Recumbent Riders
News and Ride Schedule
[Last Updated July 17th]
Ride Schedule:
IMPORTANT NOTE: As last month, this is a brief notice of the Third Saturday VCRR Group Ride planned for this Saturday, July 21st. We will meet at Pitts Ranch Park in Camarillo for a slightly tweaked version of our Sycamore-or-Less venue. 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:
- Saturday, July 21st: Third Saturday VCRR Group Ride - Sycamore-or-Less, Pitts Ranch Park, Camarillo
- Saturday, August 4th: First Saturday VCRR Group Ride - 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:
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.
6/16/2018: We were a bit surprised to see that the weather this weekend was almost ideal for a return to one of our most popular ride venues: the 32-mile up (literally!) and back Ventura River Trail. The ride this weekend was enhanced by Dawn taking the initiative to host a picnic lunch at her home in east Ojai. We met at Mission Park pretty much as usual, but Kay and I drove the potluck offerings up to Dawn's before riding back down to meet the folks climbing up. It was fun to see Steve back after a long absence. Stephen and Deena took the planned shortcut by beginning their ride from Foster Park. The group came back together around Oak View, as we choked our way through a weed abatement project, and we all arrived at Dawn's for lunch at about the same time. Dawn was dealing with a threatened catastrophe as she discovered her oven went defunct when she was trying to bake the lasagna for lunch. She recovered nicely and most folks probably didn't even notice that lunch was microwaved. Lunch was great and everyone enjoyed the thrill ride back down the hill – OF COURSE! Pix are from Vince and me – again.
6/2/2018: Our First Saturday VCRR Group Ride in June included a group lunch hosted by Bonnie at her home in the Channel Islands Marina. We started the ride from West Channel Park in the Channel Islands Marina; after the usual coffee and morning munchies we rode down to the harbor exit and then up the coast. The Pokey Patrol, with about half of our riders, turned around at Fifth Street for a tour of the Seabridge Marina MUPs. Meanwhile, the Fast Folks rode on up to Main Street in Ventura. After riding back down Victoria, we all crossed the bridge on Channel Islands Boulevard and rode to Bonnie's home in the Madalay Bay area. Lunch was a fun experience, eating on her patio overlooking the marina channel, while munching salad, sandwiches, corn, melon and Klondike Bars. This route varied from about 15 to 30 miles, pretty much as flat as practical in SoCal, except for the CI bridge.
5/19/2018: For our Third Saturday ride this month, we indulged in another (very popular!) potluck lunch and ride at the Poehls' in Simi. Barb treated us to her (very popular!) chicken tortilla soup, with the rest of the trimmings for a great backyard lunch. Only about a dozen folks showed up this time, and after munchies and coffee, we separated into two subgroups, with Barb graciously dawdling around to keep the Pokey Patrol on the path until we met the Faster Folks for the pit stop at Rancho Tapo Park. From there she decided to trust the three of us who chose the flatter route and rode away into the more scenic challenging hills with the other gang. The two routes ranged from 20 to about 30 miles. The two groups met again near the western end of the Simi Arroyo bikepath, as the Pokey Patrol was making its way back. After one last grunt climb up from the arroyo the others turned around and just barely caught up as everyone pedaled back up Erringer Road, getting back to Barb & Bob's for lunch at about the same time. There were no serious issues on the ride, not even a flat tire AFAIK. Most of the pix are from Vince (again), but there is no photographic evidence to confirm rumors of my unplanned, ill-advised and illegal excursion off the bikepath over the side and about hafway down the graveled bank of the arroyo, fairly fortunately foundering on the first row of rocks.
5/5/2018: Bicycle Month started for us with a ride and potluck at the Maguires' beach house on Faria Beach. About 20 of us met at Mission Park, with the usual coffee and munchies, and handed off our potluck offerings to Bill before heading west on Main Street to the beachfront bikepath. We rode up the Omer Rains Coastal Bikeway, separating into subgroups, with the faster folks leading the way. We had a little bit of chaos with riders returning for forgotten items or to don warmer clothing for the surprisingly damp and chilly weather. As we rode out onto the old Pacific Coast Highway, we had a brief battle with a cool headwind as the coastal overcast began to blow up and away. But then the sun began working its way through the haze to give us a bright sunny Spring day. Each person or subgroup picked an appropriate turnaround point so that we all arrived for lunch at about the same time, some folks climbing Rincon Hill, while the Pokey Patrol flipped at the Seacliff Fire Station. The ride was between about 25 and 40 miles, with a few short grunt climbs. On the return, everyone popped in for lunch with Bill and Gloria, including a few who had chosen not to ride for whatever reason. We had a great time visiting and sampling all the different foodstuff, before the time came to head back home. The breeze on the beach stayed a little cool, even into midafternoon, and became a nice tailwind for that last eight miles back down to Ventura. Most of the pix (and all of the BUTTSHOTS!) are from Vince this time.
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: