Jeff Bikes: May 2013

Long Beach to San Clemente
44 Miles

What a great day of riding!

I got up and almost immediately noticed something very unusual...the sun was out! Hit the snooze button a few times and then mustered and walked a couple blocks down to Chucks, a local favorite featuring "The Weasel" which according to the menu is chili over scrambled eggs. I thought the better of it and had a short stack with eggs instead. I broke out the laptop and worked for a while until Chuck himself wandered over, refilled my coffee and talked for a bit.

Chucks is a nice place stuck somewhere in the 1960's, and I'd recommend it even though you can get better coffee elsewhere (you won't be so lucky with "The Weasel"). I walked back to the motel, checked out and hit the road.

Rolling out of Long Beach the route turns inland slightly and follows Route 1 over an inlet to Seal Beach where the military has a big presence. I only saw one ship (I have no idea what kind...medium sized, gray, giant radar golfball on top). A few miles further at Sunset Beach, the route jumps off Route 1 and onto a bike path that goes from Sunset Beach for miles, and miles, and miles down Huntington Beach. I rode this route once before, so I can't exactly say that I've never seen so much beach in my life, but with that one exception I've never seen so much beach in my life. It goes on for miles, and it must be a quarter mile of beach before you get to the ocean! There are lifeguard stations set up every couple hundred yards FOR MILES...all seemingly regularly spaced and in a straight line. Every mile or so there was a large building with a concession or two (bike rentals, food), and once or twice there were fire pits, all lined up...two rows of them, all identical and neatly and evenly spaced. It's like someone sat down at a drafting board and designed the whole thing. Amazing.

After miles and miles of riding through the beach I finally hit the end at the Santa Ana River and rode on into Newport Beach, and I was back in high fashion and luxury. This is where the money goes. I've never seen so many luxury cars in my life. I rode past Ferrari dealers, Yacht and Ship Brokers (I don't even know what that is) and miles of designer boutiques, fabulous looking restaurants and opulent looking boutiques. Just amazing.

I rode out of Newport Beach and into Laguna Beach and decided that it was the "other side of the tracks" from the super rich to the merely rich. Everything here is clean, beautiful, new or well maintained, and groomed to within an inch of its life. There are security cameras, gated communities, and more Lexus and BMW's than Porsche's and Ferrari's. Didn't get to see the ocean much through these two areas as the ocean front property seems to have long since been parceled off, developed and fenced and gated.

Fortunately Laguna Beach gives way to Dana Point (more domestic than foreign cars) and then back to the beach. A lovely afternoon ride along the ocean again along Capistrano Beach and on into San Clemente where I managed to secure a motel room right on the beach with a beautiful view of the San Clemente pier for less than a pretty dumpy hotel room up in Ventura. Go figure! I'm right at the base of a giant hill that I think I'm going to have to climb tomorrow morning, but I'm leaving that until tomorrow. For now, I've secured a cheap bottle of wine and plan to hit the "Publish" button on this blog, walk out to my front porch and watch the sun go down.