MORE LAX bike rides!

BACK IN LA again!

I had 2 back to back layovers in LA this month. The weather was great topping out at about 76 degrees! I chose to go north on the first up through Santa Monica, Will Rogers Beach to a new north most turning point; Temescal Canyon Road! Next time I will shoot for Malibu!

I found a decent breakfast place in Marina del Rey. Joni's coffee grinder serves up fresh coffee and orange juice. I had some delicious banana pancakes one day. On the other layover I tried the oatmeal with fresh strawberries and bananas. That was good too. I am reserving judgement on the service though. One day it was fine the other the staff seemed a little unnecessarily grumpy.


On the second layover I went south to Redondo Beach. No record here tho. I stopped at the Redondo Beach Marina. Along the way I did a detour through El Segundo where I grabbed a burger. El Segundo is an interesting place located immediately south of runway 25 left at LAX, with a power plant and I what looks to be a refinery to the west. There is beach access though and the beach is not bad. I mentioned in a previous write that there is a hang glider port here along with the Marvin Braude bike trail. The beach is a nice wide Southern California style, I think clean, sandy beach. I think it is possible to ignore the jets taking off to the north and the power plant / refinery is behind - you're not looking that direction anyway! Surf was not bad.

On my return I came upon a sad sight. A 46' sailboat had washed up onto the beach and looked like it may not survive the ordeal. I did some research and found that the owner was preparing to sail around the world in this boat. During a wind storm a few days back the anchor line had severed and, well, you can imagine the rest of the story. (picture coming)

Both days; 73 miles.

Another Great Layover at LAX!

LAX Layovers can be full of surprises, especially when the layover is long enough for exploring and the day is a warm one. Having a bike to get around town on can make the day even more fun filled as one can travel further and find even more to get into! I had such a layover on September 4th, 2008. Staying near the airport on a 80+ degree day I decided to go… where else but the beach! The last time I “hit the beach in LA I went south, so today I decided to go north along the coast. My destination was only about 7 miles away: Marina del Rey. I took the north route out of the airport via Westchester Blvd down to Playa del Rey. From there I joined the Marvin Braude bike trail, this lead me right to the Marina through an interesting route that went along a flood control channel and by UCLAs(?) aquatics center. What a fascinating place Marina del Rey is! My first glimpse was of the Coast Guard station, a lighthouse, followed by a row of multicolored buildings like one might see in Curacao in the Caribbean. Amongst these were a few of the restaurants that surround the marina waters. As I made my way deeper into the harbor, I was taken by the size and sheer number of boats moored within. The public boat launch had 8 launching lanes but was deserted today. This place must be a zoo on a nice weekend! After exploring several of the fingers that extend into the harbor, I decided to move on while simultaneously watching for a restaurant to come back to when dinner time came around. I eventually found my way back to the beach still following the Marvin Braude trail and continued north towards Santa Monica. On the way was a favorite people watching place of mine; Venice Beach. There is always something interesting going on there! Always something to make me laugh! Today there were several people playing instruments along the boardwalk, many visitors browsing the beach shops for clothing, souvenirs, or food. I admit was a bit disappointed that the chain saw juggle was not here today. I hope he is ok?? Nor I did not see the guy with the long blond scraggly beard with the white turbine hat, on roller blades while playing the guitar while chasing after pretty girls, or the 70ish year old woman who wears a leopard skin bikini and dances with a parasol with him (when he is not chasing girls). As I continued north I came to another favorite spot to watch people; Muscle Beach. Today I found 4 people of various ages practicing hand stands who seemed to be coaching each other. There were a few who dared tackling the various sets of “swinging rings.” Of course there was volleyball being played by players who seemed pretty serious about their game – this was no casual volleyball game being played! By now my hunger began to call me back to a restaurant that I had chosen earlier; The Warehouse. So back at Marina del Ray I rode, like a horse going back to the barn. I ate a tasty seafood pasta until the sun was low in the sky (and the plate was empty) and pedaled back to the hotel as the sun set into the haze. Nice to be back in my quiet room for a good nights sleep. Maybe I'll go out again in the morning for breakfast, or for a morning dip in the ocean! Lets see, where would I find a good breakfast place...

38 Miles.

Columbus, Ohio

32 Mile ride on July 6, 2008 along Olentangy River. Ride included the I-670 trail to connect to the river trail. Columbus has plans to complete several bike trails. The I-670 trail looked like a lot of money was being put into it at the north end when I came to an abrupt dead end on the Alum (?) River.

Gig Harbor Narrows Bridge: No Toll!

This 17 mile hometown ride on the 4th of July started in Gig Harbor across the new Narrows bridge connecting Gig Harbor to a Tacoma trail system and beyond - I dont know how far it goes yet. I followed the trail to Snake Lake Park then broke off to do other things.

(Picture coming)

Sioux Falls South Dakota - Bike Ride
Sioux Falls is a great place to go for a biek ride! There is an 18 mile trail around the central part of the city. This trail extends along a somewhat circular river course through several parks. Underpasses were included at most all busy intersections. At one point where the trail goes up a hill the designers actually put switchbacks up the grade! Note: As of the date of this ride the south western section was under construction and requires about a 1 mile ride on gravel.

Washington DC Bike Ride

Washington DC is a great place to ride bike! There are several nice trails including rail to trails taking one to any number of directions to and from our nation’s capital. I was staying very close to Regan National airport. Considering this I chose to join the Mt Vernon trail since it goes right by the airport. The Mt Vernon trail is 18 miles long winding along the Potomac river to George Washington’s famous home with the same name. I had a different destination in mind though. I went the opposite direction with the desire to ride along Capital Creek. In order to do this I crossed the Potomac to the western end of the mall stopping to see a few favorite monuments, and then made my way to Georgetown, where the trail begins. I rode about 8 miles up this trail before I decided it was time to turn around. At the far north end I went through an interesting rail bridge. The Dalecarlia Bridge is a beautiful roman arch bridge made of brick. Within the passage way were 4 “duck ins” that rail workers if they happened to be in the tunnel when “train time” came. Incidentally, this former rail and before that the capital canal were used to transport coal to the capital until gas and electricity became the preferred form of energy.
23 Miles

P.S. I wasnt really in this picture but I was really there. Thank you Photoshop for allowing me be "in" the picture!

Cycling from Boston Logan Airport to... the Beach!

June 16, 2008

It is possible to ride a bike from Boston Logan airport and be at the Atlantic shore within 30 minutes or less. From Logan Airport Eastbound to the Atlantic through Winthrop out to the Deer Island water treatment plant. Riding to a treatment plant does not sound so great, but there is actually a nice trail around the plant along the harbor on one side and ocean on the other. Traffic was not especially pleasant when I got on the road back towards the airport.

Had I riden the other direction (West) from Logan Airport it is possible that I would have ended up in downtown Boston via tunnel but that will have to be determined on another day.

My route is show on the map with yellow highlighter, starting point on the left side.