Touring * Fitness * Beginner * Historic * Scene * Artistic *

From Interstate 405 (the San Diego Freeway) in Long Beach, exit on Studebaker Road heading south. Two miles down, turn right on Westminster Avenue. After half a mile Westminster becomes Second Street. Follow the signs pointing to Belmont Shore, crossing the island of Naples. Enter the seaside neighborhood at the first left turn allowed and park on the street as close to the beach as possible. Skate to Ocean Boulevard and cross it to take one of the path access trails. The trail actually starts at Ocean and 54th Place, across the street from an outdoor in-line hockey arena at the Bayshore Playground. (You can also park in Long Beach and skate this trail in the other direction. See Downtown Long Beach, page 333.) Map: Los Angeles County Bike Map, available for free by calling (213) 244-6539.

Your skate will be enhanced by terrific harbor and city skyline views as you head up the middle of the sandy beach on the 17-foot-wide Long Beach Shoreline Bicycle and Pedestrian Path. The 12-foot-wide concrete bikeway, plus a generous five-foot pedestrian lane, connects Belmont Shore to the Long Beach Convention and Civic Center and the Downtown Shoreline Marina. Unlike the busier Strand paths farther north, here there is no speed limit, and in spite of the gorgeous vistas, the trail is a lot less crowded. In other words, there are plenty of opportunities to go really fast! Starting at the 54th Street entrance, skate out onto the trail and relish the sandy roll up the coast (in this case, you're heading west rather than north). Several access paths connect the main trail with the streets along Ocean Boulevard. If it's windy out, you'll most likely be fighting a head wind in this direction. An early morning start helps alleviate the problem. After a mile, you'll reach the Belmont Pier, worth checking out with a quick roll. The pavement is smooth enough, but when it's busy, all of those flying hooks and lines are rather unnerving. Curb grinders will want to hang out at the Natatorium, site of the swimming events for the 1988 Olympics. Up a short ramp, the shiny edges of the tree planters seem to have been prewaxed for your grinding enjoyment. You can skate right into one entrance of the Natatorium and view the aquatic activities inside from behind a barrier next to the bleachers. Leaving the Natatorium, the trail follows a grassy area out of sight from the beach and then crosses behind a parking lot to climb a short but delicious 30-foot-wide concrete promenade. In spite of the raised cracks in the surface, it's fun to go up and down, up and down . . . Another ramp on the other side of the building with the promenade brings the trail back down to more expanses of beach. As you skate on the curving path toward the forest of masts in the Shoreline Marina, the view just gets better and better. Islands out in the San Pedro Bay are spiked with iron towers and palm trees, creating a weird sort of tropical effect. Near the marina, there's a large and mysterious white bubble--the hangar used by Howard Hughes to house his Spruce Goose. The downtown Long Beach high-rises loom ahead on the horizon, and to the right, a few ritzy homes perch atop sandy bluffs that are protected from erosion by thick ground cover. Ahead lies the best stretch of trail for speed work. At Bluff Park, veer right to skate around the parking lot and continue up the path. After another freewheeling stretch on the beach, you will reach Alfredo's, a trailside snack bar and skate specialty shop. Beyond Alfredo's you will be skating on the Shoreline Aquatic Park Bike Trail on the Downtown Shoreline Marina. Don't miss out on the breathtaking view from the end of the breakwater of the harbor area and downtown Long Beach. (Lucky for you, those "No Roller Skating" notices that are painted all over are not enforced, according to a local ranger.)