Recumbent Riders
News and Ride Schedule
[Last Updated September 19th]
Ride Schedule:
For our final VCRR Group Ride of the Summer, with its intemperate sunny sweat weather, we've opted to stay with our recent pattern of venues near the coast. This Saturday, September 21st, we'll meet in the small public parking lot at the corner of Viewpoint and Tradewinds Drives in the Seabridge Marina, located just south of Wooley Road between Harbor Boulevard and Victoria Avenue. Please plan to arrive about 9 AM and ride away at 9:30. Kay and I hope, but aren't certain, to be there with iced mocha and morning munchies. Temps even near the beach may peak around 80 degrees, with no overcast forecast for the morning; we should get a light sea breeze by early afternoon. Most of our route will stay close to the coast, starting with a possible split into two subgroups. The faster folks will probably ride out-and-back up Harbor, maybe to the San Buena Ventura Beach. Less gung-ho folks in the NVF2 Group [for not very fast, not very far] may opt to cruise around the marina MUPS. If the timing works out, we hope to regroup for lunch, maybe at Pizza Man Dan's. These basic venues range from about 20 to 35 miles, pretty flat all the way.
This is a brief listing of preliminary plans for upcoming rides:
- Saturday, September 21st: Third Saturday VCRR Group Ride – Seabridge Marina to SBV Beach
- Saturday, October 5th: First Saturday VCRR Group Ride – Carpinteria to Santa Barbara? SUGGESTIONS?
PLEASE[!]: If you have any suggestions for group rides for Autumn 2019, please share. We're always especially eager to hear from anyone who's been aching to plan, execute and lead the gang on his, her or their favorite venue.
Recent History:
9/7/2019: For our First Saturday VCRR Group Ride of September, about 17 folks in our group met at Marina Park in Ventura. After a few indulged in coffee and morning munchies we rode off for an up-the-coast-and-back cruise past the pier. We made a quick pit stop at Surfer's Point, then continued on up the Class I Omer Rains bikepath and the old beachfront highway. Turnaround points this weekend varied, depending upon the speed and endurance of individual riders or subgroups, from the fire station near Seacliff to the top of Rincon Hill. On the way back, most riders met for lunch at Faria Beach. The rides ranged from about 25 to 40 miles, with the semi-serious climbs reserved for the longer venue. Temps stayed in the 70s, with a nice tailwind for our return.
8/17/2019: For our Third Saturday VCRR Group Ride of August, about 15 of us met at the Seacliff Fire Station. After a quick indulgence in munchies and iced coffee, we rode up the coast, separating as each subgroup chose its own speed and turnaround point which varied between Rincon Beach Park and Padaro Lane. Most of the gang reconvened for lunch at Faria Beach Park, but an untimely flat tire scuttled our efforts for coordination. The weather was really nice: overcast, clearing around noon, peaking around 70 degrees. Mileage for this venue ranges from about 15 to 40 miles, with the only hills in the northwestern section.
8/3/2019: Our First Saturday VCRR Group Ride for August kicked off by meeting at West Channel Park in the Channel Islands Marina. About 14 folks showed up this weekend, and the riders split into the usual two groups.
The faster group rode east through Port Hueneme, while our NVF2 bunch cruised a bit up the beach and back around the marina until our coordinated lunch meet. We were joined by Max and Chicago, who was a little concerned about a broken spoke. The day was great, with sun peeking out by midday, and our timing worked okay for lunch as we met Team ZOOM-ZOOM and a few non-riders at Pizza Man Dan's in the Seabridge Marina shopping complex. The routes this weekend ranged from about 20 to 30 miles, pretty much as flat as practical in SoCal, except for the CI bridge.
7/20/2019: With Summer beginning to get serious, we took advantage of one last chance to visit Calleguas Creek before the really hot dog days set in. A baker's dozen or so of us met at Pitts Ranch Park in Camarillo. The NVF2 subgroup started a cruise up Calleguas Creek, but we realized that the Faster Folks had opted to turn south. We cruised around that region of Camarillo, trying to time our lunch break to meet the other group, who we expected to flip at the Navy base. We rode over to Presto Pasta, where we learned that at least some of the other riders had chosen to brave the Coast Highway down to Sycamore Canyon, never to be seen by the slower gang again. We rode across the residential area back to the creek MUP and settled for our easy cruise of about 20 miles. The weather began with a slight overcast but gradually got sunnier and warmed up to the forecast of 70 degrees with light winds.
7/6/2019: Our First Saturday VCRR Group Ride in July was a slight twist on a ride we haven't done for a while. Eight of us rode around the Seabridge Marina and then east on Channel Islands Boulevard and down Ventura Road to the beach at Port Hueneme. We returned up to Channel Islands via the Bubbling Springs bikepath, 6th and M Streets, then stopped for lunch at Pizza Man Dan's. This venue was about 20 miles, pretty flat all the way, with a cool overcast and a light sea breeze.
June 2019: Our Third Saturday VCRR Group Ride was a short road trip to El Carro Park in Carpinteria. Oddly, we had fewer VCRR folks riding down here than were up at TaterTOT in Idaho. One plus resulting from that was that the five of us were able to squeeze into Summerland Beach Cafe for brunch/lunch. Temps for the day were almost perfect, a little less than 70 degrees as we rode up and back down the coast. The basic ride was a bit less than 20 miles round trip, taking it easy on Kay's first group ride with her new knee, but Q managed to stretch it a bit by continuing on up to Santa Barbara after lunch. No pic this time...
For our First Saturday VCRR Group Ride in June about a dozen folks in the group met at Marina Park in Ventura for an up-the-coast-and-back cruise past the pier, with a quick pit stop at Surfer's Point, then continuing on up the Class I Omer Rains bikepath and the old beachfront highway. The turnaround point(s) this weekend for most riders was the fire station near Seacliff, and they stopped at Faria Beach for lunch. The basic route was about 25 miles, with no semi-serious climbs, temps in the high 60s, and a light onshore breeze.
Other News:
RIDE VIDEOS AND OTHER PIX: Rolly has posted videos from several recent VCRR Group Rides for public viewing on YouTube at this link. We are expecting to post more videos over the next few months, and, of course, your feedback is eagerly solicited. There is also a series of older video clips posted on YouTube, on 'TheVCRR' channel, at this URL. There is a VCRR photo archive on Flickr; to view it, start at this URL. Vincent has posted some of our ride pix to the Recumbent Trikes Group on Facebook (one of several).
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE DON'T FORGET!: COMMENTS AND SUGGESTIONS ARE EAGERLY[!] SOLICITED FOR OUR REGULAR GROUP RIDES IN 2019, AS WELL AS FEEDBACK FOR THIS WEBSITE, RIDE NOTICES, PHOTOS, RIDE VIDEOS, ROUTE SHEETS, MAPS, CUSTOM VCRR SAFETY FLAGS AND/OR VIDEO FLYOVERS. We are seriously looking for suggestions for VCRR Group Rides for this Summer, either in person, by phone or email. We expect to continue sending email notices a few days before each upcoming ride, at least for the next couple of months. Please let me know if you want to make any changes to our email list.
If you newbies or folks who haven't ridden with the group for a while need help or more information for getting to any of our rides, please email or phone me. Our home phone number – usually the best way to talk to us – is 805-981-0339. If we're not home you can also try my cell phone: 805-201-5107. Text messages will not work on our home phone, and are seriously discouraged for the cell phone. Don't even think about Facebook or Twitter! For convenience my email link is: