The Strand To Remained Closed To Walking, Running & Bicycle Riding
By Kevin Wilkerson, PubClub.com Blogger
LA County beaches are opening again, but with restrictions and minus one key element of the South Bay cities – beach volleyball.
That’s not such a big deal in Santa Monica and Long Beach – nor at the LA-Ventura County line where surfing is king – but it is in Hermosa Beach and Manhattan Beach. That is where the “thump, thump, thump-thump-thump” of volleyballs being hit on courts lined up on the sand from the Crystal Cove to El Porto is part of the area’s daily soundtrack.
Exercise is allowed but only if you keep moving in one direction. So on the beach that means walking or running yet not any jumping, making quick bursts to the net or diving for balls, all key movements required to play this sport.
Games are played with two, three, four and six on a team, so social distancing is possible with two and three to a side. Parks & recs classes as well as “party classes” from groups such as Smackfest Events in Hermosa Beach remain on the sideline.
On 5/13, LA Co. beaches reopen w/ the following rules:
• Individual/family activities & exercise ONLY
• No lying or sitting on sand, canopies, coolers or picnicking
• 6+ ft. physical distancing & masks REQUIRED
• Parking lots, bike path, piers & boardwalks remain CLOSED pic.twitter.com/SkGYuf51fM— LA Beaches & Harbors (@lacdbh) May 11, 2020
Keeping The Strand closed – referred to in the Tweet as the “boardwalk” – while allowing the beach top be open for exercise is a puzzling decision.
The Strand, a north/south concrete path that runs parallel to the shore and connects the beach towns and runs from the foot of Palos Verdes past the Santa Monica Pier, is where locals walk, run and ride bikes.
And with no Strand, riding bikes is yet another activity that can’t be performed at LA beaches. Although locals in the South Bay have found alternatives since the lockdown was first put into place, such as riding in the alleys and on the streets.
So while the beaches are open, two prime activities of the beachlife culture – volleyball and exercising on The Strand, remain out of reach for the moment.
And for many locals, that’s an exercise in frustration.
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