Biking Along the Beach

A few weeks ago, Ching took me to the South Bay Bicycle trail.  We biked from her apartment near Torrance Beach all the way to the Santa Monica Pier.  It was a brisk 42 mile tour (two-way) that was certainly enjoyable and rewarding.

The Pacific Ocean, with its creamy sand beaches and its quiet but powerful sound guided us all the way.  Blue ocean water, blue skies and colorful sights all along the way.  

At the Redondo Pier, a jazz band is already calling people to a Sunday brunch.  Children learning to ride bikes, couples on roller blades, runners of all kinds, and the typical collage of beach-goers lined up The Strand all the way to Manhattan Beach.  This famous address close to the LAX is lined up with modern (and not so modern) apartments with tall, tall windows and balconies showcasing the Ocean.  Yuppies abound. (do they still use that word? or are they all in suburban PTA meetings right now?)  

     Around the corner is the desolate El Porto Beach where there is huge RV parking lot, interestingly, most of them have California plates.  In Dockweiler Beach, hand glider lessons are offered to the brave.  We watched a few attempts for a bit and decided that the bicycle is the way to go on this beach.

Next stop is the notorious Venice Beach.  For a moment as we were approaching this beach, scenes from tv shows or movies with the camera panning on the view for a few seconds before showing a dead body found in nearby condominium flashed through my head. (I have been watching way too much re-runs on A&E!)  Enough crime shows, now back to reality.

We stopped at Venice Beach to check out the market.  Merchandise from all over the world of the flea-market-slash-tourist-trap kind is up for sale.  However, Tatoos - permanent, henna, organic, traditional, and what have you, is the main "local produce".  We resisted the urge to shop and just watched the street performers.

A father and son / daughter (?) of Eastern European decent is working on a contortionist act to a song of Enya.  The real crowd drawer is the Brazilian Tumblers performing acrobatic-type of dance and witty politically incorrect comedy to entertain the audience.  ("Children, don't be afraid of us, be afraid of drugs, be afraid of alcohol, be afraid of Michael Jackson...")

Alas we reached Santa Monica Pier with its famous ferris wheel and boardwalk.  Throngs of tourists line up to eat at Bubba Gump (of course) and try out cotton candy and corn dogs.  But right next to the pier are hundreds of white crosses stuck on the beach sand, representing those who died in Iraq. A somber reminder that even when life is like a beach in California, there is a reality out there that is quite apart from it.

We went on the same trail back and reached Redondo at tea time.  Ching treated me to the best churros in California, which was definitely at par with those in Madrid.  I took one more look the Ocean and headed back for her place on our bikes.  It was a wonderful day, and the best part is, we get to go back...

 ... yesterday, we did =).  Thanks again, Ching!