As a biker, you have your regular routes  to get you from one neighborhood to another: Venice Blvd. to the beach, 7th St. to DTLA.  When I’m going from K-Town near the Sunset corridor of Silverlake, I would typically head north on Heliotrope and right on Santa Monica.  It’s a good route.  You pass through the very bike-friendly neighborhood off Heliotrope and Melrose.  It’s a steady incline the whole way at a gentle grade that’s good for every level of rider.  It can sometimes, however, get a little dicey with vehicle traffic from LACC.

Tonight I was riding to dinner party near Santa Monica and Hoover.  I took my regular way to the party and it was as good to me as always.  Before I left the party to come home, I was curious if Google Maps had any other suggestions.  It told me to go south on Hoover, right on Clinton and left on Heliotrope.  Dang, that was a good ride!

That route provided enough hills to let you know you’re still alive.  It kept you off of Santa Monica and away from traffic.  I think maybe three cars came my way the entire time.  I think it is definitely a bit more difficult than my original route, but not terribly so.  Challenging ourselves is good, right?  Any difficulty with the hills pays off with the safety of less vehicle traffic.