Last year we started Day 3 of the Dream Ride with a delicious homemade breakfast at the hostel. We pedaled down the coast and around Palos Verdes to Long Beach. The natural and human scenery (sexy surfers!) were gorgeous, but we didn't really see Los Angeles.

This year we will see Los Angeles, and it will be my favorite day of the trip. I love urban rides, and Debbie is putting together an amazing route through the heart of Los Angeles. I've gotten to know Los Angeles by bike in the last few years and I've been amazed at how bike-able this car-choked city can be.  I've always known about the beach bike path, but now I know quiet roads, riverside bike paths, and a real bike culture are emerging in Los Angeles. We'll get to see it up close with a bike tour that leads to Los Angeles' revived downtown where we'll have lunch at renovated Grand Park, steps from City Hall.

We'll hear from officials (working on that) and the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition (their Executive Director Tamika Butler is pictured, right) what Los Angeles is doing to make their city bike-friendly.

The second half of the day is mostly on the L.A. River bike path that leads straight to the Queen Mary in Long Beach. The Queen Mary was once considered the most luxurious ocean liner in the world. Standards have changed, of course, but it's still an elegant piece of history you get to sleep in and party on.

Monday night we party on the deck of the boat. We'll invite folks from Los Angeles and Orange County for dinner, a talk, and a live auction where you'll get the chance to win great stuff at great prices, all for the cause of connecting California's bikeways. 

Photos below: the Los Angeles River bike path (courtesy the LA River Ride), a photo I took of our team pedaling toward the Queen Mary, and another in the Queen Mary hallway.