Venice, and what I did on Sunday

I usually get up Sunday morning and go for a pretty long bike ride, generally 10-12 miles along the coastal bike path. The path goes for about 22 miles from Malibu down past Manhattan beach. However this particular Sunday I woke up and discovered a flat in the back tire of my Trek Mocha 7.2FX . My gracious roommate gave me a ride to Helen's Cycles off of Lincoln to get a fix. They offer a discount for TNT members, and my bike originally came from Helen's, though I got my from a guy off of craigslist. While I was waiting I tried on bike gloves, finally decided on a pair of 'Attack Gloves.' I feel pretty hard core biking in them. My friend Scott suggested I bungee a boom box to the back of my bike and blast "Bad to the Bone" down the bike path.


From there I decided to take Venice to Abbot Kinney and continue onto to my original destination, the Santa Monica Farmer's Market. If anyone was wondering why I typically bike with a little white basket fastened to the front of my bike, it's because I'm a hippie and I like to carry home farm fresh vegetables. Haven't lost one yet. Though there was one morning my pumpkin tamale almost flew out of my basket in response to rough road conditions.

After loading up on purple carrots, sweet dumpling squash, garlic, onions, Arkansas Black Apples, and a skinny eggplant, I decided to wonder through the Santa Monica/Venice neighborhoods instead of taking a more direct path home. That's how I discovered that there are actual canals in Venice. Cute, no?



One of the things I have come to love about this city is how continually surprised I find myself. Los Angeles excels at hidden treasures and oddball landmarks. And most of them I would have never seen if I hadn't been out biking. The canals are delightful. Ducks swim about, families push baby strollers gently across bridges and every house seems to have a canoe or kayak tethered to their porch.


And I should really learn how to fix my own flats....

Miles biked-7.14