Hello La Grange Community,
Your May La Voix contains race reports for the La Grange/ LaFabrica Development Team and LA Tourist race, the new date for April’s rescheduled LG50, May Tandem event signup, Pedal Mafia Happy Hour recap and 2025 LG Club Kit Order, Women’s initiative update and a save the date for another exciting Helen’s Night to be held on May 8!
Warmly,
Renée Fox, La Voix Editor
P.S. Have something else cycling-related you think would be interesting or beneficial to our members? Submit here to be considered for an upcoming newsletter.
Letter from the President
In cycling I believe one should always look forward but when making an adjustment, take a slight glance back.
In March, we held a terrific LG50 ride that visited an area unfamiliar to most of us. The route was a success because a group of volunteers manned strategic corners so no one got lost. So often in cycling we see a group move forward towards a goal because they work together. This is what I and the board are asking of you: to work together in the continuance of this great legacy that our founder Raymond left us.
In the recent survey, we heard that the membership wanted more ride options, social events and wider community building and advocacy. To continue to move towards those things, La Grange needs you. Your participation is the reason why we already offer fun events such as monthly LG50 rides, LG Picnic and Banquet, Piuma Hill climb and other on-bike events. You can help to make sure these events continue and, be part of our collective voice when critical cycling related infrastructure discussions like the PCH Masterplan are held.
To get involved, please email the board of directors (board-of-directors@lagrange.org) with the subject Volunteering and include some information about where you would like to direct your efforts. And for those of you who regularly step up to lend a hand, we really appreciate you.
Larry Goodman
Racing News
La Grange/ LaFábrica Development Race Team Update
by Sean Kiernan
The LaGrange / La Fabrica race team has enjoyed solid success over the last weeks!
Aidan Knierim placed 2nd in the recent Redlands Classic Cat 3 crit, his highest result in any competitive race. Aidan started a 23 minute attack (during a 40 minute race) that three riders maintained to the line.
At last weekend’s San Luis Rey Road race our Cat 4 racers had a very good day. Tristan Nelson placed 6th and Ryan Karlsberg placed 9th. Chase Patterson came in 16th after providing protection and a leadout in support of his teammates. Marco Garcia also raced in Cat 3 during the SLR event.
These riders will keep competing in the coming weeks, moving forward with their plans to upgrade categories by the end of the season.
Follow them on Strava and reach out to Aldo or Sean for other ways to support the team and riders!
LA tourist season 2025
The road. The bushes. The mountain.
DFL or DNF.
by Katie Marsh
This year my husband and I decided to commit to the tourist race season. I did all three of the LA Tourist Races put on by Let’s Ride Cyclery out of Burbank. The road. The bushes. The mountain.
Tourist #1 - The Road. DFL.
With general lack of training, and post LA Fires, the season started off with an easy, relatively short, mostly road route. A crew of friends and I committed to finishing the race. With a team of five all navigating uncoordinated routes - we managed to make a ~50m mostly road ride take 8hrs, arriving back to the shop as a unified (and hungry) crew just at the 3:00p cutoff time. Tourist #1 hit Cherry Canyon, Verdugo Mountains, Nichols Point and Sepulveda Basin. After the “easy” Tourist #1 Let’s ride promised to make #2 a challenge.
Tourist #2 - The Bushes. DFL.
Tourist #2 was a much more complex route up off of Little Tujunga Canyon which I was on my own for. After the points dropped I had a night of networking routes at the LG happy hour and a late night of mapping. For this race I had myself, my map, and my friend making abilities. With no crew to motivate me, I planned to call it a day after the third “down by the river point”.
I took off with the lead group through the valley and as we got into Little Tujunga, they took the same right with me off the pavement. I was feeling strong, and smart for having a route that matched theirs - until they dipped off onto a single track. In my confidence I followed them. Quickly, my technical skills didn’t keep up - I was dropped and lost.
After finding my way back to my route, grabbing the first two points, and enjoying a snack at a pleasant stream along a newly discovered single track, I came across another woman, Sofia. She seemed to know what this single track entailed and we were well matched down the rocky and sharp switchbacks.
She and I stuck together through the third point “down by the river” where we learned from fellow tourists that the road to “the top of the world” (the forth point) was closed for construction and they were not letting anyone through. As I enjoyed my sandwich and chats with others, Sofia rallied folks to use her water filter to refill, and join for going up Dagger trail.
I love both peer pressure and another positive woman, so even though I knew Dagger was a totally unmaintained, super steep, hardly ever used trail - I was soon roped into her plan. Off we went, Sofia, Wilson and I - the other guy she recruited. After a short 20-ish mins of aggressive bush whacking, Wilson quickly realized his bike was too heavy for the job and turned around. Sofia and I were laughing as we trudged through bushes and pressed on. After about an hour and half, we caught another woman, who was also trying to make our way up. Finally after about 3.5 hrs of navigating through bush after bush, we reached the trail again.
The three of us women stuck together for the final approx 1500ft of climbing and a little descending and grabbed our victorious 4th point, thirsty, tired, and so proud to have made it. It was time to go home. We had two options - go back the way we’d originally planned and hike through the construction - which would start with a grueling ~400ft climb, or go straight down this long single track into Santa Clarita where there was water.
Being tired and thirsty, the downhill to civilization lured me in. Sofia and I went that way, and our third lady braved the climb for the bet she’d be home faster. Well, she was right- Sofia and I landed back at the shop at 7:00p sharp, the cutoff time. We were celebrated back at the shop with burgers, cheers and photos for DFL. After my proud DFL victory, I was amped for tourist #3 - maybe I could do it again.
Tourist #3 - The Climbing. DNF.
I was stoked to take a stab at all the climbing up off Highway 2 Tourist #3 guaranteed. My husband Daniel and I were buddies for this one, with another friend riding separately. We started off with the lead group, just like last time - knocking out those early morning city miles efficiently. Daniel, who doesn’t do much group riding was rightfully frustrated by the unpredictable turns and running of stop signs, where I’m a seasoned - follow the pack type. About 30min in, the group made a wrong turn and the running of stop lights was compounded by general group confusion on the route. This caused me, while blindly following the group, to knock my front wheel into Daniel’s pedal as he hesitated to cut a car off for the good of the group. Daniel subsequently kicked out a few of my front wheels spokes. Day over, I thought.
What a bummer - our stoke was low, but with no injuries incurred and no ground hit we slow rolled back to the shop to see what they could do. Let’s Ride totally came through and quickly suggested that we just take one of their wheels, and they’d fix mine while I was riding for the day. Re-inspired to at least give it a whirl, we restarted at 8a just an hour after the first start.
Off to Josephine peak, a long climb which got steeper as you went. As we started the gravel climb, people were coming down. It was a happy surprise when we crossed paths with our friend Dani, who was having a marvelous day. We grabbed the first point and agreed we’d try to catch her at the next one.
Back down Highway 2, then off a random fire road we went to “electricity”, where we also ran into Dani as we grinded up the steep sections. She was still having a great day, Daniel was a little beat up and ready for a burger back at the shop. We agreed Dani would proceed on, Daniel would go home, and I’d try to catch up to Dani by checkpoint #3.
As Daniel and I turned onto our splitting up point, we found Dani - disappointed that she’d made a wrong turn and had to climb back up the fire road to the split in the road - it was the end of her day too. With friendship being my motivating factor to ride bikes - that meant my day was over too.
We got back to the shop for burgers and beer, all in good cheer, wheel fixed and ready to go. Over beers, we learned from others we made the right decision to not get the last few points. Turns out, it was a rocky fire road descent which gave multiple people multiple pinch flats - as someone who’s not tubeless - boy was I happy to have missed it!!
That wrapped up the 2025 tourist season, full of DFLs, DNF and lots of friendships.
Club News
April LG50 to Griffith Park has been rescheduled to May 3!
Led by Marco Fantone | Group B led by Dan Mitnick | SAG by Nigel Stewart
Meet at SVO at 7:30am for coffee from Caffe Luxxe and roll out at 8:00am sharp.
Route: View on Strava
May Tandem cycling event with Wayfinder Family Services and LG member Sonya Chapman:
In addition to seeking Tandem captains, we are hoping for one skilled cyclist who does not want to ride on a tandem, but can join us for leading the ride along the Bike path..
Saturday, May 10
8 AM - 1PM
Syd Kronenthal Park, 3459 McManus Ave, Culver City, CA 90232
More details and registration are HERE
Club Events Recap
April Pedal Mafia Happy Hour/ Kit Order Window
Great to see everyone who came out for the April happy hour at Pedal Mafia! Fit kits were available to try on now that our custom PM store is open where you can purchase the current LG gold kit, race kit and French nationals kit.
Exciting news: The Kit order window has been extended to May 9! Check your email for a link and code to access the custom Pedal Mafia store. New items now available: cycling caps, baseball hats and LG trucker hats!
Store closes midnight May 9.
April was just the start: La Grange Women’s Initiative is rolling
by Tara Kriese
April was a huge month for the Women’s Initiative. We kicked it off with The Warm-Up at Pedal Mafia — an amazing night where 31 women came together for a strength and mobility class with Dara Richman (plus a little luxury ice cream sampling from Lavender & Truffles).
We also hit the road for our first drive-to-start ride out of Westlake — and it was pure magic. Nearly 20 women showed up ready to climb, explore, and push each other through the mountains of Mulholland. Big climbs, beautiful views, and even better company.
Since launching the initiative, we’ve already added 15 new women to the club — and we’re just getting started.
Women’s rides roll every Saturday at 8am (when there’s not an LG50) and are posted on Strava, Instagram, and Facebook.
Looking ahead: no women’s ride on May 3rd because we’ll be joining the LG50, but we’re back the following Saturdays with three more rides — two drive-to-start adventures and one local ride — before the next LG50.
If you’re already riding with us, bring a friend. If you know a woman who’s been looking for a group like this, send her our way. We’re building something special — and every ride gets better with more of us out there.
DM Tara Kriese for more information or questions.
New Members
Please say hello to our new members who joined in April 2025 (you can find them in our Member Directory):
Alan B., Aran R., Bill C., Caroline K., Catly D., Diane L., Katie D., Melissa K., Nicole C., Philip F., and Rebecca R.
Welcome everyone, La Grange is proud to have you with us!
Cycling News
Your Chance to Speak UP about the PCH Master Plan:
CalTrans is holding its final scheduled workshop for public comment focusing on 21 miles in Malibu to identify safety improvements on Monday, May 12 from 1-3 pm. The La Grange Board of Directors urges you to attend and/or give your feedback in the comment box at https://engage.dot.ca.gov/j77248 or email them to 07-pchmpfs@publicinput.com.
At the meeting, Caltrans will formally release the Draft PCH Master Plan Feasibility Study to the public and begin the 60-day public review period. Caltrans will be conducting a workshop during the meeting for the public to participate and provide input regarding the study.
The Master Plan Feasibility Study focuses on approximately 21 miles of PCH in Malibu to identify transportation improvements that will address safety for all users with an emphasis on supporting multimodal travel options for pedestrians and bicyclists, as well as enhancing transit opportunities.
The public has until June 9, 2025 to provide comments on the Draft PCH Master Plan Feasibility Study, which can also be found on the Caltrans Engagement Portal at engage.dot.ca.gov/f1336.
Those who sign up for the engagement portal can sign up to receive updates on specific projects as well as provide input. Learn more and sign up at engage.dot.ca.gov.
DATE: May 12, 2025 , 1 to 3 PM
See La Grange Board Member Marco Fantone’s letter to Cal Trans below.
Greetings. Clearly a high degree of thought has gone into this plan and for that, I thank you. My comments will be specific to the needs of cyclists who regularly ride PCH from Santa Monica to Trancas and back. I have read in the study that there is a high preference for fully separated bike lanes and I understand that on the surface, this comes across as the safest environment for cyclists.
I'm speaking as a seasoned road cyclist who has been riding on PCH since the late 1990s. My time on the bike has included a 15 year stint as an upper intermediate amateur racer, over two decades on the board of Velo Club La Grange as well as its president for nearly 4 years.
As the report mentioned, there is a finite amount of roadway between the ocean side and the mountain side. The goal should be to maximize this space to its fullest potential. Adding any type of what is known in the cycling community as "road furniture" is an accident waiting to happen. These could be bollards or concrete separators; it doesn't matter. Both are inherently more dangerous to cyclists than a vehicle passing by. Living in Santa Monica, I have seen how dangerous some of these well-intentioned but poorly thought out traffic calming measures have been. Cyclists simply want their own space which means their own dedicated green-painted bike lane. One other important factor to keep in mind: pavement on the edges of the roadway where cyclists ride need to be smooth. Any cracks, debris, etc... will force riders out into the full lane of traffic. Right now, there are numerous stretches of PCH that are problematic. Smooth pavement on the edges will keep cyclists out of traffic lanes.
On PCH, most cyclists ride in packs. These can be as few as a half dozen and as many as 80. On PCH, there is safety in numbers and a pack of cyclists will always be more visible to motorists than a solo rider which is why you see so many groups riding the highway. Those who have created this study need to understand this. I find it hard to envision a pack of cyclists being confined to a separated bike lane that can't be more than 6 feet wide. It's a foregone conclusion that if separated lanes are implemented, cycling packs will immediately take the full lane of vehicular traffic. That will happen.
When considering solutions for cycling safety on PCH, both practical and theoretical approaches should be examined. Practical solutions like dedicated bike lanes are more likely to be effective in improving cyclist safety. However, solutions that seem good in concept, including lanes with “road furniture”, may not offer adequate protection and could even be detrimental if not properly implemented. Please put some thought into this and consult myself or other seasoned cyclists who regularly use PCH.
Thank you for reading,
Marco Fantone
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Save the Date and stay tuned for more information about our upcoming Helen’s night on Thursday May 8!
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