We were slow leaving our 'nice closet' this morning as we knew that we had a short day. It turned out to be even shorter than expected. We hit the road by 8:20 after enjoying a second cup of coffee, something we rarely do when we are touring.
We coasted down to the ocean bike path to resume our trek along the beach. What a change from yesterday. On a Monday morning on an overcast day we 'more or less' had the bike path to ourselves. Yesterday the path was busy with walkers as well as hundreds of cyclists. We were not alone however. We were 'stunned' by the number of people who were obviously homeless. They are allowed to camp out on the Santa Monica beach.. Yesterday we saw such 'incredible' wealth and today we saw the people at the other end of the spectrum. I guess if I was a homeless person I would choose Southern California over Minneapolis St. Paul...yes we know about the snowstorm...any day! But it defies logic how there can be such incredible disparity within this country. This is not the first time we have saw homeless people on this trip. It has been evident in just about every urban centre that we have passed through. Today it was on a much larger scale. Do not get me wrong, I know we have a problem in Canada as well. 'Wow', the two ends of the wealth scale that we have experienced over the last couple of days is 'mind boggling'. There is a touch of guilt that we have the 'health' and the 'financial ability' to take on these adventures.
The ride today can only be described as 'leisurely'. We were on the bike path meandering on the beach for the entire day. We purposely rode really slowly...yes even slower than normal!!! We stopped at a concession stand on the beach for 45 minutes and enjoyed a third coffee while watching surfers 'ride the waves'. Shortly after resuming our ride we were at our destination for the night...it was not even noon yet! We had booked a motel last night just a couple of short blocks from 'The Pier' area of Redondo Beach. To kill time we walked our bikes around The Pier area and enjoyed a leisurely lunch. Then we pushed the bikes to our motel, the Redondo Pier Inn. Brian and Pat, I think you already know this but it is located at the corner of Garnet Street and The Pacific Coast Highway.
We are in their 'Wheelchair Accessible' room...no it is not because they thought we were disabled...although some people do question our mental stability to want to take on these adventures! They actually try to give cyclists this room because it is the only room that they have that is on the ground floor. So our view of the parking facilities and the commercial washing area is less than spectacular. However, the room is very large. The dining area is bigger than our whole room was last night!
Trip Distance = 28.09 km. (It was actually 5 kilometers shorter than we thought it was going to be). Time on the Bikes = 2 hours, 37 minutes. Average Speed = 10.66km. (You would think we were climbing hills all day...we were not). Maximum Speed = 32. 01 km. Wildlife Sightings = Black Crowned Night Heron, Pelican, Herring Gulls, Heerman's Gull, Great Blue Heron, Western Grebe, Pied Billed Grebe, Oyster Catchers, Willets, Godwits, Great Egret, Snowy Egret.
Bike Path On The Beach...A Great Way To Ride!
Surfers Waiting For A Wave
For Those Of You Who Think We Are Just Taking These Pictures Off Of The Internet, We Are Really On The Beach In Southern California!
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