Yesterday morning’s schedule left me with the opportunity to do what I wanted for five hours or more. I decided it was time to put on some decent miles and headed out on what turned out to be a perfect day for one of my favorite loops.
This ride takes you through some beautiful views of the farms, canyons, lakes and with no fog today the channel islands were spectacular. The route heads east out of Ventura out to Santa Paula, up the Hwy 150 through Ojai and back down to the coast at Rincon. From there it back along the coast to home.
The ride is just over 100km (70 miles) and 4250 feet of climbing. I was able to get it done in five hours and ten minutes, pretty respectable considering it has been months since I did anything over 20 miles. The weather was spectacular, warmer than I expected, no clouds and there was only strong winds on the leg out to Santa Paula. Spring has definitely sprung, the flowers: lupine, mustard, poppy and all the others, are starting to pop.
This is a popular route with the local cyclists and clubs. Today I seemed to be the only one going counter-clockwise as I crossed paths with plenty of other’s going the other way. Clockwise lets you slowly work your way up to the Summit and 10 miles down to Santa Paula, I would rather slog up the climb so I can enjoy the twisty drop from upper to lower Ojai.
After the twisty drop it is small towns and rollers to the coast, with a couple of steep pitches through Casitas Pass and then down through the valley to the beach. Everything went better than you could hope for. No mechanical issues, great weather and plenty of time made for a perfect ride. The Roadeo with Jack Browns made me wonder if I will ever ride a skinny tire again.
