Ride #4: South Bay Bike Path

A dear friend of mine visited us for a long weekend at the end of July.  After dropping her at the airport on a Tuesday morning, I made the most of my drive to the west and headed to Marina del Rey for a trifecta of short rides at the beach.

If this won't sooth Melanie-missage, I don't know what will...

Where to Bike Los Angeles describes three intersecting rides from Marina del Rey south to Torrance Beach.  Basically, along the coast in this area:

The first of these is the South Bay Bike Path - essentially, a straight shot down the coast.

Date: 7/31/2012

Time: ~10 AM

Weather: 72F, Overcast

Route: Start at the Ballona Creek Bridge/Enter South Bay Bike Path/Transition to bike lane on Hermosa Ave/Back to bike path/Follow through parking garage/Turn around at Torrance Beach (end of bike path)

Hey! I found "0" on the Marvin Braude Bike Trail!
We usually run/ride this around miles 17-23 in the Santa Monica area.
Note to self: Consider a complete end-to-end ride on this path...

This ride is from Where to Bike Los Angeles, except I started from the parking lot Del Rey Lagoon Park, which offered free parking and restroom facilities.

Distance: 23.1 mi

Time: 1 hr, 25 min

Avg Pace: 16.2 mph 

Ride Description: This is definitely a weekday or very early morning ride.  I imagine this path gets crowded with runners, walkers, and beach-goers in the afternoons, especially on weekends.  On this particular morning, overcast skies and my odd timing meant that things were pretty quiet over 80% of the path (the other 20% was hoppin', though - read on).  The ride isn't quite as fast as it could be, though, because sand on the path makes it pretty slippery in places.  I got to practice some bike handling on sharp, sandy turns.  

Sand to the left, Sand to the right,
Sand on the path all day & night...

The sections of the route that went onto the road were in very quiet areas (again, probably not so on the weekend).  I was slowed only by lights and stop signs.  There was a bike lane in places, and where there wasn't, cyclists got this:

See that sign?  And the WHOLE ENTIRE FULL LANE, labeled just for me (us)?!?  WHEEE!!!!

There is one section at Redondo Beach where this happens:

Saving pedestrians from cyclists.

Although, on this particular day, the pier was pretty deserted:

Maybe things will pick up once this place opens?

I kinda wish I could climb up there and scribble in "Eventually".

Overall, at a quiet time, this is a flat, easy ride that affords meditative ocean views.

Interesting Happenings:
1. Summer camp like WHOA.  Kids & counselors, for all kinds of camps.  On one section of beach, I overheard the introduction of the day's camp guest, surfer "Bob Gnarley".  I thought camp was for, like, 4-H.  But I guess when you live on the West Coast, you can go to Summer Surf Camp:

Love the teamwork.

Looked like those campers could have used one of these, which I spotted a bit further down the beach:

Truly ingenious, right?

Really, truly camping at the beach.

2. I also thought that RVs/Campers were for camping. Like, forest camping.  But then, I came upon a beachside parking lot full of RVs.  First, I thought it was a sales lot. Then, I realized that these people were really, truly, legitimately camper-ing.  Next to the beach.  I'll bet those suckers are full of sand by the end of the week.  Better them than me...  Boy, I'm learning so much out here in Cali.

3. Sometimes, you'll randomly stumble upon a mid-week volleyball tournament:

Gates erected along the bike path forced cyclists to walk their bikes through this (very crowded) section.  But that slowed me enough that I could fully appreciate some of the team uniforms.  A few of my faves:

Looks like the Cleveland Indians are playing 2 sports this summer...

Yep, definitely them.

At least it's the off-season for the Lakers.

Team Thanksgiving.  I guess it's sorta their off-season, too...

Lessons Learned:
1. A bike path can go through a parking garage!

The approach...

..."Bike Path Ahead"...

...it's dark in here!

2. "Heads up, passing on the left" is a pretty good way of alerting pedestrians/recreational cyclists to your approach.  I find that the standard, "On your left," is very confusing, since you're saying exactly the thing you don't want them to do.  The brain hears "left", and half the time, they step left. It's not really their fault; it's their brains!  But "heads up", followed by "Passing on your left" seems to be processed a bit more successfully.
3. Pedestrians ignore signs that designate paths as "Bikes ONLY".  Dude - I don't care HOW fast you run, you don't belong on the bike path. Seriously.
  
Lingering Questions:
1. Where in the heck do people go to just ride??  Every place I've ridden so far has stop signs, stop lights, pedestrian crossing, and/or bike-walking sections.  Even though my serious pedaling speed averages 18 mph, when factoring in slow-downs for people, stop signs, lights, etc - I only average out to 16.  How do people train for a long-distance bike race this way?  Are you all just packing your bikes up and driving them miles away, somewhere free from all signs, lights, and people?  Where is this secret place?? 

Overall? A happy ocean-side ride with a few slow sections.  I circled back to the car for a snack, some sunscreen, and a double-check on the directions for my second planned ride of the day.  Stay tuned!