Sunday, May 30, 2010

Going for a Ride

I went for a bike ride today on my new bike. My plan was to just ride down San Vicente Blvd to the ocean and back. But SoCal is like an amusement park, there is always another thing to see around the corner.

Santa Monica Pier was unbelievably crowded. Don’t believe me? Just look at this picture! It looks like it’s been invaded by a hoard of locusts. And this is not the worst of it. Or is it? I don’t know. I am not from around here.

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The walk on the ocean looked like fun, so I figured I’d just pedal down to Venice.

I am not sure, but I don’t think this guy should be on his cell phone. A really bad idea added on to another bad idea.

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Venice makes normal look crazy. I thought I got some looks from the Venetians saying “Look at that crazy guy in a regular T-Shirt, cargo shorts AND wearing a bike helmet. Gee, now I have seen everything!”

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A circle dance to the African beat is what has attracted the crowd below. It reminded me of the crazy dance in the city of Zion in the Matrix movie.

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These guys don’t believe in any laws, particularly gravity. But that darn Newton, had to go and ruin everything by laying out those laws.

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So far Venice has been like strolling back in time, into the sixties. Now time is slowly rolling back farther, by a couple of million years.

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Venice Pier is a disappointing concrete structure.

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People mostly gather on the pier to watch these masterful suffers. These three older weathered guys seemed to command the waves, float across them, slash through them on demand; it was truly a display of greatness.

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The end of the pier is a big roundabout-like area, which is home to the homeless fishermen. It’s good to have the time to enjoy life.DSC_0117

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Well, I was in Venice, I might as well ride to the end of the bike path in Marina del Ray; take a look at the the gang of pelicans and watch the boats pull up into the marina.DSC_0123

The channel into Marina del Ray

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I am exhausted and realize that I have ten up-hill miles to go back. The ride down to the ocean was a breeze. Literally. Now I have to pedal back up to the hills of Brentwood. What was I thinking? I always do this. Living in the moment is really overrated. A little planning ahead never killed anyone.

On the way back I stopped at muscle beach. These geezers were just lifting weights from the ground to waist high. They didn’t even look in shape! I rename the place fatass beach and move on.

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DSC_0135 Santa Monica fast forwards me a couple of million years along the evolutionary path.

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So hard to believe that just a couple of miles down the road that mayhem is going on. Santa Monica puts the R in ritzy. It’s like walking out of the slums of Bombay onto the Rodeo Drive.

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I almost get to watch the sun go down on Santa Monica Boulevard. I toy with the idea of hanging around for it, then I think #@$ the sun! I am tired, I wanna go home, eat and Skype. The sun will also set tomorrow.

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San Vicente was a killer up-hill. But I made it! A dip in the hot tub and I am good to blog.

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