I think that’s a bit harsh
I love the gravel riding here; Tecolote, Rose Canyon, Lusardi, PQ are all top notch and definitely easily accessible by riding from populated areas
For road riding, I agree that if you want a “big” day it’s probably best to head out East to Jamul, Palomar or somewhere like that but for a couple of hours FI, Mission Bay and then taking one of the tens of routes up Soledad is a super fun workout. Riding the coast is always a decent way to get a good ride in. I’m not a massive fan personally but Bayshore and then Coronado (followed by the ferry back across) is also decent, if a little too busy on the Strand during weekends for my liking
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Tons of paved roads and awesome climbs. This website has a list of the major climbs from PCH in the Malibu general area
And it’s ok to ride on those roads given recent fires and not, like, a total hellscape?
Honestly that’s where I’m most interested in going. That or SLO.
There will be sections that are like a hellscape. I’ve ridden after previous fires, and the destruction/ desolation is pretty awesome and humbling
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San Diego is better for riding in general than Palm Springs. PS has some stuff if you drive, but honestly I thought it would be better as a destination than it was. I’ve done Joshua Tree twice which is a nice way to view the park, but the riding isn’t that noteworthy other than the typical sights.
The Bay Area blows both out of the water though. Marin, Sonoma, the East Bay and the Peninsula all have world class climbs. Climb Tam, Diablo, and Hamilton. These mountains were meant for road riding.
Thanks. Yeah I lived in SF for six months about 15 yrs ago. Was an unemployed young man with a bike. Did some awesome rides all over the Bay Area.
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I’ve lived and ridden all over the state and I highly recommend central coast, SLO, Santa Barbara, Ventura, Ojai area. loads of all type of riding, low traffic, easy access.
Can ride flat along coast for hours, 1hr+ long climbs including gravel (sulphur Mtn, Sisar, Gibraltar, Refugio, fig mtn) rolling terrain above SB like mountain drive, east valley rd. And can get to Los olivos, solvang, slo, cayucos, within 1-2 hours. the old eroica routes out of Cambria as well. Even close enough to do a day trip to Monterey/Big Sur.
hit me up if you need more details.
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I like @Markp suggestion the best.
The coast ride used to be great, I did it every weekend from La Jolla up to Carlsbad and back, exactly 50.0 miles out the door of my apartment. But more lights, more traffic, more parking, etc. Now, it is WAY too stop and go for my taste on the PCH.
Fiesta Island is downright dangerous (I only rode there when it was a closed course), and yeah, you can ride the bike paths through/around Mission Bay and that’s decent riding too.
My point was more that relative to riding out a bit further east (including many of the areas you mentioned), riding in San Diego is pretty bad. The strand/bayshore is great once and really good for training if you’re not riding during peak hours. I did training rides there multiple times per week. I had a couple loops I created and used to ride 5-6 hours when I was training.
There are ways to do it, but it’s not really “good riding” that’s worth traveling for IMO.
Now, if he wants to go stay at Sycuan Resort and ride the great western loop or take it out to Mt Laguna, or stay further north in Escondido and ride out to Palomar via Lake Wohlford… yeah, GREAT riding there. But I don’t much consider that “San Diego”. As I said, lots of great riding in San Diego COUNTY, but I can’t fathom the thought of traveling to ride the strand or do hill repeats on Soledad, personally. Maybe it’s just because they’re old hat to me?
I also acknowledge that there’s a difference in if you’re looking to cruise and get coffee on a 13mph ride vs. doing a few hours at 20 or so. The former, you can do plenty of around here, absolutely if you don’t mind a bit of car traffic (which is usually respectful) and stop-and-go.
If I were coming down here to ride, I would stick to stuff in north county, Encinitas area and east (Elfin forest, etc.), Escondido, or if coming further south get out in the Jamul mountain area. YMMV.
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Yeah, I mean to me it’s a no brainer. Especially for a trip of 7-10 days. Location wise, ridiing and variety of riding, weather, different ecosystems and climates to experience, etc. also forgot to mention it’s only around an hour or so to Thousand Oaks/malibu canyon rides/ LA….I’m clearly a biased local haha
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I would second these as well. Many of my friends take weekend trips up to the central coast from San Diego to ride (and drink wine).
Hey man-
so to be clear, you were recommending central coast over Santa Monica etc?
Me personally, yes. But I’m biased and live in the Ventura/SB area. I’ll put it this way, people seem to come from LA to ride up here but people up here do not go to LA to ride, ever. Haha
Santa Monica is likely easier to get to for most people especially if flying to LAX. Also probably easier to get to group rides, bike shops, etc. However, PCH is pretty jacked up still north through Malibu from the fires and the entire area is massively more populated/congested than Ventura→north.
I do a couple 1-ish week long camps a year and will generally have this loose agenda. Depends on how much you want to travel between days. Can easily spend multiple days at each stop. With most days around 1-1.5hr drive. Longest transfer would be up to Monterey but you could stay in SLO and south.
day 1-Ojai- sulphur mountain - sisar (gravel)
Day 2 - ride up coast to SB to Gibraltar or mountain dr. (Road). Can do 75+ miles almost totally flat or hit the climbs
Day 3- Los olivos- fig mountain (big climb mix road/gravel) or around solvang, etc for easier day
Day 4- cayucos or Cambria eroica route through Paso Robles and back (mix road/gravel)
Day 5- Cambria or cayucos up the coast to Big Sur/ragged point (road, flat to rolling)
Day 6- Monterey/carmel/santa Cruz- 17 mile dr., Santa Cruz gravel, aptos, etc.
Also, im not great at forums or whatever so you can definitely email me or message, if that’s a things hah
Hope this helps!
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The other thing to think about would be staying in the Westlake / Thousand Oaks area. That would put you out of the LA proper traffic and north of Malibu. Great riding, easy access to the coast and then great climbs back.
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Good point! I guess it just depends on what they’re trying to get out of the trip. T.O./west lake is probably easiest with least logistics and can still get up the coast some. Further north would be a bit more planning and more isolated riding. Also, depending on time of year, T.O. may have better alternatives if an atmospheric rover rolls through.
Sweet, thanks guys!! Not snowing in SLC so we gotta go somewhere….
Seconded - stayed in Thousand Oaks for two camps, absolutely top notch riding. Loads of route choices, unless you don’t like climbing/descending, then definitely find somewhere else 
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stay at the sheep retreat. Foods wonderful.
Del Mar. La Jolla. Escondido just pull up the local bike shops. They have scheduled rides. Road,
Gravel and MTB. Morning and evening. I used to go every year ride 2x a day. I ship my bikes to Trek. They build em up. I pick them up in a truck. Ride my butt off. So many group rides. In fact, I joined Trainerroad because of my vacation there. 70 year old man dropped my a$$. I was huffing and puffing. Swore I’d never train in doors 8-9 years later! I bet I could beat him now.
LA. Thousand Oaks. Malibu. Agoura Hills. Serious Cycling has all the rides. Join the club. Also on Strava. https://www.seriouscycling.com/
Tucson is amazing also.
don’t discount San Louis Obispo / Morro Bay area. I’ve spent a few cycling days there 2 years ago and it was amazing. Way less traffic and beautiful rolling hills. check out SLO bicycle club websitefor a lot of ride suggestions.
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If you are going to ride around Solvang bring your gravel bike, roads are chunky. Or you’ll need to ride the highways with lots of cars and high speed limits.
But I may be missing the good stuff? If anyone knows secret back roads with decent tarmac let me know. I go down to visit family about once a month and would love to explore.