Rode to Griffith Observatory from Encanto park with some friends. It's been a long time since going to Griffith and forgot how scenic the views are.
https://www.strava.com/activities/7330623030
As for the climbing conversation, I've had good luck with 50/34 chainrings and a 11-32 cassette. You have a decent granny gear for those 10%+ sections and the spacing isn't all that bad overall. I do find going from 28t to 32t to be weird at times since 4 teeth is a big jump in cadence and power. It takes time to find your climbing legs but there's tons of great places to ride and explore; sometimes we're too buried in the suffering to appreciate what's going on.