Recumbent Riders
News and Ride Schedule
[Last Updated October 17th]
Ride Schedule:
IMPORTANT NOTE: This is a brief notice of the Third Saturday Sunday VCRR Group Ride of October, planned for this Sunday, October 21st. The group will meet at 9 AM at Vineyard Park, located in the RiverPark development near The Collection in northeast Oxnard, on Detroit Drive just south of Stroube Street. The suggested route will be around RiverPark then across the Santa Clara River and up the Johnson Barranca bikepath to ride the trail beside the Santa Paula Freeway (CA-126). We will probably have lunch at Gateway Plaza and return via Ralston Street and Johnson Drive. For full info, please refer to your ride notice email. If you don't receive that email, and if you intend to ride with the group on Saturday, please ping me by email or by phone for info.
This is a brief listing of preliminary plans for upcoming rides:
- Sunday, October 21st: Third Weekend VCRR Group Ride - Vineyard Park Oxnard to Gateway Plaza
- Saturday, November 3rd: First Saturday VCRR Group Ride - Mission Park, Ventura to Ojai - SUGGESTIONS?
PLEASE[!]: If you have a suggestion for a group ride for any of the next few months, 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.
RECUMBENT CYCLES AND SUCH FOR SALE:
Recent History:
10/6/2018: About a dozen riders of the group met at Mission Park in Ventura and rode up to Ojai. Photo by Vince
9/15/2018: For our Third Saturday VCRR Group Ride of September, most of our sixteen riders met at the small public parking lot located in the Seabridge Marina. Vince, Barb and Bob rode up the coast to turn around at Faria Beach, while the rest of the group rode around the marina MUPs, then over and under the Channel Islands bridge to the mouth of the Channel Islands. From there we headed up the coast to a pit stop at Oxnard State Beach, where Deena left us, riding on a tread-bare tire and accompanied by Bonnie. The rest of the group continued on up Harbor Boulevard. Max had a flat tire there, and the group was separated a bit. We followed the Arundell Barranca bikepath, and amazingly, everybody – including Bob, Barb, Vince and Dawn – got together to to have lunch at the Main Street Restaurant. After lunch we rode over to take the plunge down Seaward Avenue, and then back down the coast to our autos. This was a great day, with virtually perfect weather for the 25 to 35 mile cruise.
9/1/2018: About 16 of us met at Pitts Ranch Park; there were no real newbies, but we haven't seen George's nephews very often. After the usual socialization and munchies we started up the Calleguas Creek MUP. At its northern end we split into two groups with most folks opting for the climb into Mission Heights while the rest of us returned south and made a loop along the creek. We got back together again for a pit stop at the Village Sports Complesx. From there George took his nephews back through town, Vince led a group down Las Posas to the freeway, and the rest of us rode past CSUCI before returning to Cawelti and across to Las Posas. This wasn't a good day for powered trikes; Ann and Alan missed the ride because of problems with his Scorpion, then Vince's electrics took an inconvenient break as he rode back up Las Posas. We all met for lunch at Souplantation, and then looped up to Ponderosa for the return to Pitts Ranch Park. But once again, gremlins attacked Stephen's RideKick and almost caused him to drop out, before it magically recovered. I was (very atypically, I'd like to think) a bit careless and let the group separate on the return, but with the aid of cell phones and GPS, I managed to meet up and ride with the Lost Patrol back to our vehicles. This route varied from about 25 to 35 miles, with a nice grunt climb for the folks who tackled Upland Road. Pix are from Vince and me; deja vu...
8/18/2018: This ride started for most of us at El Carro Park in Carpinteria. Sixteen of us enjoyed the mild weather as we traveled up to the beach at Santa Barbara. The group separated a bit, mostly into two bunches, with the Pokey Patrol riding a bit slower than the other team. We made a pit stop at Loon Point just before that first little grunt climb up Padaro Hill. The GT3 that Deena was riding had a low tire which demanded a little attention, but we were back underway pretty quickly, cruising through Summerland. We endured the first serious climb of the day over Ortega Hill, and then opted to ride through Montecito Coast Village rather than around the Biltmore and up Cemetery Hill. A fast cruise down Cabrillo Boulevard and around the lagoon brought us to our turnaround at East Beach. The faster folks went a bit farther, and on the return we all made it to the Padaro Beach Grill at about the same time. With fluids replenished and fuller tummies we pedaled that last two miles back to the park, where Alan decided to ride with Vince back down to where his ride had begun in Ventura. Pix from Vince and me.
8/4/2018: We tried a kinda new mix of old routes this weekend, starting from Barranca Vista Park in east Ventura. About 14 folks made an appearance during this ride. We started off up the Johnson Barranca bikepath, and rode through Ventura Community Park to a quick pit stop at Chumash Park. We lost Vince and Chicago along the way and failed to find them with a quick search southward which at least gave us an excuse to sample the rarely ridden MUP just west of Petit Avenue. We rode back to the west, crossing the Santa Paula Freeway on Victoria, then riding through Camino Real Park and the Pacific View Mall, finally zooming down Seaward Avenue to our turnaround at San Buenaventura State Beach. At the beach we picked up Dawn along with prodigals Vince and Chicago, and returned via Pierpont, the Ventura Marina and the Arundell Barranca to our lunch stop at the newly opened StoneFire Grill. After lunch most of us sampled another rarely ridden MUP from the CA-126 freeway down to Ralston. The basic route is about 20 miles, mostly pretty flat; posted pix are from Vince again, but more pix and/or video may show up from Rolly.
7/21/2018: We were a little surprised to see a nice layer of coastal overcast when we arrived at Pitts Ranch Park. Only 10 of us showed up this weekend, and with five motorized cycles and three two-wheelers in the mix, it looked like Kay and I would be a two-rider Pokey Patrol this time. Originally, no one opted for the full route to Sycamore Canyon, so instead of our usual PP path up into Mission Oaks, we decided to just tag along behind the faster riders on their way down to Mugu Rock. Alan had a flat rear tire that caused him to miss the start, but the rest of us set off down the Calleguas Creek bikepath. The group strung out quite a bit on Lewis and Las Posas Roads, while Kay and I weren't too pokey, and we regrouped at the PCH onramp. Several folks changed their minds about riding down the highway, so that six of us rode together up to meet Alan at Panera for lunch in the outlet mall. Barb, Bob and Chuck rode all the way down to Sycamore and almost missed the rest of the group as we left Panera for the return to the park. Once the overcast cleared the day was warm, but we had a light ocean cooled breeze, and it really wasn't too unpleasant for this 25 to 35 mile, fairly flat ride in HOT Summer. Pix are from Vince and me.
7/14/2018: This Almost Impromptu Ride started from our (the Leggetts') home in northeastern Oxnard and ended with a kinda low-key backyard lunch to mark the midpoint of Kay's and my birthdays. About a dozen of us rode down to Port Hueneme, but Ann's Scorpion motor refused to make the trip this time. After a long straight cruise down Rice Road in mild weather, but without much of the cooling overcast we'd expected, we took Bard Road to our pit stop at Johnson Creek Park. Once fluid balances were pleasantly restored, we ambled down the Bubbling Springs bikepath to the pier. Four of our faster folk went on over to the lighthouse, while the slower group returned to set up lunch. The timing was pretty good for our arrival, where we met another dozen VCRRians, including newbies Keith and Debbie. We sat in the cool shade of the patio and indulged in salads, pulled pork and sausages, BBQ beans, corn cobbettes and garlic toast, with a choice of beverages from water, tea, pop, beer and fruit drinks, inlcuding homemade sangria. A round of Klondike Bars filled any gastrospaces left vacant. This ride is about 20 miles, almost pool table flat.
7/7/2018: This Saturday will go into history for its scorching, record smashing HOT temperatures. We did our best to minimize the weather's discomfort by riding as close as practical to the beach and its slightly cooler light breeze off the cold ocean. About a dozen of us met at Mission Park again, but rode out Main Street to the Omer Rains bikepath this time, continuing on past Emma Wood up to Rincon Beach Park. Traffic and congestion of surfers and other beachgoers were – not surprisingly – characteristic of our infamous RV ghetto, but we managed to successfully avoid all the wayward vehicles, dogs, pedestrians and surfboards. Most of the group opted for an early turnaround at the Seacliff fire station; only Vince and Chuck trailed Michael on his return to the Rincon before looping back to join us for lunch at Faria beach. Lynne dealt with her early hunger by zipping into Hobson beach on the way up. Lunch was very good, with shady spots to sit and that light ocean breeze subbing nicely for real A/C. After lunch we climbed back up to the bikelane, and my jury rig repair of the front derailleur on our (non-motorized) Greenspeed GT3 worked for Dawn to climb out on her power. This was a short, relatively flat ride, which seemed to suit almost everyone except Vince who logged another 30 miles along the beach before driving back home to the Hotter'n Hell SF Valley. Pix by Vince and me.
Other News:
PERSONALIZED VCRR SAFETY FLAGS: Some of you may have noticed the new safety flags that Kay and I had on our trikes for the last few rides, as shown in the ride pix. These flags are sloppy prototypes for a similar attention getter specific to VCRR that some folks have suggested over the last few years. We're still trying to come up with a good design, hoping for a practical flag, printed double-sided on a durable, slightly flexible material (which should have a very long useful life), with a sleeve for attaching to a standard 1/4" or 6mm fiberglass pole, hemmed with a binding and including optional fluttering ribbons with or without reflective stripes. We seem to be pretty close now to finalizing a design so that flags can be individually personalized with pretty much any photo that's been published on our VCRR website over the last five years or so. Materials for a flag will cost less than ten dollars; if Kay and I attach (sew on) the sleeving, edge binding and ribbons, the cost for each finished flag will probably be about $20, and there will be no guarantee of impeccable workmanship. [PLEASE NOTE: No slave or child labor will be employed in production.] So-o-o... if you're interested in getting one of these flags, please ping us, either by phone or email. Let us know if you want a specific photo image or our generic choice on your flag, and whether you want raw materials only or a finished flag.
GPS – FUNCTION OR FUN?: I've been setting up some GPS-based aides (or entertainment) for some of our VCRR group rides recently. Even if you have no interest in riding with a GPS unit for routing, I'd suggest that even one of the simple units which have only 'bread crumb mapping' or none at all may be an appealing alternative to a wheel-driven speedometer/odometer. It can be a very pleasant way to avoid the annoyances of cable routing or wireless connectivity that doesn't work well, especially on a tadpole. Virtually all cycling GPSs will record the course (path) as you ride and allow you to transfer it to your PC for post-ride viewing and/or statistics (distance, speed, elevations). I wholeheartedly recommend using Google Earth's flyover for a dynamic (video) look at where you've been; I've posted a sample screen capture video of a flyover for the Pokey Patrol route from Pitts Ranch Park to CSUCI on YouTube. You can also use recorded tracks to interact with one of the internet sites like RideWithGPS, GPSies or MapMyRide.
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 THOUGHOUT 2018, 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 the Summer, either in person, by phone or email. We will 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: