Bikeforums.net is a forum about nothing but bikes. Our community can help you find information about hard-to-find and localized information like bicycle tours, specialties like where in your area to have your recumbent bike serviced, or what are the best bicycle tires and seats for the activities you use your bike for.73traveler
05-17-05, 02:49 AM
a little background first...I am 19,live in isla vista and got into biking about a month and a half ago. i am riding what i havve been tolf is a 1973 schwinn traveler, the first schwinn to be made in japan. when i got the bike it was a wreck, flats, no effective brakes, the chain was rusted etc. i put a little over $150 into it and just started riding around isla vista and santa barbara.
so about two weeks ago i decided to ride from isla vista to huntington beach. at this time i had bee riding for about a month but just thought i could do it. i made some plans but i didnt have a map or that good of an idea how to get there, i figured just follow pch. along the way i would ask bikers on the path for directions and they were very helpfull. if anyone is reading this that helped me thanks!!! so i left at 6 am and went pretty hard but i feel i paced myself well. around ventura i was thinking that i had made a drastic mistake. i was wearing some old soccer shorts that left my rear but a thin layer of nylon for cushion. I didnt have a helmet and i was wearing tenis shoes with basic pedals, no clips rat traps what have you. Some of the hills on the 101 gave me some trouble but i kept a good pace and made it through Oxnard and to Point Magu around 11 am. I felt relatively good , drank some water and ate some nutri-grain bars and carried on. Once i reached the Santa Monica pier at 2:30-3 i felt like i could ride for days, i made it through torrance and willmington to belmont shores in long beach around 5:00-5:30, the home stretch was probably the easiest part of the ride considering it was relativelt flat compared to PCH through malibu. i came under the pier in huntington beach at 6:30 making the ride about 12:30 hrs with around an hour of breaks. i see a lot of threads about century rides on here and people sounding affraid...all i say is that i rode on a steel bike more than thirty years old with 10 speeds and made the ride after only riding for a month or so. come on people!!!
so about two weeks ago i decided to ride from isla vista to huntington beach. at this time i had bee riding for about a month but just thought i could do it. i made some plans but i didnt have a map or that good of an idea how to get there, i figured just follow pch. along the way i would ask bikers on the path for directions and they were very helpfull. if anyone is reading this that helped me thanks!!! so i left at 6 am and went pretty hard but i feel i paced myself well. around ventura i was thinking that i had made a drastic mistake. i was wearing some old soccer shorts that left my rear but a thin layer of nylon for cushion. I didnt have a helmet and i was wearing tenis shoes with basic pedals, no clips rat traps what have you. Some of the hills on the 101 gave me some trouble but i kept a good pace and made it through Oxnard and to Point Magu around 11 am. I felt relatively good , drank some water and ate some nutri-grain bars and carried on. Once i reached the Santa Monica pier at 2:30-3 i felt like i could ride for days, i made it through torrance and willmington to belmont shores in long beach around 5:00-5:30, the home stretch was probably the easiest part of the ride considering it was relativelt flat compared to PCH through malibu. i came under the pier in huntington beach at 6:30 making the ride about 12:30 hrs with around an hour of breaks. i see a lot of threads about century rides on here and people sounding affraid...all i say is that i rode on a steel bike more than thirty years old with 10 speeds and made the ride after only riding for a month or so. come on people!!!