It's been pouring rain around here in Los Angeles, at least by SoCal standards ;) No rain in the forecast for today, so I decided to go on a spontaneous ride down the coast from Mailbu to El Segundo. Being that I work for myself, no need to call in sick ;)

I decided to ride my "nice" bike today since there was no rain. The trusty ol' duct tape wrapped commuter bike stayed in the dug-out today. It's all shiney chrome today ;)
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My spoke card from the downtown Cranksgiving alley cat
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Rode pass the Playboy Studio West building
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Ominous clouds hovering as I rode down the Santa Monica section of the bike path
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This guy must have been in his 80's I am guessing. Intense fella, doing those elevated pushup reps with ease
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Locals and tourist are out enjoying the first dry day
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Harry Perry was out doing his thing. He's a part of the Venice landscape like graffiti, the homeless and the canals. He's been skating and playing that guitar since 1973. Go here if you want to know more about him http://www.venicebeachcalifornia.com/
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Your typical beater beach bike stored in the typical beater beach style
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The sign caught my eyes!
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Gotta love the ground beef ones. Yummy!
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Ahh, the ubiquitous tchotchke t-shirts sold at any beach. I snapped this pic to send to a friend as a joke. I Wasn't going to post this pic, but scroll down a couple pics and you see why I included it ;)
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Down Ballona Creek. This is one of my favorite parts of the path. During crew season, you can watch the UCLA and Loyola teams practice up an down the creek. Yes all our rivers and creeks are paved. Don't laugh! It was done to prevent flooding. To read more about the Ballona Creek go here http://www.ballonacreek.org/
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About 15 minutes after I snapped the pic of that "FedSex" t-shirt, I was riding directly below the LAX take-off flight path in El Segundo. Looking up and what do I see?
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Heading back north to go home, I decided to take a stroll through the Venice Canal walkways. For those outside of LA, back in the 1920's (or even earlier) land developer Abbott Kinney had the idea to create a canal type community styled after Venice in Italy. It had systems of gondola canals and merchants shop with Renaissance architecture. Today, only a few of the original buildings remain. Here's a pic of one of the few remaining canals that weren't filled in. Site with history about Venice http://naid.sppsr.ucla.edu/venice/
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After my walk through Venice, I got back on the bike and headed home. It was tempting to stop by Supergo to see if I "needed" anything from the year end clearance sale, but I resisted and rode home. It was a good ride and now there is heavy rain forecast for the next couple days, so glad I got the ride in.

Hope you enjoy the pics and thanks for looking.

- Nat

Great post. I rode to Santa Monica this morning via Venice Blvd. When I woke up this morning and no rain, jumped on the bike. Beautiful clouds today! Sat and had a coffee on the Promenade at Arizona, then checked out the pier. That empanada makes my mouth water. I rode home on Broadway (stopped at Helen's), then Sawtelle to Olympic. I'll look for that Pista in the future.
Beautiful photos!
Thanks,
TY

Your bike looks cool against that wall. Broadway? I'll have to agree with you, the white bar tape looks good.
TY

Your bike looks cool against that wall. Broadway? I'll have to agree with you, the white bar tape looks good.
TY

Thanks for the compliments on the photos.

Ahh... seems like we missed passing each other on Broadway by a matter of hours ;)

Yeah that's the graffiti wall of the Cinergi Studios building on Broadway near Helens. The morning started out partly sunny, as in your pic, then took an ominous turn and it was gloomy for the rest of day. But most importantly it was dry so I had no complaints.

There is a good hot chocolate cafe off the Promenade now. I recommend my fav drink, the Mexican Hot Chocolate (not the kind with Tequila). It has a raw earthy hint of Nescafe and a nice cinnamon after taste. I think it's on 4th and Arizona.

Great pictures!

Here on the East Coast where everyone thinks that San Francisco is the place to be on the West Coast and that LA is to be avoided, I always seem like a contrarian when I sing the praises of LA (I know it has its problems, too, but what area doesn't?) As I look out at another cloudy, chilly day, your pictures make we want to jump on a plane and go to LA.

Great post, love your pictures. Nice bikes also.

Great pics, Meat. It's like seeing a movie that's shot in L.A. and being able to call out all the locations.

The only thing I didn't know was the empanadas. Where was that?

I used to work at Playboy Studio West .... You know what they shoot there?

Ballona Creek is amazing, if you're heading away from the ocean. Otherwise that headwind can be nasty.

The old man cracked me up. All I could think was Mandelbaum, Mandelbaum, Mandelbaum!

I rode Friday morning in the pouring rain. Planning on riding tomorrow (Sunday) morning and am praying for dryness.

A friend of mine took the attached pic a couple years ago.

The only thing I didn't know was the empanadas. Where was that?
It's located diagonally across from the outdoor gym and mini tennis courts.

I used to work at Playboy Studio West .... You know what they shoot there?
Hummm...let me guess ;)
Yeah, I know what they shoot in there. I am a fashion photographer actually, so I know of most of the photo studios here in LA. In addition to their photoshoots, don't they also do their cable shows there too?

Nice pic of Harry Perry! I have never seen him that far inland (looks like Broadway/3rd where the crepes place is now). I wonder where he lives? He has a Beverly Hills business address and owns the URL venicebeachcalifornia.com.

Lots of sand cover the path towards the LAX section of that trail right now. I might be out there sunday too. If the Nacimiento ride gets rained out, then I'll be down riding in Santa Monica on my beater bike.

They've got a studio near Glassell Park just south of Glendale.

That's crazy that Harry's got the domain name and a BH business address.

Thanks for the warning about the sand. Think I'll head up north via PCH instead.

Oops. Started pouring right as I passed Sunset. Went to Pepperdine and came back down. The rain never let up. PCH was a nightmare. Shoulder closed for a half-mile or so, then the right lane closed for what seemed like at least another mile. Parts of the shoulder were flooded and muddy. My bike hates me right about now.

But I feel goooooooooooooooooood.

PCH into Malibu is always interesting when we've had some heavy rains. This looks like it's going to be the first serious landslide winter since about '97.

PCH into Malibu is always interesting when we've had some heavy rains. This looks like it's going to be the first serious landslide winter since about '97.

Yeah, there was some crew out there, maybe doing preventative stuff or clean-up. Hard to tell. I was actually wondering if I'd get swept up by some huge mudslide like the one several years ago between Temescal and West Channel.

I bought this Fox 100% PVC rain-riding jacket. It doesn't let any water in, and doesn't let any sweat out. A couple times when I've worn it without it being cold enough outside, I've come close to passing out. When I set out yesterday, it was only mildly drizzling, and when I got to Sunset and PCH was starting to over-heat. I decided to stash the Martin Lawrence jacket in some bushes and continue without it. I didn't get 100 yards and it started pouring. Very annoying.

Rain forecast for today and Tuesday.

Looks like Weds and Thurs are dry according to weather.com

So I'll be out again then. Been itchin' to ride.

Hey meat,
I just got back from LA. Spent some time with the inlaws and took my bike. I was riding in between all of that rain from like December 20th until the 3rd of January. I had seen your photos of the red bike that your brother built, nice ride. I don't know how many times I have stood there on the same part of the Santa Monica Pier near the roller coaster at Pacific Park. If I had seen your bike that day, I would have known who you were and said hi. Anyways, Southern Cal riding was done around Pasadena, Alhambra area. When I left Texas it was snowing. Your weather is the best. I like your pictures as they remind me of home. Gotta try those emapanadas next time, give me directions!
Thanks.

Let's see if I can explain this. All the awesome pics on this thread were taken by meat tooth paste. He's a real photographer. I just posted one of my own in a reply. Sorry for the confusion.

shiny Bianchi Pista + quality pics = meat tooth paste
red fixie + blurry photos of LA while dodging MTA buses = northcoast

Hey meat...I had seen your photos of the red bike that your brother built, nice ride...

Actually, that's northcoast's bike that his bro built him. Mine is the chrome Pista.

We've had a couple of dry days here lately. Forecast calls for rain for fri-mon though.

Never hesitate to stop me if you see my chrome Pista on the bike path.

Yea,
My bad, both bikes are incredible and I will stop either one of you if I see them out there.
I have lots of family out on the west coast (El Sereno,Lincoln heights,South Pas, Santa Monica,West Covina), so I enjoy seeing both meat toothpaste and northcoasts pics. You have both given me an interest in fixed gear bikes. You dont see those too often in west texas. I will be posting some pics soon, dont have a cam yet.
Thanks
Hooben,
West Texas