Fun Free Things to do in Long Beach, Riding the Bike Path

Living in Long Beach I have found there are a lot of great things to do, from walking to the local café to get a coffee to a great night on the town with your friends. There are also a lot of great free things to do in Long Beach and in light of the nation’s current financial situation I felt we should talk about a few of them. One thing I like about Long Beach, especially by the beach, is the fact that doing simple things like walking, riding a skateboard, or riding a bike is a normal activity. On any given day in Long Beach you can see families, couples or individuals actually out on the street partaking in one of these simple but fun adventures. One of the activities that I found to be one of the favorites is bike riding. Whether you ride a cruiser, mountain bike, fixed gear, or a geared bike, it is all welcome here. If I had to name Long Beach’s favorite city activity it would have to be bike riding. I say this because this is one of the only places I have seen where they actually have a bike lane—not in the gutter—but in the middle of the street; an actual lane that is dedicated for bike riding, which is pretty cool. I have always liked riding bikes but for most of my life bike riding was something that I did occasionally. In fact except for when I was a kid I had not owned a bike until I moved to Long Beach. I can honestly say since I moved here bike riding is one of the best free things I like to do now.

Since I live right by the beach one of the places that I like to ride is on the bicycle/pedestrian path located on the beach between Shoreline Village and Belmont Shore. It is a two lane path that stretches roughly 6 miles between the two areas. I like riding this path not only because it is close to me but it is a very scenic ride. On a nice clear sunny California day if you are riding toward Shoreline Village you have an awesome view of Long Beach Harbor and Downtown. As you ride you can see from the former white spruce goose dome and Queen Mary to the convention center whale mural and the buildings of downtown Long Beach getting bigger in the horizon. At night it is a grand sight with all the lights shining in the horizon. If you ride the opposite direction you can see all the way past the Veteran’s Pier to the end of the Peninsula and it also a great view at night. A usual ride for me is to ride down the bike path to shoreline village and the light house where I can get a great view of downtown. Then I ride back down the bike path to Belmont Shore around Horney Corner, down 2nd street which takes me back home. Along the way you can check out a lot of places like Shoreline Village with its many restaurants and shops, The Aquarium, Downtown Long Beach, Belmont Brewing Company, Veterans Pier, 2nd Street and many other places depending on your tastes. You can ride in a group, take your ride with your significant other, or just enjoy the ride by yourself. The possibilities are endless and the great thing is that it is free.

For many people bike riding is a way of life here in Long Beach. It is great exercise and is fun to do. It gets you away from the confined, limited, stuffy, traffic ridden pleasures of driving a car to the clean, open, heart pumping, freedom of pedaling a bike. So if you enjoy the outdoors, love exercise or just want to get away for an hour grab your bike or a friend’s bike and come down to the bike path, take in the view and enjoy a few moments of human powered fun!

DJ TimTim