Reservation for Two Please - Actually, We'll Take Our Bikes To Go

We all know that you can reserve a table at many of the local restaurants here in Santa Monica, but Bike Attack will reserve your seat for any choice selection of bikes.

Bike Attack welcomes happy customers to submit their reviews through places like Google+ and yelp, but every once in a while they are lucky enough to receive customer testimonials, thank you's and letters detailing their experience such as the following from Vickie L. hailing from the Emerald City.

On a recent vacation to New York, my boyfriend and I had planned an extended layover at LAX. Our inbound flight landed shortly after 9 am and we didn’t have to board our departing flight until 8 pm, giving us nearly a full day to spend exploring the area. We knew the red-eye flight could be brutal, so we wanted to get outside, burn some energy, and hopefully return to the airport tired enough to sleep on our next flight. Knowing this, we packed beach bag carry-ons and made a full day of the bike paths and beach activities not too far from LAX.

After landing, we took a short taxi ride from the airport to Bike Attack - a boutique bike shop about ten miles up the road offering bike sales, repairs, and rentals. We made plans ahead of time using their website to reserve a couple bikes, helmets and locks. When we arrived, we were outfitted with two Sun "Crusher" Fat Cruiser bikes. We spoke to Kitty when we initially made the reservation, who was extremely friendly and helpful, unfortunately we were unable to meet her in person because when had arrived she was in Germany visiting family. Now, my boyfriend and I aren’t huge bike enthusiasts, and I certainly am not experienced enough to have a preference on bike style or brand name. However, these cruisers were awesome! I’d argue they were the perfect bikes for our day trip as they were simple to use, offered a smooth ride, and their signature wide tires made cruising a breeze - both on and off the beach.

Our next stop was the Aqua Surf School for our introductory surfing lesson, which was conveniently just down the road from Bike Attack. The surf school shares space with a nice little café, so my boyfriend and I ordered an iced coffee and vanilla chai before we grabbed our gear and walked to the beach with the instructor and another couple who had signed up for the 2-hour beginner lesson.

My boyfriend and I really enjoyed the lesson, although it took me a little longer to get the hang of things. Our instructor was fantastic and his energy and enthusiasm were contagious! I highly recommend surf lessons in Santa Monica because the location is great for beginners– you won’t be disappointed here. We dried off and returned to the shop to return our gear and grab our bikes before heading to your next stop – Ocean View Park.

As far as parks go, Ocean View doesn’t boast a wide variety of activities, but it is beautiful. The big draw here is tennis, although my boyfriend and I didn’t stop to play a match. The park features a spiraling path up to the top of the hill, which was great for our bike ride. We enjoyed the breathtaking beach views and the well-manicured hedges and green lawn offered by the park and would come again if given the chance. We leisurely biked back down the hill and made our way toward the beach.

If you’ve never been, Santa Monica has one of the best and most scenic beach bike paths, hands-down. We rode the path from Ocean View up to Santa Monica Pier, which is less than two miles. Although it is a dedicated bike path, there are still quite a few beach goers and pedestrians who use it without paying attention to cyclists, so it’s good to take the path at a leisurely pace to avoid accidents.

On the ride to the pier, we stopped at the Santa Monica International Chess Park. The park features several park-style bench tables with umbrellas as well as a giant chess board for demonstrations. If you like chess, it’s a great location to find a competitor and play a match or two. If you’re not a great player, it’s just as fun to watch as a bystander as many of the people you’ll find here are experienced and talented players. My boyfriend couldn’t resist a blitz game with a teenager, and quickly found out his chess skills were comically inferior. After congratulating the kid on his landslide victory, we decided to continue toward Pacific Park.

By the time we arrived at Santa Monica Pier, we were both starving. Hearing good things about Pier Burger, we decided to stop in for an early dinner. Their tasty fare exceeded their stellar reputation and we were not disappointed! We enjoyed a couple burgers and shared a shake on the back patio away from the crowd on the pier. After filling up, we stopped to watch the students at the Trapeze School perform their aerial stunts. The trampoline and flying trapeze looked like so much fun, we decided if we ever had the chance to come back, we would sign up for classes.

We still had plenty of time to spend on the pier before we needed to return our bikes and head back to the airport, so we spent most of our remaining time casually riding the carnival rides and the roller coaster in Pacific Park. The view from the top of the Ferris wheel was particularly magical – offering beautiful, picture-worthy scenery!

All in all, we had a great time renting bikes from Bike Attack and exploring the Santa Monica beach. The strip of beach from Venice Fishing Pier to Santa Monica Pier is packed with things to do and places to visit; it’s nearly impossible to get bored. Not only does there seem to be something going on at every turn, a bike ride is extremely easy and offers beautiful ocean views along the way.  I would love the chance to do it again and think that it’s the perfect way to enjoy a layover in LAX.