Recumbent Riders
News and Ride Schedule
[Last Updated June 4th]
Ride Schedule:
GOOD NEWS? One of our state governmental officials – I believe I heard him identified as Goober Gabby Nuisance – has determined, after an extensive scientific data-driven review of course, that recumbent cycle riders, especially old ones, are probably expendable enough to permit them to gather in small groups to ride in open sunshine, carefully maintaining social distancing and wearing uncomfortable facial coverings to disguise the fact that we may be having a good time. Accordingly, we have opted to resume our traditional First and Third Saturday VCRR Group Rides.
This weekend, Saturday June 6th, some (maybe only a few) folks in our group will meet (again?) at the Mission parking lot in downtown Ventura, located at Santa Clara and Junipero. Please plan to meet at 9 AM as usual, hoping(?) to ride away at about 9:30. Kay and I expect to be there with (virus free) coffee offered in small paper cups and (factory wrapped) morning munchies. Extra masks will be available, with plenty of hand sanitizer on hand; we'll also bring a fresh roll of toilet paper for the open public restroom nearby.
The suggested route is an up-the-coast-and-back cruise west on Main Street to the Class I Omer Rains bikepath and the 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, some riders will probably try to hook up for lunch, maybe at Hobson Beach. If the crowd's a bit too large for that venue, we will try to resolve an alternative back in Ventura. The rides should vary from about 20 to 30 miles, with any semi-serious climbs strictly optional. Cool temps should stay in the 60s, with a tailwind picking up for the return. If you're planning to meet us for lunch without riding, please call me or someone else who's riding for arrangements.
This is a brief listing of preliminary plans for upcoming rides:
- Saturday, June 6th [D-Day – for Damn the Bug; JUST DO IT!']: First Saturday VCRR Group Ride – Ventura Mission to Seacliff
- Saturday, June 20th: Third Saturday VCRR Group Ride – SUGGESTIONS?
PLEASE[!]: If you have any suggestions for group rides for 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.
Recent History:
May 2020:A few brave VCRRians indulged in a couple of quasi-official group rides this month. The first was a prototype of our first official post-pandemic ride planned for June. That ride was posted as this thread at BROL's Trikes forum. Another six-pack met on the last weekend of the month at the Channel Islands Marina in southwest Oxnard and rode up to Gonzales. We indulged in a group lunch on the patio at The Golden Egg in the Seabridge Marina before popping over the Channel Islands bridge and returning to our parking spaces. Both of these rides went very well, with no serious problems for parking, open bathrooms or dining choices.
February 2020: We tried to set up a picnic/ride for the very rare fifth Saturday this month, but that didn't quite work out. Anyway about 15 of us started from Mission Park and rode up the Ventura River Trail. The group separated pretty quickly, but most of us met again for a pit stop at Foster Park. This was the first time most of us had seen the new repair work on the trail just below San Antonio Creek. About half the gang turned around early, but most of the faster riders presumably met for lunch in Ojai. The weather was almost perfect for this venue with temps in the 60s and only a light headwind coming back down.
For our Third Saturday VCRR Group Ride, we met at 9AM at Vineyard Park in Oxnard. After morning munchies and hot coffee, seven of us cruised around the Riverpark area, then across the river and up to the bikepaths of eastern Ventura. We stopped for lunch at the Gateway Plaza food court before the ZOOM-ZOOM downhill back to Oxnard. The ride ranged from about 20 to 30 miles in great weather – around 60 degrees with light winds.
On the first day this month, We had hoped the weather would remain cool enough for a long awaited return to ride the recently repaired Ventura River Trail, but the unexpected little bump in temp this weekend changed our plans to ride from West Channel Park in the Channel Islands Marina. We were thrilled to have much missed Jim McMillan meet us at the start. Kay and I passed on the ride, nursing her sprained foot, but five other folks did the route, including newbies Hilary and Rick. They rode up the coast and then returned to meet us for lunch at Pizza Man Dan's in the Seabridge Marina.
1/18/2020: For our Third Saturday VCRR Group Ride 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 up the Class I Omer Rains bikepath and the old beachfront highway, with most folks making a turnaround between Faria Beach and the Rincon. We had a good crowd this weekend, with almost 20 riders, including international trike tourer Sylvia on her newly motorized Scorpion. On the way back, most of us met for lunch at Pizza Man Dan's in downtown Ventura. The rides varied from about 20 to 35 miles, with cool temps, sunshine and light breezes. I've posted a few pix from my camera, but I shot the whole day with it in the wrong mode, and these were all that I could salvage from the grossly overexposed raw files. There are a few more frame grabs from the really neat – DON'T MISS! – video Sylvia shot and posted on her YouTube webpages.
1/4/2020: Our first VCRR Group Ride of the new year started from Pitts Ranch Park in Camarillo. After the typical morning munchies and hot coffee, nine of us cruised up and down Calleguas Creek and around the rest of southeastern Camarillo. We had lunch at Snapper Jack's in the Camarillo Courtyard. The base ride was fairly short, only about 16 miles, with a few short climbs. The weather was cool enough for long sleeves and pants, mostly pretty sunnny, with winds less than 10 MPH. We may see some video from Rolly a little later...
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 2020, 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: