EF Education First Pro Cycling: Taylor Phinney's LA

We tagged along with Phinney a day after team camp ended so he could show us why he keeps a room in Los Angeles.

We stopped for coffee at Bicycle Coffee, where beans are transported all over the city via bike, before we headed into Elysian Park, a perfect pocket of urban forest above Dodger Stadium with ribbons of trail and screaming urban raptors. The chorus of the nearby police academy shattered the quiet in spurts.

From there we sat in the sun and ate sandwiches from Wax Paper in Frogtown (in honor of the frogs that would take to the neighborhood streets after rain) while a man did yard work and blasted old Sublime from his windows.

Then to Golden Saddle Cyclery, a beautiful shop that feels both nostalgic and progressive at the same time. We hopped to the charming, buzzing Vinny’s Barber Shop nearby, over to the eclectic Virgil Normal boutique, and ended with a beer atop the helipad at Griffith Park as the sun set and the city below went from red and purple watercolor to beaming lights below. Another day in LA.

“Having a bicycle allows you to be able to see parts of the city that you wouldn’t see otherwise,” Phinney says. “on a bicycle, I mean, you can ride through the hills, Bel-Air, Beverly Hills. There’s all sorts of little climbs and roads back there that are pretty quiet…I mean you’re just riding through an ever-changing visual landscape.”

To view the full article, which includes some cool images/videos/maps, visit the EF Site HERE!