Video at normal speed on Youtube channel SUENORD1 (https://youtu.be/A9vakIfCfQw)
When I drove to the beach parking lot at the Southern end of Venice Beach, a man who had been out surfing gave me his parking ticket, which was valid for another 5 hours. An auspicious start for my enterprise!
There were a lot of homeless people camped along the wayside. The businesses on the adjacent “boardwalk” weren’t open yet.
The bicycle path actually consisted of two paths. The Ocean Front Walk actually goes along both Venice Beach and the Santa Monica beach front.It is about 5.7 miles long.
The whole stretch is level, and there are both nice children’s playgrounds and a skateboard/ trick bike-riding rink along it. Also beach-volleyball courts. The main attraction is always going to be people. The beach is so wide that you can seldom see the waves, though it gets closer on the Northern end. I was going to film the Venice Beach boardwalk on the way back to the car, but I would have had to walk my bike. The boardwalk is a long stretch of varied and interesting shops and cafes. There were dozens of street musicians also. Even in February, the street was packed with people, and the temperature was 20 degrees C. The whole bicycle path is level. I am going to visit my sister who lives out past San Bernadino, then take the inland route to San Diego. I have had enough of freeways for the time being! A massive rainstorm is supposed to hit most of the state tomorrow, so I can safely take a break!
