Lesper4

The more I ride this route the less likely I will do it. The views are great and the ride is well organized but it is so damn bumpy. There are other rides on the coast just as nice. Light hosue century was awesome and I want to ride Solvang next year.

Hendo252 

Two comments.

First, you are right. Sadly, Ventura County does not put street paving very high on its list of budge priorities, and the Rincon Parkway (alongside the campers and RV's) seems to be at the bottom of the list.

BUT -- many of the worst areas are going to be repaved as part of the ongoing freeway project. So by next year (or maybe the following year) it should be much better.

The bikepath will also be realigned and better separated from the freeway traffic when that project is completed, and will be on the ocean-side going both directions.

But many of the bumps will remain unfortunately.

bernmart

Good news. The bumps are awful, but I've always assumed that the organizers have picked the best route along the coast that they can.

Rick@OCRR

I thought it was an excellent ride, very well organized and a lovely route.

Here's my Strava for the Double Metric: https://app.strava.com/rides/19053921

Yes, some of the roads were a but bumpy, but nothing tragic. I saw Calimari Chris and Laurettafetta at registration on Fri. evening, but not on the day of the ride. Rode with some Bull-Shifters (from Phoenix) and lots of other riders along the way. We got slightly lost twice, but only because we didn't see the route arrows (which, upon later inspection, were actually there).

I got a high temp of 91 with a low at the start (6:10 AM) of 60. So quite reasonable considering how hot it has been here.

Rick / OCRR

TrojanHorse

It did have bumps... I thought that last stretch along the Rincon parkway was pretty awful but most of the rest of the roads were fine. I can't remember where I was at what time anymore, but there was a road along some sort of park (Laguna Blanca?) after the lunch break that was tragically bad too.

Does anybody know what happened at that sharp left hand curve on the downhill portion somewhere in the late 30s or early 40s on the century route? There was some guy standing in the road waving at everybody to slow down, like somebody had wiped out there or something. I probably went through there at about 11 am.

volosong

Yes, the condition of a lot of asphalt was awful. Somewhere on the downhill side of Casitas Pass, I hit a pothole that I couldn't avoid. Going fast there was nothing I could do and I knew that I hit it hard. Other than feeling mushy, it didn't look too bad. Finally, after about another ten miles, I noticed that the front tire was getting pretty low, so I stopped and pumped it up, hoping it would last until the next rest stop where I'd swap out the tube. Not so, so at the grass outside the polo club, I changed the tube.

A lot of riders passed me, and I'd be willing to bet that about 75% of them asked me if I was "okay" or if I needed anything. Wow, everybody was so concerned. That was awesome!

Going down a hill somewhere in Santa Barbara county, when going a round a curve, I felt that the front tire was going to roll off the bike. Uh oh! I thought I was going down. Unclipped in anticipation of trying to brace the fall, but was able to control the bike until I stopped. Swapped in extra tube number two. Now I'm without a spare and if I get another flat, I'll have to patch it.

By the time I was ready to head off again, it had been about ten minutes since anybody passed me. Great, I'm the caboose again. At least this time, as compared to last year, they still had some awful lunch meat at the lunch stop. Just had three slices of orange cheese, three slices of white cheese, and three slices of lunch meat. That's all that looked decent. They were packing up the tents over near the seating area.

Oh well, the most difficult part of the ride was over and we had the wind behind us now back to Ventura. Got through Santa Barbara okay and got to the Rincon rest stop about five minutes after the last popsicle was given out. Man I was bummed out about that. I was really looking forward to something real cold.

Then, on the Rincon, I noticed my front tire getting low on air again. What to do now? On the second change, I was sure to check the inside of the tire, just in case I picked up a sticker or something. Clean. Since I was only about five miles out from the finish, I just pumped the tire up as best I could and hoped it would hold enough air to get me back. I didn't want them to run out of food at the finish.

Made it back okay, and they had plenty of food left. But I think if I ride Cool Breeze again, I'm not doing the double-metric anymore. Since I'm not a fast climber, and all the big hills are front loaded on the route, by the time the double-metric route hooks up with the century route, I'm near the end of the parade. I even started early, but the two flats and stopping several times to check the tire and pump it back up took that time bonus away.

Nice ride still. Beautiful weather. The cloud cover through Ojai and back to Carpinteria was most welcome and keep it cooler than it would have been normally. It did seem warmer than the forecast, however.

Oh, my front tire is totally flat this morning. I'll worry about it later. Will try to see if whatever hole is in the tubes are in the same place on all three.

TJKnight

I had a great ride. I did the double metric, and couldn't have been happier with the bumpy, pockmarked asphalt, humidity, traffic in Hope Ranch, RVs in the bike lane, hammerheads on Casitas Pass, and squirrely newbies. It was a GREAT day on the bike!

Hendo252 

I don't know for sure; it looks like that is up in the Santa Barbara vicinity and I'm not familiar with that area.

It could be somebody associated with the ride; I know they had some community (and maybe Law Enforcement) complaints last year about riders not sharing the road with cars, blowing through stop signs, etc. So it could be they had some complaints there and put somebody up there to try and cool off the riders.

Or it could be somebody that had a loved one injured in an accident in that area, too. You may have seen a memorials (white bike and monument) on the side of the Northbound Rincon Parkway.

Glad everybody had a good time. I'm not a CIBC member (although I may join) I am a Ventura native and I'm always pleased when folks enjoy themselves up here.

-Tom in Ventura

GP

I heard several complaints at RS1 about rude riders and toilet placement. I thought everything was fine. Woke up a little late so I had a leisurely breakfast then did the century with 2 tandems and 3 other riders. One of the regular bikes went down on a grate near the start where we exited the bike path. The rider landed on her knees and chin. She tried to go on but ended up being sagged in at RS2. Other than that it was a great ride. We did our annual 45 minute Starbucks stop in Carpenteria. The ppavement wasn't bad compared to Rancho Santa Fe.

calamarichris

Well pplayed.

IvyCap

Things are starting to cool down so I don't have to ride super early or super late. Time to get some seat time at the Encino Velodrome!!