1st training ride on PCH

PCH can be great training, but there are large sections I avoid completely, especially during the summer.  I find north of Cross Creek to be where it starts to get a bit safer, but just had a BTer nailed there last week.

Be careful out there

I'm the BT'er that just got nailed out there...

PCH can be really nice, but watch yourself in areas where there are cars parallel parked on the shoulder.  They tend to pull out unexpectedly, without looking for cyclists.  Heading south on PCH right at Pt. Dume, I had a truck pull out and make a u-turn -- I was going around 25mph when it happened.  It could have been a lot worse; I have a lot of road rash, bruises, needed stitches in my knee, and have an MRI scheduled to get the knee checked out.  But not head/neck injuries, and no other cars involved.

Enjoy your riding, but watch out for inattentive drivers!

Wow, I heard about this from a couple other Tri friends, sorry to hear about you accident.  

Did the driver stop?  Was he/she cited by Police?  I ask because I wonder if anyone is doing anything to deter the lack of awareness for cyclists?

The driver did stop.  CHP was called and I assume he was cited.  He did not have a current driver's license or current proof of insurance (though it has been confirmed that he does have a current policy).  I was told that his truck was impounded, though I didn't see any of this in person as I was in the ambulance at the time.  

I'd like to think that this guy, at least, will look for cyclists before attempting to flip a u-turn.  Who knows what (if anything) is being done to encourage cyclist awareness in the general public.  

Rode PCH last weekend, I HATE it in summer.  We rode Latigo and came down mulholland going north to the rock, but stayed on PCH coming back south to Cross Creek where we parked.   Carrillo wasn't bad,  but Zuma was downright dangerous. Won't be riding it again until Fall unless it's a way to get into the mountains.   Cars pulling out, cars doing ueys across double yellows, cars pulling out of spots, backing into spots.....  ugh

Saw a few crazy folks riding Cross Creek - Temescal stretch at about 12 noon.  Absolutely nuts

PCH is awesome for riding - but the side climbs on the side are really where it's at. 

I'll admit that the high speed traffic does freak me out to some degree - those 70mph buses cruising by create quite a wind.

It's not as bad as it sounds though, and there's no real reason to not ride it. There are so many cyclists on it on the weekend that cars are looking for you, so as long as you're careful when the parked car density kicks up in some areas, I don't feel it's any more dangerous than any moderately trafficked road. 

The climbs are where it's at though. I'd ride the Santa Monica -> Trancas as the warmup for the Mulholland highway and other climbs. 

I agree it's about the climbing, but I have a long list of reasons not to ride certain sections of PCH (particularly SM - Cross Creek), especially this time of year.  I've known several very good riders that have gone down from cars

Maybe I'm getting older and my personal risk tolerance has dropped. 

I rode that stretch every weekend for 2 years straight from cross creek - santa monica. It's not more dangerous than the rest, imo. The car traffic is substantially slower at the later hours of the day on weekends due to traffic, and you just need to slow down some if there are parked surfer cars on the side.

The real dangerous area imo are the narrowed shoulder areas near-past cross creek, or where the car traffic gets sufficientlylight that the avg speed is 70mph. One inattentive driver at that speed, and it's game over. At the pre cross-creek area, there are enough cars and cyclists that cars are pretty attentive to you.

I don't think there's a reason to be scared of riding Santa monica to cross creek, just stay aware, and it's totally fine. 

Rode it for several years every weekend myself, from Torrance up to the climbs/the rock in IM and HIM training.  Guess it's one of those things we'll have to agree to disagree on.