Recumbent Riders
News and Ride Schedule
[Last Updated May 15th]
Ride Schedule:
For our Third Saturday VCRR Group Ride this weekend (5/18) we'll advantage of low late Spring temps to repeat our recent ride from Harry Lyon Park in Ventura's Avenue district to Ojai. We'll meet at the park (150 De Anza Drive, just east of Ventura Avenue, just north of Stanley Avenue) at 9 AM. Parking may be a bit of a challenge, but bathrooms should be available. It's unlikely that I'll be there to greet the riders, and even less likely that Kay will be quite ready to show off her new TKA scar. The suggested ride is a straight out and back up to Ojai, splitting into multiple groups as needed for speed differentials. Some Pokey Patrol people may turn around after lunch at Subway near Mira Monte. This route is uphill going out and can be as long as 30 miles round trip; temps should top out below 70, wind should be less than 10 MPH and we're currently advised that the possibility of rain is delayed until that night.This is a brief listing of preliminary plans for upcoming rides:
- Saturday, May 18th: Third Saturday VCRR Group Ride – Ventura Avenue to Ojai
- Saturday, June 1st: First Saturday VCRR Group Ride – SUGGESTIONS?
PLEASE[!]: If you have any suggestions for group rides for Spring 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:
5/4/2019: Since the only input offered for our late Spring VCRR Group Rides was a fairly general suggestion for riding near the coast, our First Saturday VCRR Group Ride for May started from West Channel Park in the Channel Islands Marina. We had more than a dozen folks in the group this weekend. The weather was ideal, with temps topping out in the high 60s and a light ocean breeze. We began the day by changing a defective tube on Deena's Micro, but were quickly underway again. We rode down to the mouth of the marina, then up the coast. Rolly popped another tire just past Fifth Street, then raced with Bob and Barb to catch up to the other Faster Folks near their turnaround in Ventura. Our Pokey Patrol flipped just before Gonzales, but then added a couple of loops around the Seabridge area so that the whole group met at Pizza Man Dan's in the shopping complex for lunch. Ann and Alan joined us there. After lunch, instead of climbing the bridge on Channel Islands Boulevard, we returned via Wooley Road and back through Oxnard State Beach, then under Channel Islands to the parking lot. This route varied from about 15 to 30 miles, pretty much as flat as practical in SoCal. No pix so far...
3/30/2019: About a dozen of us met at Marina Park in Ventura, to ride an up-the-coast-and-back cruise. 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. The turnaround points for this ride didn't vary as much as expected, with Vince riding alone up to Viola Field, while most of us flipped at the Seacliff Fire Station. On the way back, almost everyone opted for lunch at Faria Beach. The ride to Seacliff is about 25 miles, with no semi-serious climbs. Vince tacked on another 12 or so, as did Phil and Lora who rode round trip from Carpinteria. It was good to ride with Todd and Cheryl, who began their ride from home in Ventura. Dawn also rode down and back from Ojai. The day was absolutely beautiful, and the weather was very pleasant, with temps maxed out in the high 70s, plus we had a nice tailwind on the way home. Pix are from Rolly; his video for this ride is linked below.
3/16/2019: For our Third Saturday VCRR Group Ride we avoided strong winds by riding from Ventura's Avenue district to Ojai. About 10 of us ultimately did the ride, most meeting at Harry Lyon Park. After routine coffee and munchies, we headed up to a pit stop at Foster Park. From there we climbed upward, splitting into multiple groups as expected for speed differentials. Some of the faster riders chose to ride up Santa Ana Road to the Lake Casitas marina, while the Pokey Patrol people chugged up the Ventura River Trail to our lunch stop at Subway near Mira Monte. After lunch we fully enjoyed the reward of our morning climb, zooming back down the hill to our starting area.
3/9/2019: Our first (but Second Saturday) VCRR Group Ride in March was a repeat road trip to ride in the western San Fernando Valley. This was a nearly perfect day for this area, cool with a mix of blue sky and drifting clouds. However, most VCRRians missed this great opportunity, as only six folks showed up for the ride. With such a small group we opted to stay together on a simpler route, starting from the Balboa Sports Center and riding up and back along the busway bikepath. We rode up to a pit stop just beyond the Chatsworth Station, and then returned down a (too) short section of the Browns Barranca bikepath and the Orange Line to our lunch stop at the Victory curve. We opted for Chinese and got lucky, enjoying the hot soup, hot tea and a good low-cost meal. After a few more blocks beside the busway, we detoured over to ride the LA River trail. I was a bit surprised to see that the recent flooding had really cleaned up the river channel, leaving it looking as though it had been thoroughly and professionally scrubbed. Water flowing in the bottom notch of the riverbed looked clear enough to drink. This route is about 25 miles, a shallow climb going out and a nice cruise back to the finish. Pix are video frame grabs from Rolly's action cam.
2/16/2019: A small group of us (9 riders) met at Vineyard Park in northeastern Oxnard. After the usual coffee and munchies, we rode around RiverPark, then across the Santa Clara River and up the Johnson Barranca bikepath to a pit stop at Barranca Vista Park. Then we climbed the next section of the barranca MUP to East Ventura Community Park and over to the rocket ride downhill along Montgomery Avenue. After a fun slalom run along Riverview Linear Park, it was another shallow climb back up to Foothill, with the Pokey Patrol taking a little shortcut while the fun guys got another zoom down the Brown Barranca MUP. We regrouped at Chumash Park before pedaling the CA-126 bikepath over to lunch at the StoneFire Grill. We returned via Ralston Street, Johnson Drive and through the Collection for a round trip of 20 to 25 miles, with temps below 60 degrees and afternoon tailwinds. Pix this time are a bad mix of mine and Rolly's; his video (linked below) is the best way to view this ride.
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 Spring, 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: