Acura Bike Tour

I really have mixed emotions about this bike ride. lol
The Acura Bike Tour was the first bike marathon that I did. Yeah, it was an accomplishment to finish the ride (I believe the first time I did the ride it was 26 miles and the second time I did the ride it was only 22 miles.) You get a medal at the end of the ride and people congratulating you for finishing.
BUT…
This isn’t the safest ride. At the site of a slight incline, people would STOP and get off their bike to walk it up (happened to me, i was following someone and when they saw the base of a little hill they braked right in front of me and decided to get off their bike and walk it). Thats fine if they would designate a walking area so that the people that wanted to bike up the hill don’t have to keep dodging people that are walking. I had to pedal with one foot clipped in and the other one clipped out, just in case I had to put my foot down so I don’t eat it for going to slow. And watch out for kids. They tend to drift off into other peoples lanes.
But it was fun rolling through LA. Hearing people cheering for you. Seeing how close you are to finishing. And go with a group friends. Makes it more fun.
So if you want to try a marathon, I guess give it a shot. Be ready to wake up at the crack of dawn to get to the meeting area. And also in the beginning be ready to walk for awhile because its taking the people in front of you awhile to get going on their bike.
And then when the ride is over go stop by your favorite breakfast joint to grub down on some food.
Note*: oh. i just read some of the other peoples reviews and it looks like there not doing the ride anymore… whoops

Boo!!! They are not doing the bike tour in 2011 either. I talked to someone at the Long Beach marathon expo, and it’s the same course as last year, down to the beach. The guy gave me the reason that they have no way of getting all of us bikers back to L.A. after the bike tour. Hmm, I thought that this was the LOS ANGELES marathon, not a So Cal tour marathon. Boo to whoever excluded us again this year. I rode in 4 L.A. bike tours, they were awesome.

After riding with my son in the past three Acura Bike Tours, (2007 – 2009), I was crushed to find out that the event was canceled this year, but since Frank McCourt has taken control of the LA Marathon, what do you expect?
If the Bike Tour starts again and you have never ridden in one before, do yourself a favor and GO! Hands down the best way to see the streets and neighborhoods of Los Angeles. Yes, its early, yes, parking is a bitch, yes, its a white knuckler getting out of the first few blocks where the cyclists are packed together like sardiines in a can, but after that — aaahhh! Even though its not a race, the hardcore road bikers will be sprinting to the front, and the pace kind of settles itself out. Since there is no traffic to worry about, you can start up a conversation with the person riding next to you. You can appreciate the cool morning air, and you can feel the rhythm as you pedal away the miles. Closer to the finish line, neighborhood folks line the sidewalks and shout out cheers and encouragement — how Tour de France can you get!
There are numerous aid stations where gatorade and bananas are handed out, and overall the tour is very well organized. It was definitely missed in 2010 and I hope it makes a triumphant return, (without the McCourts), in 2011!

Nice bike tour — was it 26 or 22 miles? I forget…20 something.
Anyway — the tour wasn’t set for 2010 — so I’m not sure if it’s being set again for LA, but the previous year was pretty cool.
Ride through LA with lots of people at the break of dawn (and yes… I mean break of down…). LA runners and bikers get free metro admission, so we took advantage of it by riding our bikes to the metro and doing the whole metro thing back. Great incentive.
What I like about this, is that it takes less hour and a half to finish. So you still have the rest of the day to play. =)

If you haven’t done it, enroll it for next year. Acura ride is a fun fun fun event. How often you can bike on an empty street for entire 26 miles? Riding your bike with another thousands of people, turn corners on an empty street, scream out «hills» for others is what an experience. If you want to get a front spot, got there before 4:30 or earlier. And park somewhere slightly far away, then bike through USC to the starting point. If you got there late, you will need to bike with a heavy group. And always always look out for kids.

Fantastic way to experience some of the greatest sites of LA without dealing with traffic.
This was my fifth year of participating in the Marathon/​Bike Tour. They were all great experiences. The only downfall from this year was that the event was held on Memorial Day. From the time I can remember, it was held on the first Sunday in March. Luckily, I was free that weekend, so I was able to participate. But, I’m hoping they change it back to March, so Memorial Day can be saved for another adventure.

This was a must do for me especially since I’m moving back to NorCal. I was supposed to meet up with friend but had a hard time finding them. There was an estimated 15,000 bicyclists at this ride. It was a great ride especially knowing that it was part of the LA Marathon. We started and ended at the LA Convention Center. This ride is definitely not for someone who wants to ride fast there were a lot of novice bikers that would make sharp turns with out looking. At some point I almost fell because a rider crashed into a little girl which caused a domino effect. I fortunately was able to unclip myself to catch my fall. Also the starting and finish line were jam packed with cyclists that we all had to walk our bikes out of the starting gate and walk it in at the finish. With out all the traffic I encountered I think I could have finished in less than an hour but again this is a leisure ride not a race. I definitely would do it again with a bunch of friends and family. Its a great way to see LA.

Once a year, the streets of LA gets shut down for the Acura Bike Tour, 5K Run and the big kahuna of them all, the LA Marathon.
Here’s our two cents of the event. Woke up at 3am way before the crack of dawn, WTF! Yeah, we didn’t even know what we got ourselves into. Wifey almost wanted to kill me when she found out the wake up and start time… yikes! So we ran through our check list: We got our bikes tuned up, got our gloves (muy importante), windbreaker, helmet, bibs for our shirt, bike and helmet, water bottle, power bar, cash for parking, directions, all checked. And we’re off!
Fireworks and the bike tour start gun goes off at 5:45am. It’s way too early and cold (50 degrees) for us to make sense of this all. Thank goodness our adrenaline was in full throttle.
What’s great about the Acura Bike Tour IS NOT A RACE! I repeat, THE BIKE TOUR IS NOT A RACE! It is purely for enjoyment purpose and a chance for all bikers of all skill levels to unite and ride together on a route through LA. Beginners are totally welcome. The minimum speed you have to maintain is 9 mph and you’re set! Easy.
This is our first year at the Acura Bike Tour and man despite the early am traffic, parking congestion and of course the 21 miles bike ride. It was all worth it. Yupe, we are officially hooked. This is one of those event that just can’t be missed if you have a wee bit of that bicycling spirit in you. The thrill of riding with an estimated 15,000 fellow bike enthusiast is reason enough for us to be here. The icing on the cake is being able to tour the various part of Los Angeles with no cars on the streets, that is absolutely priceless. The bike tour allowed us to rediscover the city again at a slower pace and it was such a pleasure. Places we’ve been and would not dare be in at the wee crack of dawn. With the streets closed off to autos, giving us the privileged to ride and appreciate the natural raw urban beauty of this city is just way too cool of an experience to pass off. Too often we tend to drive hurriedly from point A to point B with blinders on and missed all of the nuances in between our journey. This tour really gave us a chance to feel the heart beat of LA in the flesh, uninterrupted, unfiltered, traffic free, smog free and 90% people free! Nothing but you and the spinning sounds of wheels hitting the pavements, that’s it. No honking, no road rage shouting matches, no sirens, no machinery or factory sounds. Just us and the city! Wow, what a day! We were also lucky enough to have our family there for support at the finish line.
We hope we will be lucky enough to continue this tradition annually and join our fellow Los Angeles bikers from all walks of life, nationalities and ethnicities. From kids to elders, this event is a must if you call yourself Angelinos.
Okay, now you wanna ride, what to do. Well the official website sucks.
The website do not have any specific details or giving you any other options to sign up except through their website which they charge an online registration fee on top of the Bike Tour registration fee. This event is organized by Divine so the website is a bit self serving to help generate addition cashflow for them. My advice is to wait and drive down to the Life Expo which takes place at the LA Convention Center during the two days prior to the Marathon and Bike Tour event day. This way, you can save some money from the online registration service fee hacked by Divine. Even if you sign up online and pay for the convenient service fee, you still have to drive down to the Life Expo to pick up your goodie bag which will have your bib and race’s number and instruction, route map, etc. Therefore, save yourself a few bucks and just head down to the Life Expo, wait in line a bit and then just register and pick up all of your goodies all in one stop. Make sure to go and register early if you want to grab your free t-​shirt in small sizes. Otherwise, by the last day of the Expo, all they have left is Large sizes.
IMPORTANT
Please note that The Marathon and Bike Tour route might share route but they may not have the same starting and ending location. This changes so make sure to read up ask all of these important questions at the registration desk at the Expo including parking location, very important. For the bike tour, make sure to get there a couple of hours early if you can to avoid traffic from the freeway exit and into the parking lot.
I’ve added addition links below since it is so hard to find any info for the Acura Bike Tour due to the overshadowing by the LA Marathon event.

Not Bike Tour related but have some really helpful biking articles