Spending Some 'Down' Time In Long Beach

Wednesday, November 12 - Thursday, November 13, 2014

We have had some 'quality' down time for the last 2 days. Mary Lou and Ken joined us shortly after lunch on Wednesday and we wondered down to the Shoreline Village for some afternoon 'appetizers' and 'refreshments' overlooking the yachts. We then moved to a seafood restaurant for dinner. Our table was outside overlooking the water and the Queen Mary...nice!

We all went for a walk this morning back down to the ocean and then said our goodbyes to Mary Lou and Ken. Thanks guys for sacrificing 2 days of your holiday in Las Vegas to come join us and be a part of our adventure.

Sue and I spent the rest of the morning walking the 2 miles to the Queen Mary and spent some time admiring the old luxury liner up close. Moored just behind her was a modern cruise ship. It was interesting to see an old luxury ship so close to a modern luxury ship. The Queen Mary is big...but...dwarfed by the size of today's cruise ships.

We are presently sitting in a Laundromat getting everything clean for our final few days on our bikes. It is difficult to 'wrap around our brains' that the cycling part of this adventure is drawing to a close. Tomorrow morning we will jump back on the bikes and again head south. San Diego here we come!!!

Wildlife Sightings = Western Grebes (by the hundreds), Coots, Pelicans, Spotted Sandpiper, Willet, Long-billed Curlew, Surf Scoter.

The Queen Mary

The Queen Mary And A Modern Cruise Ship

Russian Submarine On Display Alongside The Queen Mary

Tuesday Night Neil and Mary Lou In Las Vegas

Wednesday Night Mary Lou With Sue, Kevin, and Ken In Long Beach California

Birdwatching on The Los Angles River

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

We delayed our departure this morning because again we knew that we had a really short day. So we hit the road at 8:45.

ACA did a terrific job of their route out of Redondo Beach, through Torrance, through Carson to Long Beach. To keep it simple this 'is' Los Angles even though technically it is not. We rode through mostly housing subdivisions and then through an industrial area (Carson). There were some large plants which we understand have something to do with the Petro Chemical Industry. The most fun we had was on the bike path along the side of the Los Angles River. This river has obviously been engineered to say the least. It has concrete walls and we rode up high on top of the berm along side it. It is also as straight as an arrow. The real bonus for us was that the river was 'teeming' with birdlife. We spent a lot of time trying to identify the ducks and the shorebirds. Who would have thought that with all the wild coastline we have encountered that the best bird watching would take place in the middle of the biggest 'urban sprawl' in the world. FYI. Los Angles does have the largest 'footprint' of any city in the world if you include all the cities and towns that are attached to it.

As we left the River Bike Path and were entering the harbour area of Long Beach we stopped to look at our maps. We did not have to get them out. A couple on recumbents stopped to talk to us about our journey. They were musicians who have lived here for 14 years. He is originally from New Orleans and she from New Mexico. Maps were not required after that. They led us along a series of bike trails being tourist guides for us and gave us some must do's and must see's while we are here. We said our good byes at the Shoreline Village area, an area of restaurants and shops at the harbour. We probably spent 1 1/2 hours with them.

We had lunch at a Mexican Restaurant overlooking some large yachts. When we started heading toward our destination for the night we were stopped by another cyclist who asked if we were lost. We were...sort of. He directed us to go to the next set of lights and we would find our motel. He is from Long Beach and tour cycles. We must have chatted with him for 30 minutes. Nice People these 'Long Beachers'!

We are booked into the Rodeway Inn for the next 3 nights. Mary Lou (Sue's sister) and Ken are coming over from Las Vegas tomorrow to spend some time with us. Looking forward to it!

Trip Distance = 30.81 km. Time on the Bikes = 2 hours 23 minutes. Average Speed = 12.90 km. Maximum Speed = 30 .22 km. Wildlife Sightings = Snowy Egret, Great Egret, Bufflehead, Ruddy Duck, Blue Winged Teal, Cinnamon Teal, Green Winged Teal, Northern Shoveler, Northern Pintail, American Wigeon, Black-necked Stilt, American Avocet, Great Blue Heron, Kingfisher, Pelican, Coot, Turkey Vultures, Western Grebe.

Los Angles River And The Bike Path - Great Bird Watching And We Had Lots Of Time To Do It!

Two Ends Of The Spectrum...From Absolute Opulence To Homelsessness

Monday, November 10, 2014

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!

In a League of Their Own

Sunday, November 9, 2014

We made our escape form the 'sketchy' area of Port Hueneme/Oxnard by 8:00. Our escape was aided by the heavy fog...well maybe not aided...we needed our flashing lights for the first hour. That is how long it took us to ride around the Port Hueneme Naval base which is part of the even bigger Ventura Naval Base.

When the sun came out we began to enjoy our ride along the coast. The shoulder was good and the ocean was our constant companion. We had failed to realize however that this area is hilly...the climbs were not very steep but as our friend Chris from England would say, they were like 'bubble wrap'. After about 20 kilometers we began to see house up in the hills. I should probably say there were 'mansions in them there hills'. Then we were shut off from the ocean as the mansions appeared on our right as well. We were entering the Malibu area. The 'decadence' became even more ridiculous when the Porsches, Ferraris, Lamborghini's, Jaguars, Mercedes, and the lowly BMW's began to dominate the roads. And we even saw some Bentleys and Rolls Royce's sprinkled in. We rode past a series of 'clubs' and just had to stop in front of one to 'gawk'. Six cars were parked in a row. Two were Ferraris, three were Porsches, and the sixth was a Bentley. We were staring at 3 to 4 million dollars worth of cars. I wonder what a membership in this club would cost? I suspect if you had to ask you could not afford to belong! These people are obviously 'In a League of Their Own'. RJ, Eric and Colin...you guys would have loved it!

As we continued further along into the 'urban jungle' the riding became 'nerve wracking'. Cars were flying past us on the left. cars were parked where we wanted to ride to our right. We were unsure whether to be worried about being run over from behind or 'doored' by one of the parked vehicles. There were also 100's of road cyclists blowing past us. We soon realized that in Los Angles County cars do not give a 'shit' about the law that requires them to give cyclists 3 feet of room as they pass. Instead of being 'buzzed' by black Pickup Trucks we were being 'buzzed' by black Porsches!

It came as a tremendous relief to finally get to the Bike Path outside of Santa Monica. We were able to spend the rest of the day riding along the beach...the only challenge was to avoid the thousands of people who were using the trail.

We are staying at the Ocean Park Inn in Santa Monica. Campgrounds are a whole lot scarce in this area. Our room is even smaller than the one we had in Rimouski when we crossed Canada. But it is a really nice little place with a grocery store within a block. We are about 8 blocks away from the famous Santa Monica Pier.

Trip Distance = 77.25 km. Time on the Bikes = 4 hours 52 minutes. Average Speed = 15.80 km. Maximum Speed = 47.15 km. Wildlife Sightings = Western Grebe, Meadowlarks, Coots, Great Egret, Great Blue Heron, Snowy Egret, Red Tailed Hawk, Mallards, Godwits.

Just Before The Urban Jungle Began

Medieval Castle? Do Not See The Moat Though!

One Of The Mansions Up In The Hills

Santa Monica Beach...This Is The Image We had In Our Heads That All California Beaches Would Look Like!

The Iconic Santa Monica Pier With Thousands Of People Milling About. We Rode Our Bikes Under The Pier

Bicycle Paths At Their Best

Saturday, November 8, 2014

The sunset last night over the ocean was something to see. It almost made up for the car horn that sounded at 2:30 in the parking lot right beside our tent. This was not like our 'wimpy' car alarms. It was not a series of beeps but a full out blare of the horn non stop. It kept blaring until the battery went dead in the truck. To say the least, everyone in the campground was awake...except the owner of the 'bloody' truck! Justice will be served when it will not start for him today! And just for good measure a train went by at 6:00 blasting its horn just in case anyone was trying to sleep in.

We were on the road by 8:10 after saying goodbye to Bill. He had a much longer day planned than we did...surprise, surprise!

After a short distance on the expressway...where we 'were' legal we saw a sign that read "bicycles must exit the expressway". This came as a surprise to us as ACA had us on the highway for 6 more kilometers. What an unexpected but pleasurable surprise when at the end of the 'off ramp' we found a brand new bike path between the expressway and the ocean. We were barricaded from the highway and were able to enjoy a 'fast' spin along the waterfront. Due to the fact that it was a Saturday, we were not alone...nor for that matter were we that fast...as hundreds of 'roadies' were out spinning along the new path as well.

At the end of the bike path we popped out onto Highway 1 again. We thought we had lost it for good a couple of days ago but obviously we were wrong. On the side of this stretch of highway they allow RV's to camp. There were 127 spots and all were filled. They might be parked on the ocean but what an 'idiotic' place to camp when Southern California has so many beautiful State Parks to camp in.

As we rode through Ventura the bike paths and then the street path riding was quite nice. Again through Oxnard and Port Hueneme the navigation was quite simple. Do not get me wrong...I am still not a fan of urban riding!

We are staying in a motel tonight in Port Hueneme, the Del Playa Inn. It has seen its better days and says it has been recently renovated. If so I would not recommend the company that did it to put it politely. We are, however, by ourselves...whatever that means. We went next door to do our laundry and were surprised to find ourselves 'smack dab' in the middle of a Mexican Migrant worker area. The Plaza even has a US Immigration office. We have been to their market and are going to eat in our room tonight as the neighborhood could be sketchy after dark. As we were walking back to the motel we saw some really nice automobiles with some not so nice looking individuals in them.

Trip Distance = 52.30 km. Time on the Bikes = 3 hours 16 minutes. Average Speed = 15.96 km. Maximum Speed = 45.51 km. Wildlife Sightings = Willets, Western Grebe, dead Possums on the road.

RV's Lined Up Along The Ocean Camping

Surfers At Ventura Beach

Wooden Pier At Ventura

Anyone Who Likes Urban Riding Needs Their head Examined!

Friday, November7, 2014

It was nice to be able to enjoy a part day in Refugio State Park sitting in the shade of the palm trees and watching the waves crash on the shoreline. We were joined by Bill (from Colorado) who we last saw when we camped in the torrential downpour in Plasket Creek campground a few days back. We were also joined by a biker from Germany and one from California.

We were on the road by 8:00. We were again the first to break camp. For the first 20 kilometers we enjoyed an easy ride along the shoulder of the expressway Highway 101. It is, however, not blessed with opportunities to observe and enjoy what is around you as you are bombarded by cars flying by at 55 miles per hour or more.

We were forced off of Highway 101 as we entered Goleta. Bicycles and pedestrians are not allowed to be on the expressway through urban areas. The ACA route looked like a good one. Boy were we mistaken! It took us to a bike path that led through the University of California Santa Barbara Campus. We were actually looking forward to some nice bike paths. Boy were we in for a surprise. The ACA map's instruction read as follows. "Turn left onto bike path and follow it across campus". It should have added that you needed to be psychic to know which bike path to follow across campus as there must have been 25 branches to this bike path. The only reason we negotiated our way through the 'maze' of bike lanes was because Sue got a cycle path map from the information place on campus. ACA's next instruction was "as you leave campus turn left and cross Goleta Slough". There were no signs for this...being psychic might have helped again. We turned left onto a bike path that promptly took us back up to the road we had turned off of to get to the bike path to go through campus. We had ridden 6 kilometers and had by now only managed to circle an airport. ACA by this time was getting a failing grade from us...and we were only just getting to the big urban area of Santa Barbara. With a little bit of 'hair pulling' and a whole lot of 'foul language', we were able to navigate ourselves to Carpenteria Beach State Park in Carpenteria. It has an incredible beach. We are again in the Hiker/Biker site and are again camping with Bill (Colorado). There are also 2 British cyclists here. They are quite the story. They have ridden the Pacific Coast Route on fixed gear bikes just like I had as a kid. How in the heck you could climb the hills on the coast without being able to shift your bike down is impossible for us to comprehend.

Trip Distance = 64.01 km. Time on the Bikes = 4 hours 8 minutes. Average Speed = 15.49 km. Maximum Speed = 42.83 km. Wildlife Sightings = Red Tailed Hawk, Heerman's Gull, Western Gull, Western Grebe, Coots, Scrub Jay, Ground Squirrel, Great Blue Heron, Snowy Egret, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret.

A good bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon has turned our day around. And to plagiarize again...life is good!

Santa Barbara

Great Blue Heron Fishing For Ground Squirrels On Our Campsite

Sunset Over Carpenteria Beach

The Last Big Climb...We Think

Thursday, November 6, 2014

We hit the pavement by 8:00 after 'devouring' the Continental Breakfast that the Travelodge offered.

The forecast was for high temperatures today and that is what we got. It reached 30 degrees by 10:00. Not what you want when you are climbing. We had read about the climb up and away from Lompoc and had been told by locals how hard it would be. It never really lived up to its billing. It was a long one, 25 kilometers, but a relatively easy one up through cattle country. What was different about this cattle area was that we actually saw some of the ranch buildings and corrals as well as lots of cattle. Considering what these cattle are grazing on they look really good.

With the temperatures around 30 degrees it was a welcome sight to see the sign that said that we were about to have a 7 degree downhill run for 3 kilometers. The descent was one of the best of the entire trip. We were able to 'coast' at speeds exceeding 50 kilometers per hour for the whole 3 kilometers. We did not have to touch our brakes...good thing as our brake pads are pretty much 'toast'! Today was the last big climb of this adventure...at least that is what we think.

The rest of the day was spent on the shoulder of the expressway Highway 101. Our constant companion through most of California, Highway 1, came to an end today. We were also blessed with a tail wind as we rode along the ocean once again. It was nice to be back out along the coast as for the last couple of days we had been playing up in the hills.

We are camping in Refugio State Park Hiker/Biker. The park is located about 30 kilometers north of Santa Barbara. We are steps from the ocean and set up under some palm trees. We arrived here by 12:30 earlier than we are used to getting to a campground. It is nice to be able to relax for the afternoon watching the waves crash on the sand/rubble beach.

Refugio got its name because it was here that Spanish smugglers took refuge from the authorities in the late 1700's and very early 1800's. Today it is a major oil producing area...at least it is out in the ocean. We can see 4 oil platforms from our campsite.

Trip Distance = 57.26 km. Time on the Bikes = 4 hours 1 minute. Average Speed = 14.26 km. Maximum Speed = 57.30 km. Wildlife Sightings = Coots, Mallards, Heermans Gull, Herring Gulls, Red Tailed Hawk, Hermit Thrush, Scrub Jay, Brown Pelicans, Ground Squirrels, Meadowlarks, unidentified Wren.

Calf Laying In Field...Green Grass They Were Eating Was Seeded Down

Oil Platform Off The Coast

Camping On The Ocean Under The Palm Trees