Recumbent Riders
News and Ride Schedule
[Last Updated March 19th]
Ride Schedule:
KLOMP! KLOMP! KLOMP! KLOMP!
That virtual noise can be attributed to the elephant which has entered the room on this website. Given the social restrictions now in effect for minimizing the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic throughout Ventura County, especially for those of us who are more than 70 years of age, we won't officially schedule any group rides for the near-term future. Anyone in the group who chooses to have some minimal, controlled social interaction with a small group of other VCRRians while riding over the next few weeks should contact them directly by phone or email.
This is a brief listing of preliminary plans for upcoming rides:
- Saturday, March 21st: Third Saturday VCRR Group Ride – RIDE CANCELLED!
PLEASE[!]: If you have any suggestions for group rides for the next few months when that becomes a socially and legally acceptable option, 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:
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...
Our Third Saturday VCRR Group Ride started from West Channel Park in the Channel Islands Marina. We rode up the coast, with one group riding to the beach in Ventura, and the slower folks using the Arundell Barranca bikepath to the Main Street Restaurant. The others met us for lunch, along with a few other VCRRians who couldn't make the ride this time. After lunch we split again with some returning along the barranca and others taking advantage of the thrill ride down Seaward and back through the Pierpont Marina area. This route is about 20 to 30 miles, pretty much as flat as practical in SoCal.
October 2019: The group's first ride this month was an up the coast and back from Marina Park. So far, no one has offered any feedback or fotos for it. On the 19th about a dozen of us started from El Carro Park in Carpinteria, and rode up the coast. Turnaround points varied from Summerland to East Beach in Santa Barbara. On the way back, we all met for lunch at Pizza Man Dan's in Carpinteria. The rides varied from about 20 to 40 miles, except for Vince's which began and ended in Ventura.
9/21/2019: Our final VCRR Group Ride of the Summer – and it was very definitely still Summer! – stayed with our recent pattern of venues near the coast. We met in the Seabridge Marina, enjoyed a few quick munchies and rode away to cruise around the marina MUPS. As we reached 5th and Harbor, the plan was for the group of eight remaining riders to split into two roughly equal subgroups. There didn't seem to be much enthusiasm for enough folks to do the longer loop up north with Q, so I joined her. It was only after we were well on our way up Harbor that I realized everyone but Kay and Keith was tagging along with us. We managed to work out the timing by going to meet Kay near the parking lot and everyone regrouped for lunch at Pizza Man Dan's. Oddly enough, both routes covered about 20 mostly very flat miles.
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.
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: