The Strand Bike Path: Riding the Marvin Braude Trail End to End

Key points

• The Strand bike path is the local name for the Marvin Braude Bike Trail, a 22 mile paved coastal route from Will Rogers State Beach to Torrance County Beach.
• It is flat and beginner friendly, but sand, crowds, and two inland detours make it slower and trickier than the mileage suggests.
• Bike Improve is about four miles from the Santa Monica entry point and sets up bikes for exactly this kind of riding.

The Strand bike path runs 22 paved miles down the Los Angeles County coast, from Will Rogers State Beach in the north to Torrance County Beach in the south, passing Santa Monica, Venice, Marina del Rey, Playa del Rey, Dockweiler, Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, and Redondo Beach along the way. Officially it is the Marvin Braude Bike Trail. Everyone who rides it calls it the Strand. Ride it once and you will understand why it is the most used bike path in the region, and why a bike set up properly for it makes the difference between a great day and a frustrating one.

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What the Strand bike path actually is

The trail was paved in the late 1980s and officially named in 2006 for Los Angeles City Councilman Marvin Braude, who spent decades fighting to keep the coastline and the Santa Monica Mountains open to the public. The name has never really stuck with riders. Depending on which city you are in, the same stretch of pavement gets called the Marvin Braude Bike Trail, the Strand, the South Bay Bicycle Trail, the Pacific Coast Bike Trail, or the Coastal Bike Trail. They are all the same path.

It is also busy. County estimates put usage around 10,000 people a day, which is worth keeping in mind before you plan a fast ride on a Saturday afternoon.

Here is how the route breaks down for planning purposes.

Segment	Rough distance	What to expect
Will Rogers State Beach to Santa Monica Pier	3 miles	Wide, scenic, usually the quietest end of the path
Santa Monica Pier to Venice Beach	2 miles	Heavy foot traffic, boardwalk chaos on weekends
Venice to Marina del Rey	3 miles	Turns inland around the marina inlets, some street riding
Playa del Rey through Dockweiler	4 miles	Open and fast, but sand blows across the path constantly
El Segundo to Manhattan Beach	4 miles	Beachfront again, steady stream of walkers and runners
Manhattan through Hermosa to Redondo	4 miles	The classic South Bay stretch, busiest on weekends
Redondo to Torrance County Beach	2 miles	A short climb at the end, then the southern terminus

Distances are approximate. Parking is available at both ends, and the Santa Monica Pier area is the most common mid-route access point.

Riding the Strand from West LA

If you are starting from the Westside, the shop sits at 10927 Santa Monica Blvd, roughly four miles inland from where the path meets Santa Monica. Ride west on Santa Monica Blvd, drop down to Ocean Ave, and you are on the trail. That makes a full out and back to Torrance a serious day, closer to 50 miles round trip with the approach, while a run down to Manhattan Beach and back lands in a comfortable 30 mile range.

Most riders overestimate how fast they will move. One recent rider report noted the section in front of the water treatment plant was buried in sand deep enough to require walking, and that the Venice portion pushes riders onto the street with car traffic. Plan for a slower average than the flat profile suggests.

The rough spots worth knowing about

Three things catch people out on the Strand bike path.

Sand. The stretch through Dockweiler and past the Hyperion plant collects blown sand year round. It can be a light dusting or it can stop you completely. Wider tires help more than anything else here, which is covered in detail in the best road bike tires guide.

Crowds. Venice and the Hermosa to Redondo section are where the path stops being a bike path and becomes a shared promenade. Weekday mornings are dramatically better than weekend afternoons.

Storm damage and repairs. The coast takes a beating in winter. A section near Dockweiler was closed for over two years after January 2023 storms before a $2 million project realigned roughly 0.2 miles of trail away from the ocean and reopened it, and a separate washout near the Santa Monica Canyon Channel outlet required a full six month reconstruction. Check LA County Public Works before a long ride if you have not been out in a while. 

Hot take: the Strand is a bad training route and a great ride

Riders keep trying to use the Strand bike path for intervals and then complain about pedestrians. That is backwards. A path carrying 10,000 people a day with dogs, kids on rentals, and blown sand across the pavement is not a place to chase numbers, and treating it like one makes you the problem. Ride the canyons or San Vicente when you want to go hard. Ride the Strand when you want 22 miles of coastline, a stop for coffee in Manhattan Beach, and a tailwind home. Set the expectation correctly and it becomes one of the best rides in the country instead of a source of frustration.

The right setup for the Strand

Because the path is flat, busy, and occasionally sandy, the setup priorities are different from a canyon ride. Comfort and control matter more than aerodynamics.

• Tires: wider is better here. Something in the 32mm range or up handles sand patches and expansion joints far more confidently than a narrow race tire. The shop stocks road and gravel tires and mounts them in person.
• Fit: you will be upright, braking often, and looking around a lot. A position that works for a two-hour recreational ride is not the same as a race fit, which is what the Pro-Fit bike fitting sorts out.
• Wheels: salt air and sand are hard on bearings and rims. Hand-built custom wheels with quality hubs hold up better on a coastal commute than stock wheels, and all clincher builds from the shop are tubeless-ready with a two-year warranty.
• Brakes and drivetrain: constant stop and go plus ocean air means more frequent service. A regular tune up keeps everything working the way it should.

What Bike Improve does for Strand riders

Nir builds every wheel and performs every fit personally, so the recommendation you get is based on where you actually ride. That means picking a tire width for sand and expansion joints rather than a spec sheet, setting a fit position for a relaxed coastal ride, and building wheels that survive salt air. If you are riding the Strand regularly and something feels off, bring the bike in and get it looked at by someone who rides the same route.

Visit Our Store to get set up, or Call Us at (310) 400-0363.