ello and welcome to the Cyclegrades blog.
If this is your first time here, welcome! We blog about a variety of topics for beginner and intermediate cyclists and share information on cycling in LA.
For this week's post we’re diving into one of LA’s most popular cycling routes, Mandeville Canyon. This route is good for beginners and skilled riders as it's a steady incline with only one small hill at the end, so the difficulty is really just on how much you decide to push yourself.
In this post we’ll touch on where to park if you’re driving over, some local coffee spots if you’re visiting, and share a Strava map link so you can download the route to follow.
If you just want to preview the route right away here is the Strava link.
Cycling in LA
Before we get into the details I do want to touch on that there was a general conception that you may have heard of which is that “LA Sucks for Cycling.”
Even before I moved to Los Angeles I thought that cycling in LA would not be great due to all the cars, however I was very surprised by not only the variety of cycling out here but the cycling community is incredibly strong.
There are so many cyclists here that you can find rides to join almost every day of the week and with the generally great weather you can cycle almost year round.
There are cars like any other major city but there are tons of bike lanes and ways to avoid the cars that make cycling in LA actually pretty great.
Now with all that said let’s go into today’s route, Mandeville Canyon.
Mandeville Canyon
Mandeville Canyon is located on the westside of LA within the neighborhood of Brentwood which is just east of Santa Monica.
This has become an incredibly popular cycling route for locals and professionals as once you get on the main road called Mandeville Canyon Road, it’s a 5 mile plus straight route that steadily inclines to just over 1000 ft in elevation with an average incline of 3.8%.
The route leads to a dead end which makes it an easy path to follow and due to the gradual incline it offers a nice little challenge for those looking for a shorter (45min - 1hr) ride. Once you reach the end of the road you’re treated to a small hill to reach the “finish line” which is a great time to push your legs for one last effort. Finally, you’ll be rewarded for all that work with a very nice 15+ min descent back to the start of Mandeville Canyon.
Mandeville Canyon is also popular as it serves as a good barometer for your fitness because of its shorter length and clear start and end. As a result many cyclists like to ride it to see if they can beat their previous PRs and to check how they stack up against the many riders that have gone down this route.
In addition, the neighborhood is very pleasant to ride through with some nice houses to view as you cycle through it. Even though this route leads to a dead end there are cars that come through, but they are familiar with cyclists and will generally give you a wide berth as they pass. However it's always good to be visible on the road and I'd recommend at least a rear light.
So if you have an hour to spare and are looking for a nice ride in LA, Mandeville Canyon is a great option.
Strava Route
For the Strava Route I have it start in Santa Monica in a nice neighborhood where you’ll be able to find plenty of free parking should you be driving over. The only time you have to worry about parking here is on Friday’s at noon, which is when they do street cleaning.
There are also a few ways to get to the starting point of Mandeville Canyon, but I have you going through a few stoplights just to be safe as you’ll need to cross a couple of busy streets to get to the start of the main ride.
As we start in Santa Monica the overall ride comes out to about an hour to one and a half hours. On the way back I route you through one of the main streets where you can find plenty of cafes should you want a nice coffee afterwards. I've also included more detailed walkthrough at the end of this post with photos.
You can preview and download the route here.
Local Coffee Spots
As you make your way back, I take you down Montana Ave which offers a number of coffee shops you can stop at after your ride. This is a very safe neighborhood, however each of these places offer outdoor seating so your bike can remain in sight while you enjoy your coffee.
Bardonna
- Cafe and brunch place if you’re looking for something more than just coffee.
- I recommend the breakfast burrito.
- Most of the seating is outdoors and it can be busy on weekends.
- Link
La La Land Kind Cafe
- Trendy coffee spot with decent coffee and comfy outdoor seating.
- The line can be long as it’s a popular spot, especially on the weekend.
- They have a variety of pastries and fancy toast.
- Link
Cafe Luxxe
- Has great coffee and other little bites.
- I recommend the quiche here.
- The line generally is much more reasonable here than the first two cafes.
- Link
Primo Paso
- A local spot for grabbing some coffee and pastries in a quieter part of this main street.
- Link
Extra Credit
If you’re looking for some additional climbing there are some nice hills that parallel Mandeville Canyon Road. The following route will still have you start on Mandeville Canyon road but adds one of the bigger climbs along the way known as Westridge. Once you make this climb you’ll be led back down but then cut over to get back onto Mandeville Canyon.
Note the final climb up to Westridge is steep with a grade of 13 - 14%.
This route adds almost 1k ft of climbing, 2.7 miles, and about 30 min to the ride. Here is the Strava link.
Route Highlights
Below is a breakdown of the original route with some visuals as a guide if you've never been to this area before.
Starting Point
You'll begin in Santa Monica on 4th st by Montana Ave, where there is plenty of parking.
You'll head down 4th st until you hit a main road called San Vicente.
San Vicente
From 4th you'll make a right onto San Vicente which will take you all the way to Brentwood, where Mandeville Canyon is located.
You'll eventually reach a lighted intersection at 26th st. From here you'll want to get into the leftmost lane so you can turn left with the light.
Navigating the Brentwood Neighborhood
Once you make the left at the light, you'll now enter into one of the very nice neighborhoods of Brentwood. After passing a few blocks you'll want to make a right turn just before the street heads downhill at S Rockingham Ave.
From here you'll head straight until you reach a small intersection.
You'll want to make a quick right and then left, which will put you on Marlboro St. Following the road you'll soon hit Burlingame Ave.
Make a left at Burlingame Ave and head up until you've hit a stoplight at Sunset Blvd.
You'll want to make a left here. To help you cross, there is a button you can press to change the light.
Once you make a left, head down Sunset Blvd and until you see another stoplight. You'll want to make a right now which will finally bring you to Mandeville Canyon Rd. This will be the start of Mandeville Canyon.
Mandeville Canyon
From here on it's just straight all the way to where the road ends.
When you're about half way you'll see a sign for "Upper Mandeville"
The road will curve as you make your way to the end. But you should have nice greenery and houses as you pass through the neighborhood.
For the last mile the incline will increase and in the you'll see the road curve upward and to the left. This leads to a small punchy hill but also the end. So feel free to go all out to the finish. As of this writing the current KOM is by Phil Gaimon, a former pro cyclist, so it's always fun to see how close you can get.
When you get up to the hill you'll reach a green gate which signifies the end of the route. You've now completed Mandeville Canyon!
The Ride Back
Once you've recovered you'll now get a nice reward for your efforts, a nice downhill cruise back to the start.
When you get back to the start, you'll reach the lighted intersection on Sunset Blvd.
Make a left at the light and move into the right most lane. You'll then have one last small hill to climb back up Sunset Blvd. You'll then make a right at the first right turn availalble, which will put you back on S. Rockingham Ave.
Head down S. Rockingham Ave until you come across an intersection. Take the gradual left which will put you on Avondale Ave.
You'll then hit the main street of San Vicente again. Make a right here and head straight down.
Instead of heading directly back to your car, you can make a left turn on 17th St. Be careful here as you'll need to cross a few lanes to make that left. This will place you into a nice little neighborhood of Santa Monica.
Finally head down until you hit the main street of Montana Ave and make a right. You'll now be surrounded by shops and there are plenty of spots here to stop for coffee. When you'e done you just need to bike down Montana Ave to 4th st and you'll now be back where you car is.
Enjoy
I hope you enjoyed this route overview and please let me know if there is anything that would be helpful to add to these cycling route guides.
Also do check back here or follow us on social media as we’ll be posting more routes in the future.
