Wow, well today was a total mixed bag. The first leg was a relaxed stroll on paved paths running right through sandy oceanside beaches for what seemed like hours. Except for the few other leisurely cyclers and runners, the beaches were more or less deserted. Spotted with countless unused beach volleyball courts, lifeguard posts and closed up cafeterias right up to Redondo beach.
From there it's a harrowing navigation through south LA neighborhoods to get to Long Beach. It's a delicate balance of avoiding fast moving cars and questionable people, while being completely unsure you're going the right way for what seemed like hours. I stopped countless times to confirm I was on the right route. Nothing seemed right. At one point I was completely convinced I was totally lost when I ended up right in the middle of the largest industrial neighborhood I have ever seen, being overrun by nothing but semi trailers, with nuclear power plant sized cooling towers and massive balls of *something*, smoke stacks and power lines everywhere. What a stark contrast from the rest of my trip. I felt dirty. I pulled out the map, yet again, convinced I had gone too far, or I can't be on the right road, but alas, it was right.
Eventually, you get around it, and follow a small path along a man made water viaduct, until you pop out on the sea wall of Long Beach, with views of cruise ships, yachts and sailboats. Felt like Fort Lauderdale. Oh look, a Bubba Shrimp Company. Carry on, Dave.
One strange thing: The road often has bike route signs letting you know you're on the right road, and even tell you when to turn off a road, or go left, or right. These are always nice to see cause it's reassuring, and also helpful, but at the same time, sometimes they just stop. At key intersections where you have to navigate under a bridge, go around a block to find the path again, they are completely missing. The last sign you saw just said "strait ahead", but that was 10 km ago. Where did the signs go? If you didn't have a map of bike routes, you'd never navigate your way using these signs, they are completely unreliable and undependable. I suppose they don't know where you're intending on going, so they leave that part up to you, but the pacific coast bike route doesn't change.
Anyways, eventually the beach path comes and goes, around bays, inlets and harbors, and you gotta make sure you're still on the right road, and I found my way to Huntington Beach. I did 90km, but it was kinda a fucked up day getting here. Someone asked me where I started from today, and I had to think about it. Was it Santa Monica? That feels like days ago, seriously. Meanwhile, rooftop hot tub.
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