Ventura County Recumbent Riders - News

Ventura County Recumbent Riders News and Ride Schedule [Last Updated September 11th]
Ride Schedule: This Saturday September 16th, for our Third Saturday VCRR Group Ride, we will meet at Marina Park in Ventura. The park is located at the eastern end of Pierpont Boulevard, about a mile from the Seaward Avenue off-ramps (Exit 68) of US-101. We'll meet at 9 AM as usual, and Kay and I expect to be there with coffee and morning munchies. Our route will be 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 (now nicely paved) old beachfront highway. The turnaround point(s) this weekend will probably vary, depending upon the speed and endurance of individual riders or subgroups, somewhere between the fire station near Seacliff and the top of Rincon Hill. On the way back, most of us will try to hook up for lunch, probably at Carrow's on Seaward. The rides should be vary from about 25 to 40 miles, with any semi-serious climbs strictly optional. Temps should max out in the low 70s, with gentle tailwinds going and coming. This is a brief listing of preliminary plans for upcoming VCRR Group Rides: Saturday, September 16th: Third Saturday VCRR Group Ride: Marina Park to Seacliff Saturday, September 30th: Fifth Saturday VCRR Group Ride?: SUGGESTIONS? Saturday, October 7th: First Saturday VCRR Group Ride: Mission Park to Ojai or SUGGESTIONS? PLEASE[!]: If you have a suggestion for any of our next few rides, 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:
We've added this new section and service to our webpage: free listings for recumbent bicycles and tricycles up for sale, trade or wanted, either by or of potential interest to the folks who frequent this website. In its first weeks of operation, this new option may have helped, along with BROL's Classified section and the local Craigslist, to transition more than a dozen trikes and bikes from unwanted clutter to actually used cycles. We're also planning to add a section for cycle parts, accessories and clothing. If you'd like to post here and/or if you need help putting any cycles gathering dust in your storage areas, please ping me by email or by phone for the info you'll need to get your ad into the mix. CAVEAT AND RED-FACED ADMISSION: I have been procrastinating a bit over the Summer to post new additions; more later... maybe better?

Recent History:
9/2/2017: We started this ride in the Channel Islands Marina, with 10 of us braving the warm, muggy weather for an easy flat ride. After munchies and coffee we rode down to the mouth of the harbor, then back up the coast, pausing for a couple of quick pitstops at appropriate intervals. After a short tour of Oxnard State Beach and a detour to cruise the northern section of Seabridge Marina we pedaled up Harbor Boulevard to the Arundell Barranca bikepath. A quick informal riders' meeting there resulted in changing our lunch stop from Carrow's on Harbor to the Main Street Restaurant. Lunch took a little longer than expected but we finally rolled away westward to indulge in the downhill delight of zooming down Seaward back to Pierpont. From there we rode a pretty direct route back to West Channel Park and subsequently home for a well-earned shower. Our route stayed pretty close to the ocean, avoiding the worst of the weekend heat wave, and added about 25 miles to our yearly totals.
8/19/2017: This weekend about 14 of us met near Fire Station 25 at Seacliff, including non-stranger, but officially first-timer Charlie. The first five miles of this venue took us up the coast, mostly via the recently constructed Class I trail between the freeway and the beach, with lots of bike traffic with the folks riding Cool Breeze. After that fairly challenging half-mile grunt beside the highway up Rincon Hill and a zippy little downhill zoom, we made a pit stop at Viola Fields, picking up the folks who opted to skip the climb up Rincon. With the Carpinteria Creek bikepath closed, the group spread out as we continued the descent down Carpinteria Avenue into downtown Carp. Some folks rode fairly directly up to Montecito, while our Pokey Patrol people detoured along El Carro north of the freeway, then did the flip at the top of Padaro Hill. The timing worked out well so that we all arrived for lunch at Pizza Man Dan's in Carpinteria at almost the same time, just as the sun was beginning to peek out from the overcast. After lunch, most – but not all – of the group managed to bypass Foster Freeze, and everybody made it back to the starting spot. The highlight of the return for most of us was the slalom run down Rincon Hill Road.
8/5/2017: Our First VCRR Group Ride of August started from Pitts Ranch Park in Camarillo, with a dozen folks, including newby Tony who had just purchased Dawn's GT3, showing up for this muggy mid-Summer cruise. After the usual coffee and donuts, we split into two groups, with the Faster Folks heading straight to the coast and down to Sycamore Canyon. The Pokey Patrol turned left on the Calleguas Creek bikepath, heading for Upland Road. We had to deal with a chain lockup and an odd innertube failure before the climb, but the group stayed together as we flew back down from the heights to a pit stop at Mission Oaks Park. With fluid balances restored, we zoomed down Oak Canyon, along Santa Rosa Road and Mission Oaks back to the creek. After a quick loop around Camarillo Village we rode on down to the food court at CSUCI. The good news there was our timing was pretty close to meet the Faster Folks; the bad news was that all the reasonable lunch spots were closed. Some of us indulged in mini-market snacks before the direct return to Pitts Ranch Park. This route varied from about 25 to 40 miles with some climbs, the most serious of which, oddly enough, was reserved for the foo-foo riders. The temperature was fairly decent, but it was a bit muggy, with some sunshine and a gentle tailwind for our return.
7/15/2017: We had a fairly typical turnout this weekend, with 14 of us, including 'minimal participant' Lora meeting to cruise around the Oxnard marinas and down to the Port Hueneme Pier and Lighthouse. It was great to have Cheri riding with us again. The weather was also pretty nice, beginning with an overcast that was almost cool enough to be chilly as our cycles began moving through the dampish air. Very unusually, everyone was riding on three wheels this time around. It was also one of those delightfully rare group outings where no one had any hint of mechanical trouble, not even a flat tire. The riders kept together as a single group, except that Deena and Stephen (on his first ride after his recent head injury) took a cautionary shortcut after we had looped around the Seabridge MUPs. I chose the most direct but sort of unappealing route, using Hemlock Street to take us across to J Street. We cruised down J to a quick pitstop, then down the Bubbling Springs bikepath to the pier and over to the lighthouse. Since it was open for tours, seven people from our troup checked it out, some even spiralling up the top for the breeze, the views and the photo op. They eventually succumbed to the pressure of less patient trikeys to get back on the road heading to lunch. Phil persuaded us to take the 'sort of bikepath' along the west side of Ventura Road back to Channel Islands, and finally we pulled into Panda for a well-earned bite (or two) to eat. Just before the end of this route, it's always a mix of grunt and grin to pop over, then under the CI bridge, and cruise back beside the boats to where we'd parked. Bottom line: 25 easy, very pleasant and sociable miles; pix are from BobF and me.
7/1/2017: This weekend a dozen members of the group met at Vineyard Park near The Collection in northwestern Oxnard; it was great to welcome DaveM back for a ride. We started the ride with a loop around the Riverpark area, then down Ventura Road and across the river on the freeway bridge bikepath. On our way up the Johnson Barranca, our newby Bonnie opted for an early turnaround, accompanied by JimH. The rest of us hung in for the rocket ride down Montgomery (maybe the highlight of Rolly's Video) and the (bumpy but still fun) ess-curves of the Riverview Linear Park before climbing up to Chumash Park for a pit stop. Riding west along the bikepath beside CA-126, we met up with JimH again and continued on to meet Dawn for our lunch stop at Gateway Plaza. After lunch we rode a fairly direct return along Ralston, zoomed down Johnson Drive and back through The Collection. This route is about 20 to 25 miles. Pix are from Rolly and me.
June 2017: About a dozen and a half folks showed up at some point for this First Saturday VCRR Group Ride. Most of us started from Mission Park in downtown Ventura and rode up to Ojai. For the first few miles we had a heavy cool overcast that felt a little muggy, but after our pit stop at Foster Park the sun took over big time. The projected high temp of a bit more than 80 degrees might have been accurate, but unless there was a shady spot to tuck under (even if only for a few yards) that glaring sun got pretty uncomfortable. The weeds along the bikepath were profuse and prolific, and two of our guys got big wads of green stems and such tangled in their rear derailleurs. Clearing Gerry's was a challenging task, requiring the (mis)use of available hand tools. At Eggs N Potatoes, our Pokey Patrol met the faster folks returning from the eastern end of the bike trail, and we had a nice lunch with lots of water. The ride home was – as always! – a fast FUN downhill zoom, and it felt good to get back into the cool damp mist creeping down to ground level back in Ventura. No pix this time... For the third Saturday in June eight folks who've ridden with our group participated in TaterTOT up in Idaho. We had a great time, but no one has been willing to admit having ridden down here that weekend...
5/20/2017: We started from Channel Islands Marina this time, beginning with a ride down to the harbor entrance and back up through Oxnard State Beach. After a quick spin on the MUPs of Seabridge, eleven of us headed up the beach toward Ventura. The Breath of Life Triathlon had closed some streets but our timing was great; their bike course turned right from westbound Fifth onto Harbor, and the last riders had gone through just before we got there to continue straight up Harbor. The course monitor let us onto their bike route, and we had all six lanes of Harbor all to ourselves for the next two miles or so. Some folks in our group behaved maturely and responsibly, but (of course!) not everyone. From Harbor we rode up the Arundell Barranca bikepath and over to Main Street Restaurant. After a nice, but not necessarily low-calorie lunch break, we returned home, taking full advantage of the high-speed swoosh down Seaward. Pix are from Rolly and me, but his video, especially the parts going up Harbor and down Seaward win the prize for best visual record of the day.
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 FOR 2017, AS WELL AS FEEDBACK FOR THIS WEBSITE, RIDE NOTICES, PHOTOS, RIDE VIDEOS, ROUTE SHEETS, MAPS AND VIDEO FLYOVERS. We are seriously looking for fairly immediate suggestions for the next few VCRR Group Rides, either in person, by phone or email. 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. If you have any other suggestions for rides, new topics or other contributions, please ping me. For convenience my email link is: wayne@vcrr.org