCAL SUPREMACY. I don't know how to explain it. Catching the sunset from the canyons, driving into Topanga, spending half a check on a nice italian dinner in laurel, dealing with the intensity of downtown. Dodgers games. Mexican food anywhere east of La Brea at night, weekend spent in the south Bay or any expensive beach down the coast south laguna into san clemente. 70 degree winters. It's obvious!
I think once LA introduces more bike friendly infrastructure it could easily become the cycling capital of the world
I think Phil should go to Allicante.
I had to grab a tissue during the weather portion of this video… too soon 😢
It’s been rough out there 😰
Which toe covers are you using?
The standard toe covers from QUOC. They work well with the new M3 Airs 🫡
I was born and raised in L.A. and had no clue L.A. was a great place to ride a bike. The map around Griffith was amazing. One thing is I know L.A. divers hate cyclists. I've learned that L.A. is great for training but don't ride alone. Someone will run you down and not give a sh*t. Good luck.
Unfortunately that last part seems to be everywhere now… so at least the terrain is nice ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
@@MitchBoyer Love your pictograph. Very creative too. : )
whereever you live is the best place because it doesn't cost a dime to get there.
Malibu has great climbing, views, temps, clean air. Just don’t ride on the weekends and get splattered by a motorcycle or Lamborghini
No love for World Famous Montrose where pros ride all the time. Phil used to ride it when he was a pro.
Still haven’t made it out myself! Definitely need to sometime soon
I live in the west of the Netherlands and the cycling here is very very average. Too many intersections, too many traffic lights, too many other road users. It's one big traffic park.
Don't believe you, buy me a ticket so I can test this 👀
Weather…terrain…altitude
Pick two… oh wait, you can have all three here 😜
Its probably super nice but its soo expensive and you need to have a car to take your bike places.
The City of L.A. Is tiny, however the County of L.A. Is massive.
As someone that lives in Utah, a state with some of the best cycling... the LA area and California in general is better, and almost certainly the best state in the country to ride.
Man I’d love to ride anywhere in the US it looks amazing 😊❤ Pete 🚴🏻🚴🏻
It does look beautiful in LA wow, but the roads look terrible 😮, that being said , we have terrible roads in Belgium as well 😅 AND crazy car drivers...
Loads of amazing places to ride bikes around the world, the main issue is cars.
Thank god I live in Altadena
The first time I accidentally stumbled on Mt Lowe Railway during a ride I quickly started questioning all my life decisions 😅
@@MitchBoyer 🤣
Respectfully disagree ;) - wait until you see the Alps. :P (European living in the Alps here)
Very much looking forward to being wrong (Either way I get to experience great riding)!
Nice to see the nice Phil (not the prickly defensive Phil)
USA would be good for cycling if you didn't have terrible drivers and car centric infrastructure. Like having to go on big highways to get to nice roads would ruin everything. In most of Europe from your door you can be on small winding country roads.
Beautiful! 👌
My place has the worst cycling, it’s flat and hot and no one cycles here in south east Texas
Coffee Region in Colombia.