Recumbent Riders
News and Ride Schedule
[Last Updated June 17th]
Ride Schedule:
IMPORTANT NOTE!: We've changed the start location for this weekend's ride; please read carefully!
For the Third Saturday this month, this weekend June 19th, we've scheduled a ride beginning from a new venue. There are two factors in this change: first, there was some doubt whether some of the relatively navigazione incogniscenti in our group would find Lemonwood Park, and that a few wouldn't even try. Second, we discovered today that the city has reopened our first choice start location of College Park. The park's address is 3250 S Rose Ave, Oxnard (on the east side of the street), just north of Oxnard College and south of Channel Islands Boulevard. We'll plan to meet on the north side of this large park, as close as practicable to the restrooms near the dog play area. This weekend's ride will be near the ocean, going down the Bubbling Springs MUP to the lighthouse at Port Hueneme (which may be open). Please plan to meet at 9 AM, hoping to ride away at about 9:30. Weather should be in the low 70s with a light west wind in the afternoon. The basic route for the Pokey Patrol should be about 15 miles, but there are ample opportunities for additional miles as desired. Most folks will probably stop for lunch somewhere along the return, maybe at the intersection of Rose and Channel Islands.
As usual lately, it will be up to each person who visits this site to choose whether to join the group for this ride, with your own (hopefully apropriately updated) individual preferences for masking and social distancing, meet us for lunch, drive by and wave 'Hi', or meticulously avoid the venues. If any of this confuses or doesn't work for you or if you need any more info please contact me by phone or email using the data below.
This is a brief listing of preliminary plans for upcoming rides:
- Saturday, June 19th: Third Saturday VCRR Group Ride – College Park, Oxnard to Port Hueneme Lighthouse
- Saturday, July 3rd: First Saturday VCRR Group Ride? – SUGGESTIONS? COMMENTS?
PLEASE NOTE: As always – PLEASE! – if you have any suggestions for an upcoming ride date, share it. We're still especially eager to hear from anyone who's been aching to plan, coordinate and/or lead the gang on his, her or their favorite venue.
Recent History:
6/5/2021: On the First Saturday this month, a dozen folks showed up to ride beginning from the parking lot at Harbor Cove Beach. We first rode down the coast to Oxnard State Beach, and after a brief but very welcome pit stop we rode back up Harbor and the Arundell Barranca MUP to have lunch at Main Street Restaurant. With tummies full and freshly hydrated we started our return by going west and then zooming down Seaward, through the Pierpont residential area and back around the marina to the park. Weather was almost ideal, going from morning mist to light sunshine, in the 60s with a light west wind in the afternoon.
Our Third Saturday April ride, the first VCRR Group Ride this Spring, launched from Pitts Ranch Park in Camarillo. Only a half dozen folks joined us this weekend, as we cruised along the Calleguas Creek bikepaths, aroound the Village at the Park and down to Camarillo Courtyard for brunch. The ride this weekend was relatively short, but it was a great day to be out on the trails.
Other recent group rides also turned out to be relative no-shows, with minimal participation. Our first ride of May was especially unusual, in that Kay and I started the ride up the old Coast Highway alone, but we met two other riders on the way, and three more folks joined us for lunch at Hobson Beach Park, just as the sun broke through the heavy morning overcast. Our last outing in May was very similar to the first ride in April, with six folks doing the short version of the marina MUPs and lunch at Pizza Man Dan's near the airport.
2/20/2021: Once again we were a group of ten, most of us starting the ride near Faria Beach, braving an unexpected stiff headwind up to the turnaround at Rincon Beach Park. A tad frustratingly the northwest west calmed considerably so that it was of very minimal assistance for our return. Most of the group stopped at Hobson Beach Grill for a quick lunch before cruising back to the start venue.
2/6/2021: Somewhat surprisingly, ten folks showed up for this first 'sort of official' VCRR Group Ride of the year. We met at West Channel Park at the Channel Islands Marina in Oxnard, and started the ride by rolling down to the harbor entrance. We rode up the coast, through Oxnard State Beach and then into the Seabridge Marina. After a tour of the MUPs along the channels, most of the group stopped for brunch at the Golden Egg Cafe. We returned to the beach, then rode under the Channel Islands bridge back to the parking lot. It was a great day for a ride and it was great to see a bunch of our fellow VCRRians back on the road together.
On the last Saturday of the month only five of us met at Seabridge for a short – but pretty nice – ride around the Marinas and brunch at the Golden Egg. Our 'formal' group rides for September, November and December were more or less cancelled, either from concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic or loss of enthusiasm...
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 hoping 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 2021, 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 year, either in person, by phone or email. We plan, contingent upon feedback, 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 NEW CELL PHONE: 805-612-7662. Text messages will not work on our home phone, and are slightly discouraged for the cell phone. Don't even think about Facebook or Twitter! For convenience my email link is: