Garden Grove sits in the middle of Orange County's great flat basin, a tapestry of low-rise suburbs between Disneyland to the north and the beach towns to the south-west. The label on this stop only says Big, presumably short for Big Bear, so what I can honestly describe is the setting, which is the low, built-up plain from which the long ride into the mountains begins. The San Bernardino range stands to the north-east, and on a clear winter morning its snow-covered ridges seem to float above the haze.
The city has a character of its own. It has one of the largest Vietnamese communities outside Vietnam, centred on nearby Little Saigon in Westminster and Garden Grove, where shopping malls and streets of restaurants sell pho, banh mi and strong iced coffee with condensed milk. Early in the day, the bakeries open with trays of fresh bread, and the smell drifts out to the street. The big glass church that once belonged to a famous televangelist, now a Catholic cathedral, stands on the edge of town, a surprising presence among low buildings.
The riding is simple urban work. Boulevards run in grids with a light at nearly every block, the freeways run fast but crowded, and traffic piles up on weekdays from early morning. Lane splitting is legal in California, but common sense matters. To reach the mountains, riders usually take the freeways east, then climb up Highway 330 or 18 into the San Bernardino range, a transition from sprawl to pine forest in about two hours. Go early, preferably before 7 am, to avoid the worst of the traffic.
Everything you need is here, since the city has about 175,000 people. Fuel stations stand at nearly every junction, and Fountain Valley, to the south, has even more shops. Take a hot drink for the mountain portion, because the air at Big Bear, at about 6,700 feet, is far cooler than in the basin. Spring and autumn offer the most pleasant weather, and Santa Ana wind days in autumn can be hot, dry and gusty.