Total miles cycled to date= 106.3, Total calories burned to date= 4,500, Lbs. lost to date= 12
So we decided to hit the trails again. We took advantage that we had Friday off (the move back to the Dreamworks campus) and decided to take on a bigger riding challenge. We had spoken about riding to the beach but it kept on changing every time the weather report came out. It was supposed to be between 90 to 100 degrees on Friday. Next best option from heading out from Azuza? Take off from a lower point where the heat wouldn't be so extreme....... which didn't matter at the end because all of LA was hot as fuck in the afternoon!
We took off from Legg Lake, right below the 60 freeway in Whittier Narrows and headed south along the San Gabriel River trail which ends up in Seal Beach. This part of the trail was chill, we rode through a conservation area, some golf courses, dams, and tagged up bridges.
After riding for about an hour, and knocking out 13 miles, we decided to take a break at Liberty park in Cerritos. Here we cooled down because it was getting warm, and refilled our water bottles.
I also took advantage of the break to charge up my iPhone which was mapping my route. It later took a thrashing after it flew out of my bike and bounced around the concrete. Luckily it only got a few scratches.
At about the 17th mile, near the 405 fwy we crossed over this bridge in order to get to the last leg of trail. We were only a few miles from the beach now.
The power plant off in the distance. They are huge steam driven electrical generators that use the river water for cooling. Here's also the point were the San Gabriel River water meets the Pacific Ocean.
And 22 miles later WE FINALLY REACHED THE OCEAN! This is the point where the bike trail ends and turns into beach sand. The cool part is that the building on the right is a restaurant with awesome food. Perfect for loading up on energy for the ride back up.
Enjoying the view on a chill Friday at the beach. It's crazy that we made it all the way out there. That's Sandy the beach bum walking across the sand. That lady is a trip! She was telling me about how she rode her bike once out here all the way from Pomona, and how she has the best back yard in the world, the beach. All this in a fake valley accent. I though she was pretty funny till she followed us to the restaurant, then I was like, "oh crap."
Cooling off my feet in the sand. My legs got a nice tan on the way down here, and don't mind the green toe nails, long story. (Long story short, my sister painted them while I was asleep.)
Shifty, David, and I, courtesy of Sandy's great photography skills, which I complemented her on. I told her she was a natural. She then told me she'd charge me for the next picture and that's when I slowly walked away.....
Enjoying a great lunch with awesome friends at the River Hut Eatery. Can't beat the view, the weather was perfect and the fish tacos were amazing.
It took 4 glasses of lemonade to hydrate my self. I probably drank a gallon of water during the whole ride.
When we finally rode back, it was about 100 degrees in Whittier, we were roasted, gassed and riding on fumes, but the ride was worth every single sweat drop shed along the trail. We saw all kinds of stuff, from Cholo's smoking weed under a bridge, little vatos tagging, teenagers getting it on, shanty towns with homeless living in them, and a bum taking a dump. But we also saw a side not seen by most of the angelenos that inhabit LA. There's an actual river, with actual water, birds and plants here in our own city. Cant wait to hit this trail again!
