Eventhough I grew up in Los Angeles, I lived in the extreme southern part of the county and don't ever recall getting up to the area I was now in. I got up even before the sun reached the floor of the canyon and was packed up and on my bike by 8am. I didn't have any real breakfast and was hoping to find a restaurant soon to get some fuel into the tank.
The map showed a place to eat a few miles down the road. Alas, when I got there, not only was it closed, but it was a fish place that didn't appear to even serve breakfast, when it was open. I pushed on.
The route here was right next to the beach and the terrain undulating. On the other side of the road was brown cliffs. It was still early enough that there wasn't much car traffic on the road. There also were no services at all and I was getting hungry.
Slowly, as flat land appeared between the road and the beach, houses began appearing on the ocean side of the road. Many of these house were on stilts and a good many were in disrepair. The photo gives you some idea of what I am describing.
I went by Zuma Beach. It had a few shops but nothing more than a 7-11 type store. I kept riding. Now, I only saw the ocean in little bits as houses and fences obscured my view most of the time. I got the feeling that the people who owned these houses had paid extra to own the view, as well.
The road was lots of ups and downs, the largest of which is the hill just before Pepperdine college. I figured I was getting close to there when the cars going by got more expensive and the drivers got younger. Shortly after Pepperdine I found a small shopping mall that contained a nice market but no open restaurant. I bought 2 mixed juices and a 1.5 liter bottle of water. I drank the juices and ate more M&Ms. As I was approaching civilization, I figured I find a restaurant soon and all I need now was enough fuel to get just a few more miles down the road.
The homes were now thick on both sides of the road and more signs of Los Angeles were visible--roads, traffic signals, more traffic. Then, I came down a hill and there was a large, upscale shopping center. I figured that this must be the true beginning of Malibu city limits. I saw a restaurant in this center and stopped there for breakfast. I sat outside and felt like I was part of the "scene." At a nearby table, some high rollers were "taking" a meeting. I couldn't really understand what they were meeting about, but I felt that I was close to whatever it was that was going down.
I had an omelet, coffee, potatoes, and toast. The food was OK, but nothing special. Then again, how much could I expect from an omelet?
I called John Bitterly, my host for the evening to let him know where I was and when I thought I might be to Long Beach, about 40 miles south of my present position. He said he'd be home early to await my arrival.
As I resumed my way south, the traffic got denser and parked cars appeared on the side of the road. At points, the shoulder available to me disappeared. However, at no time did I feel in any more danger than usual. In some way, it was nice to be in amongst the people.
A good way through Santa Monica, Will Rogers State Beach appears. After riding past huge, empty parking lots, I came to the start of the LA Bike Path.
As you can see, it was a bright, sunny day in LA. What you can't see is the offshore breeze that blew all day. This is a picture of the actual start of the bike path, which is a small ribbon of cement in the left center part of the picture.
The bike path is wide enough for 4 bikes riding side by side. It is primarily used by pedestrians, roller bladers, and joggers. On this day, there weren't may people on the path at all and I mostly had it all to myself. It was nice to be off the road.
The path went right by the Santa Monica Boardwalk and through Venice Beach. The stores on Venice Strand were in full swing but not too many people were hanging around, even though it was about lunchtime. Here's a look back at the Boardwalk and the hills behind it.
Once past the Boardwalk, the path moved in septentine route on the beach. As the wind was steady, about every 100 feet, the path would curve into the wind and then, just as quickly, turn out of it. There was just enough exposure to it to feel like I spent the whole day fighting it.
This part of the bike path ends at Marina Del Rey and I had to go back on city streets to get around the marina. I stopped in a bagel place to rest and fuel up with a couple of bagels, cream cheese, some juice, and M&Ms. The road around the marina is on busy LA streets full of big cars, major intersections and long traffic lights. Eventually, the route gets off main streets and skirts a huge parking lot serving a set of shops on the water.
I happen to notice that my front tire was low and stopped at a bike rental shop to get some air. The service guy was greatly impressed with my bags and bike and we talked for a few minutes while he put air in the tire.
I pressed on, at one point, going directly into the quite strong wind. At this point, I was pushing hard to maintain 9 MPH! Eventually, I crossed a short bridge over Ballona Channel and then I was back on the beach bike path, again. I was now in El Segundo.
The land behind the beach was deserted as it was below the flight path of LAX. The only thing to focus on was a huge power plant.
The bike path continued to snake across the beach and the view eventually changed into an urbanscape. The bike path was lined with condos and now I could see the beach but nothing else! This photo gives you an idea of the view.
The wind was constant and because of the shape of the path, I was always feeling it push against me. The only respite came behind cement huts housing bathrooms or refreshment stands. I ducked behind one hut and while I rested there drinking Gatorade and eating M&Ms, an old guy in his 80s on a bike started taking to me.
We spoke about bikes and riding for a while and then I left. Soon, I'd moved past Manhattan Beach and into Hermosa Beach.
After taking another break, the old guy (who's name I never got) passed me. He seemed to know his way around and I caught up to him and we started riding together. He was on a training/break-in ride on his just purchased road bike. He was training for the "Davis Double." The "Double" refers to 200 miles. Here I was, somewhat proud of my own accomplishment of riding 400 miles in 9 days, and this old geezer is telling me about doing 200 miles in one day! He said he wanted to do this race before he was too old. He went on further to describe a 300 mile race that he used to do when he was "younger."
The bike path peters out in Redondo Beach and dumped us (me and the geezer) onto city streets. The geezer lived in Palos Verdes and he navigated us through to Palos Verdes Dr. North which is a long uphill on a busy street. We continued on Palos Verdes Dr. for quite a while. We went past lots of large estates and both old and new homes. The road got a bit hairy around Palso Verdes high school were a large line of cars were waiting to make turns in and out of the parking lot. My guide turned off just past Hawthorne Ave.
I continued on Palos Verdes Drive through Lomita, where it became a major street with plenty of bike room. At Anaheim Blvd, which I turned right and headed into Wilminton. The scenery quickly went from toney neighborhoods to industrial plants.
I think Wilmington was the worst place to ride a bike. Here is a common vista.
The road was 6 lanes across and there was lots of debris at the side of the road. I had to go over several bridges that cleared railroad tracks. The air stank and virtually no one was outside a car. I felt like some kind of endangered species.
Once I passed over the Domingeuz Channel, I was in North Long Beach. It was worse than I remembered it. Most of the stores had signs in spanish and the area was seriously run down.
For old times sake, I turned down Magnolia Ave. I spent lots of my youth on Magnolia. My grandparents lived on Magnolia and my parents owned a liquor store on it, as well. I was headed past the intersection of Broadway and Magnolia, the historic location of Lancer Liquor, where I wiled away many hours, both consuming my parent's profits and helping to generate same.
Today, the store's location is the fringe of Long Beach's World Trade Center. Here is a view.
I had lots of mixed emotions about seeing this corner. On the one hand, it had changed so much that I didn't really recognize much of its current state. On the other hand, it was a stark reminder that my memory of this place was all that was left of what it used to be. I had the thought that it would be nice to have a bench placed there in memory of my parents!
I rode through the streets of Long Beach, marvelling at what little I remembered and how much things had changed. I rejoined the route at Ocean Street and rode along viewing the old homes, apartments and motels that I recall always being there.
At Cherry Street, there is a bluff park where the glory that is Long Beach can be seen. There are port facilities, the Queen Mary, some other ship whose fame I don't know, and the dome that houses the Spruce Goose, Howard Hughes' wooden plane that barely flew once (probably just far enough for him to get paid!). I purposely oriented the picture to miss the ugly oil islands just to the left of this photo.
I was getting close to John's place now and the odd mix of childhood flashbacks, sore legs, and fatigue all combined to put me in some kind of altered state. I knew this would hold me in good stead when I got to John's place! In about 30 minutes I was there. John was on his balcony announcing my arrival and putting a smile on my face.
We sat in his living room talking for quite a while. Eventually, I took a nice warm bath and we went to dinner. For the first time in my life, I ate 3 cheese enchiladas and was still hungry! Back at John's place, we watched this bizarre TV show called "Most Extreme Elimination." It is a Japanese game show with a made-up English voiceover. The show is odd and provides the occasional sidesplitting laugh. John's asides were often funny, too.
Since John had to work the next day, he went off to bed and I folded out the couch and went to sleep. I had been a nice ride (with the exception of Wilmington) and it felt great to be hanging out with John knowing that I'd not only made it to LA, but I had made it past LA!