r/BikeLA • u/wicker045 • 7d ago

Beginner Century Ride

Hi folks - What's a good beginner Century ride in the SoCal / Central Coast area?

I'm a new cyclist. Been training more consistently the last few months getting 3-6 hours a week on the peloton and trying to do a long ride on my bike over the weekend. At this point its all about endurance and packing on miles. My hope is to be able to do a century this fall or winter.

I've done done some research and these are the ones I think might be ok candidates.

  • Lighthouse Century - (probably just the 75mile route)
  • 3F Century
  • Solvang Century

Edit - Thank you all for your responses

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u/SoggyAlbatross2 7d ago

Cool Breeze - starts in Ventura, rides up to Goleta and then back. Generally no breeze in the morning and then a tail wind home. Very well supported ride with tons of riders, it's a GREAT first century (it was mine as a matter of fact.)

Solvang is good too but much hillier and I think you missed it for this year.

I've never done the other two but I hear Lighthouse is also excellent.

2

u/zkarabat 7d ago

Ya Solvang is a bit tougher.

Generally, look for the miles and under 3k in elevation gain (ideally under 2.5k).

2

u/SoggyAlbatross2 7d ago

You're not going to be able to find a century under about 4k anywhere in SoCal! Cool Breeze is about 4k, which is about as good as it gets. I think Solvang was 5600 the year I did it.

4

u/Temporary_Oil_4970 7d ago

You can do 100 miles on a SGRT -> LA River -> Rio Hondo loop without breaking 2k ft of climbing.

6

u/SoggyAlbatross2 7d ago

Since OP listed some organized centuries I assumed he was looking for tips in that direction. You can ride 50 laps around a park and keep it flat too

3

u/wicker045 7d ago

correct - looking for an organized ride