What Have We Here?

Recent History:

12/17: If anyone doubted that Winter was almost here this year, those doubts were erased well before we made it over to Marie Callender's in Camarillo for our VCRR Holiday Brunch. We got off to a sort of messy start this weekend, with most of us beginning the ride a little earlier than usual from The Palms shopping center, and nine others starting from our house. The temperature stayed below 60 degrees all day, and we had a hellacious east wind all morning. Our two groups met along the way, riding a quick loop westward to the railroad tracks, with worse than normal confusion and separation; I totally missed taking any pix on the ride out. As we headed back into the wind on Camino del Sol, Cameron escorted one group, mostly for sake of the kids, on a short ride back to our house, while the rest of us battled bravely onward to brunch. We had a bit of excitement as two of the guys, following from the front, mistakenly crossed the freeway on Del Norte, but eventually everyone caught up and risked our health navigating the chaotic combination of heavy traffic and really, really bad bikepath design on Las Posas and Daily. Finally... I think there were 23 of us at brunch, wearing elf hats and thoroughly enjoying the wide variety of breakfast bounty. None of the smiles in those photos at MC's were forced, I assure you. The wind had died down a bit for our return, despite my conviction that we had earned a brisk tailwind. The group gradually broke up as various folks made their most efficient way back home, and we were left with a moment of sadness, as the last official VCRR Group Ride of 2011 became history...

Sunday, 1/1/12 – New Year's Day Ride & Lunch: But then right into 2012 with a BANG! About two dozen of us met at our house to kick off this year's VCRR ride calendar. The only real newby this weekend was Ken's Expedition, but Stephen was riding one of the used trikes from our shop that we'd set up for right-hand-only operation. His left paw, injured in a lathe accident, is recuperating, complete with brace, bandages and steel pins. After morning munchies, fresh hot chilaquiles, coffee and OJ, we pedaled off to the Port Hueneme lighthouse. I bumbled away without glasses, mirror or visor, and found myself all too often wishing I'd remembered, especially when looping around to check on the folks behind me. We had a very smooth twenty-something miles out on the trail; somewhat surprisingly, there was almost no traffic, either automotive or human-powered. The only mechanical glitch of the day was a flat tire which appeared on Barb's bike long after we'd returned home for lunch. Oxnard weather was sunny, but cool with a light breeze, even chilly enough near the beach that some folks were digging out windbreakers. Our trademark traditional Southern New Year's Lunch – ham, gumbo, turnips, black-eyed peas, navy beans, yams, and corn bread – had been well prepped, mostly by Kay, with support and generous contributions from Dawn, Kan, JimA, Fiona, Stephen and Deena. While we were riding, Fiona timed the morning kitchen duties so that lunch was ready and waiting when we pedaled into our backyard. This classic cuisine was, I think, pretty well received, leaving marginal room for the multitude of desserts. Nice ride, fantastic day, great friends and good food; I'm still smiling...

1/7: Our first 'regular' group ride of 2012 launched from Thille Park in Ventura after the usual round of coffee, crullers and conversation. The day started damp and chilly, but the sun showed up when we'd ridden just a few miles. About 20 of us took the Class I bike path over to a first pit stop at Chumash Park. Cam's family left us there, sparing our almost 9-year-old granddaughter Yma, riding a Catrike Dash, the longer trek on Class II bike lanes. Deena turned off as we returned on Bristol Road to meet one of her appointments, but she rejoined us for lunch at Pho. Most of us rode back to the start area by reversing our route until we reached the upper (north) end of the Johnson Barranca bike path, where we took the shortcut via Ralston Street. We had an interesting mix of mechanical maladies on this ride: Mel's tire picked up some kind of heavy metal puncture pin; the steering on Bob's new P38 worked loose; and Kay's left crank arm came unscrewed. I guess I'll need to talk to the guy who does her PM...

1/28: This weekend's ride was another of those almost impromptu excursions not on our regular ride schedule, set up to compensate for our getting rained out on the weekend before. About 15 of us got together for a short ride around the Oxnard marinas, finishing up with lunch at Pho. Yes, it was windy, complete with a bit of sandblasting as some of us detoured out onto the beach at Ed Hunt Rehab Point. Bob and Barb opted to pass on the twists and turns of the marina MUPs, riding open roads up to the Ventura Marina instead; she was (perhaps undeservedly) punished with a flat tire on her return from lunch. I posted a slightly different ride report in the BROL Trikes forum...

Ride Schedule:

This is a brief listing of some of the upcoming cycling events that may be of interest to our group. Links are provided for more info where applicable.

• Saturday, February 4th: First Saturday VCRR Group Ride – Viola Field, Carpinteria to Santa Barbara Beach
• Saturday, February 11th: Second Saturday SCRAT Group Ride – Valencia Heritage Park, Santa Clarita
• Saturday, February 18th: Third Saturday VCRR Group Ride – Ventura River Trail (still not quite open, but...)
• Saturday, February 25th: Fourth Saturday SCRAT Group Ride – Valencia Heritage Park, Santa Clarita

Other News:

For our First VCRR group ride this month, we'll take another road trip to Carpinteria this Saturday (2/4), meeting at around 9 AM. We'll get together in the parking lot for Viola Field on the bluffs, on Carpinteria Boulevard, just east of the Bailard exit from US-101. Here's a small map for a bit of extra guidance. We'll ride up to Santa Barbara beach, and most of us will probably stop at Cantwell's Deli in Summerland for brunch on our return. Kay and I expect to be there, along with mild, warm coffee and some morning munchies, as usual. This route is about 25 miles, with a few short grunt climbs along the way. The weather services unanimously agree that any strong winds on Saturday will be limited to our local area, with nothing over 10 MPH up the beach.

For our Third Saturday ride in February, we're seriously considering a return to the Ventura River Trail. Even though the bridge at San Antonio Creek is still under construction, we believe there will be a short (and not perfectly legal) detour to avoid long treks on either CA-33 or Santa Ana Road. More later... Also, don't forget that our favorite subset – the Santa Clarita Recuments and Tricycles, or SCRAT – usually ride on the Second and Fourth Saturdays of each month. Their vast network of Class I trails is a great place to ride, especially at this (cool) time of year. Join Ken, JimA, Joe and Twain as often as you can! Twain (AKA Wayne Two, the other Wayne) also has a much more complete VCRR archive in his Flickr web album(s); to view Twain's pix, start at this URL. There is also a small series of video clips now posted on YouTube, on 'TheVCRR' channel, at this URL. The photo archive is current with lots of pix from our New Year's Day ride.

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 business (cell) phone number is 805-794-0718 (Hours roughly 11AM-3PM Tuesday thru Saturday). If it's more convenient you can also call our home phone: 805-981-0339. If you have any other suggestions for rides, new topics or other contributions, please ping me. For convenience my email link is: