Recumbent Riders
News and Ride Schedule
[Last Updated June 14th]
Ride Schedule:
This weekend, for our Third Saturday VCRR Group Ride, Saturday June 17th, the group will meet at 9 AM as usual at Marina Park in Ventura. The park is located at the eastern end of Pierpont Boulevard, about a mile from the Seaward Avenue off-ramps (Exit 68) of US-101. Kay and I don't expect to be there this time, so it's more or less BYOG for coffee and morning munchies. The suggested route for this weekend will be a bit of a classic, riding up the beach beside the pier, along the Omer Rains bikepath and the old coast highway, with a turnaround most likely somewhere between the Seacliff fire station and Rincon Hill. On the way back one choice for a lunch stop would be Carrow's on Seaward, but the final selection will be up to the folks who show up. From Seaward it's a short ride back to Marina Park. This venue is mostly fairly flat, with a mix of Class I trails and Class II bikelanes,and will probably be between 25 and 35 miles.
This is a brief listing of preliminary plans for upcoming VCRR Goup Rides:
- Saturday June 17th thru Wednesday June 21st: TaterTOT, Kellogg ID
- Saturday, June 17th: Third Saturday VCRR Group Ride: Marina Park to Seacliff
- Saturday, July 1st: First Saturday VCRR Group Ride: SUGGESTIONS?
As noted, if you have a suggestion for any of our next few rides, 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:
5/20/2017: We started from Channel Islands Marina this time, beginning with a ride down to the harbor entrance and back up through Oxnard State Beach. After a quick spin on the MUPs of Seabridge, eleven of us headed up the beach toward Ventura. The Breath of Life Triathlon had closed some streets but our timing was great; their bike course turned right from westbound Fifth onto Harbor, and the last riders had gone through just before we got there to continue straight up Harbor. The course monitor let us onto their bike route, and we had all six lanes of Harbor all to ourselves for the next two miles or so. Some folks in our group behaved maturely and responsibly, but (of course!) not everyone. From Harbor we rode up the Arundell Barranca bikepath and over to Main Street Restaurant. After a nice, but not necessarily low-calorie lunch break, we returned home, taking full advantage of the high-speed swoosh down Seaward. Pix are from Rolly and me, but his video, especially the parts going up Harbor and down Seaward win the prize for best visual record of the day.
4/15/2017: Our Third Saturday ride in April was another missed opportunity for most VCRRians, as fewer than a dozen folks showed up at Pitts Ranch Park this time. However, those who did come had a nice ride in absolutely perfect weather. We were glad to see Dave Brown come over from Santa Clarita, and join us for the grunt up into Camarillo's Mission Heights. After the zooming descents, broken up by a pit stop at Mission Oaks Parks, we rode back to the Calleguas Creek bikepath and then did a loop around the Village at the Commons. Q had some difficulty with a rear flat on her borrowed front wheel drive recumbike, but managed to make it back to the start area as the rest of us rode through the farming areas over to Souplantation for their buffet lunch. Phil and Lora left us there, riding back home to Ventura, while the rest of the crew swung out wide to return to Pitts Ranch Park via Springville, Ponderosa and the creek. This was a good day to be out on a trike (or bike) in SoCal's great Spring weather, about 25 miles with a good mix of riding, both vertically and horizontally.
4/1/2017: This first VCRR Group Ride of Spring started from Marina Park in Ventura, with about 15 folks showing up for this up-the-coast-and-back cruise. After the usual coffee and donuts we rode through SanBV State Beach, and past the pier to a quick pit stop at Surfer's Point, where we met Dawn and the very rarely encountered DanC. With fluid balances properly adjusted we continued on to the Class I Omer Rains bikepath and the (now nicely paved) old beachfront highway. The group strung out and separated a bit before the turnaround point(s), which for some of us was the fire station near Seacliff, while others grunted on up Rincon Hill to have lunch in Carpinteria. On the way back, our Pokey Patrol popped into Carrow's on Seaward for lunch. This route varied from about 25 to 40 miles, with the serious climbs reserved for the long distance riders. The temperature started out almost chilly and maxed out around 70 degrees, with bright sunshine and blue skies all day long; however, as it turned out, the weather wizards were just teasing us about those gentle tailwinds both going and coming. For the record: I was properly and serially chastised for failing to deliver on that half-hearted promise, as the wind shifted to the west before we topped the small hill above Emma Wood Beach. Still, that tailwind on the return was pretty nice... No pix this time around.
3/18/2017: This weekend's ride started from West Channel Park in the Channel Islands Marina. Eight of us showed up to start the ride, and three more folks joined us for lunch. We rode along the coast to a pit stop at Oxnard State Beach. From there, we cruised over to the Seabridge Marina and circled its northern MUPs, before going back to the beach then up Harbor Boulevard to the Arundell Barranca bikepath. We rode up through residential Ventura to our lunch stop at the Main Street Restaurant. After lunch we donned great big grins and zoomed down Seaward Avenue to the beach. Back at sea level we rambled through the Pierpont and Ventura Marina area, and returned to Channel Islands via Harbor Boulevard. This ride was about 25 miles, and the pix are from Rolly and me. Rolly has also posted video from this ride, accessible from the link below.
3/4/2017: We took advantage of what may be a fairly rare chance to return to the Ventura River Trail this season, with the trail freshly cleared of (most) mud and debris, but still pleasant with the lingering coolness of SoCal Winter. About 20 folks showed up, including the rarely seen Merv and relative newby Q, and the ride went fairly smoothly with no major problems AFAIK. After the pit stop at Foster Park, we cruised over the San Antonio Bridge – very much appreciated compared to how that crossing used to be after heavy rains! The group voted to ride to Lake Casitas for lunch, but we had some early turnarounds and also got pretty well strung out on the climb up to CA-150. Guessing that we may have been an hour behind the first riders getting to the Marina Cafe, the Pokey Patrol opted to ride up to Eggs 'n Potatoes instead, and we didn't see any of the Faster Folks again. The downhill cruise back to Ventura was – as always! – a real thrill, and our 28 mile journey was all done by midafternoon.
Other News:
One of the best low-key public rides in our area has its 2017 reprise scheduled for next month as noted above. The COLT ride is well set up on a very neat course in the San Fernando Valley, which is both well marked and posted as GPS-compatible routings. It draws about the right sized crowd, and features lot of freebies, including pre-ride bagels and coffee, pit stop snacks and a post-ride lunch. About half the course is Class I and most of the rest is set up for Class II paths. The ride starts with a gradual downhill beside the Orange Line and a detour along the LA River Trail, and finishes with a really fun zoom down Rinaldi and (with a slightly off-course detour) the Brown's Creek bike trail. You really should try to Ride the COLT if you have the time!
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 FOR 2017, AS WELL AS FEEDBACK FOR THIS WEBSITE, RIDE NOTICES, PHOTOS, RIDE VIDEOS, ROUTE SHEETS, MAPS AND VIDEO FLYOVERS. We are seriously looking for fairly immediate suggestions for the next few VCRR Group Rides, either in person, by phone or email.
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. If you have any other suggestions for rides, new topics or other contributions, please ping me. For convenience my email link is: