Today’s ride was the longest so far, 57 miles! I think I could have ridden another 10,  maybe, but glad to have stopped and cooled off. It was one of the warmest days as we traveled through urban areas during the last half of the day, LA is not “my cup of tea”.

We started the day early, leaving Malibu a little after 7:00 AM.

After traveling for a few miles on the Pacific Coast Highway, we were able to pick up the beach bike path, right after passing the J. Paul Getty Villa.

The beach names were familiar from movies, TV shows, etc. but what different cultures they have “in person”; Malibu Beach, Santa Monica, Venice Beach, Manhattan, Hermosa, and Redondo Beach.

When we went under the parking area for Redondo Beach on a designated bike trail, we faced a hill climb up Torrance Blvd. Stopping to get our bearings, we were advised by a local fellow cyclist and a member of the LA Bicycle Coalition that the hill was not that bad and if we needed a lunch place, take a left on Catalina and go two blocks to the Catalina Cafe – which we did. After lunch we were on urban multi-lane streets (some with bike lanes and some without) until we reached the Los Angeles River bikeway

which took us to the Long Beach shore area. The shoreline has been revitalized with a beautiful boardwalk area lined with restaurants and shops.

I’m glad we managed to get through beach areas today as I expect them to be fairly crowded tomorrow with weekend beachgoers.

We did meet a young Brit who was starting his northerly trip on the Pacific Coast Bicycle Route – did not have much experience on a bike before he planned this trip. He had ridden his bike four times before he brought it, his pannier bags, and camping gear on a plane to the states. He has about 6 weeks to go before he hopes to reach Vancouver.

Tomorrow is a short day, on to Capistrano Beach, only about 37 miles.