I have two favorite routes from the beach to UCLA (Which I do almost every day)

Route 1:
- Venice Blvd East
- Left on Mclaughlin (becomes Barrington)
- Right on Ohio

Route 2:
- Venice Blvd East
- Left on Walgrove (Becomes 23rd St. past SM Airport)
- Right on Ocean Park
- Left on Barrington
- Right on Ohio

In General East-West biking on the west side is not a problem.
Venice, Culver and Ballona Creek Are all great options.

North-South is very problematic. The only decent route is Mclaughlin/Barrington. Walgrove/23rd is Ok. Military/Veteran is a distant third. Sepulveda is a pathetic fourth. I only ride on Centinella when I want to die. And none of the routes are decent South of Venice Blvd because of long traffic lights and large center medians with no provision for bicycle crossing.