Tag: roadeo

Metric Century Out through Ojai

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. 

High Pressure – Out Late

I ended up sleeping in a little this morning.  Thankfully the slightly longer mornings and the unseasonable weather made for some wonderful light.

Headed up the coast a bit for a quick loop.  The coastal range acts as a shield from the local mountain winds.  A byproduct of the high pressure dominating our local weather is the wind that comes with it, 30-40 mph gusts my late morning.  The wind it the price we pay for 45 deg mornings and 65 deg afternoons in the middle of winter.

Stopping on the way back to enjoy the view of the islands.

and then time to get home and back to work.

Roadeo Grocery Ride – Fjord Flannel Review

Another incredible day, and I had an hour and a half window for Opie(grandpa) to baby sit.  I decided to combine errands with the workout.  I have a 15 mile loop that lets me hit two grocery stores.  Total load and therefore spending are limited by taking the Roadeo.  Temps were in the low to mid 50s and wind was crazy, one of the days where you have a headwind more than 3/4 of the ride. 

The layering system for errands is pretty different from what I wear for my morning or non-errand rides.  Most of the time I am layered up in some combination of merino wool and polyester to fend off the morning chill.  When I know that there is going to be more stop and go, time in stores etc. I wear what most would consider normal street clothes.  Flannel being one of my favorite of layers for the cooler months.  Today I busted out my new Patagonia Fjord Flannel Shirt in Fusion Orange that the wife picked out for me as a Christmas gift.  This is their heavier flannel, and just happens to be a great color combo for playing in traffic.  I ride most of the year in long sleeves for sun protection.  In the winter, flannel provides a great top layer with just a little wind resistance and the ability to quickly adjust buttons or roll up sleeves as needed.   Today there were more than a few adjustments as I had everything from a 15mph tail wind to shady cross winds and then a tail wind home.  This shirt ROCKS, it is the first heavyweight flannel I have added to the rotation in years.  I have three older ones in the closet, one 8 years old, like silk and covered in patches.  I can only hope that this shirt goes the distance as well

Two stops and about 35 lbs of groceries later I was on my way home.  As discovered this past weekend, judicious placement of the load has had little detrimental effect on the performance of the Roadeo.  This time I was pushing the limit up front with 10lbs, a gallon of tangerine juice, up front in the acorn bag.  Another 15 -20lbs in the rear and the frame bag stuffed with rice pasta, yogurt and salsa.

One thing that really helps with the loading, comfort and stability is getting the Rivendell Jack  Brown 33.3mm wide tires back on the bike.  The added cush soaks up absolutely everything between the crappy roads and the rim. 

I have been pushing the limits of how I ride this bike loaded.  Rivendell states that they will not put you on a roadeo if you are over 250lbs.  I would likely agree that around that weight load the bike becomes compliant to a point where you really need to be paying attention to what you are doing.  At the moment I weigh in at about 220lbs.  I am working to get that down another 10 lbs and use this as a nimble allroad touring bike for the summer. 

Have fun, and get outside!

Update: The shirt is gone for the saeson, What is left in flannel is going fast at the winter sale, time to buy your AC cotton, review coming soon

Loadeo the Roadeo

I could not resist the title with all the love the Roadeo has had with its model name. 

Today was much nicer out than last weekend’s ride across town to the Channel Islands Harbor farmer’s market.  Partly cloudy, light breeze and in the upper 50’s not quite shorts weather.

With fair weather for the forecast and working out some touring ideas for the spring I spent some time in the morning putting the Jack Browns back on, pulling the fenders and Roughy Toughys off and rotating the Carradice Nelson longflap back on.  I have been dropping a little weight and figure that gives me more loading room on the bike without fear of overload and wonky handling. 

Market was a success with the dry weather the farmers are able to get more out of the field and not have as bad of mud to contend with.  All three bags, Acorn Hobo, the Frame Bag and Nelson were all stuffed to the max.

It would be a lie if I said there was NO change in handling, but nothing went terrible in any way, no wobbles, shimmy, weird pulling or such as can happen when the load is bigger than rider and bike were meant to transport.  Cruising speed through the fields was about the same loaded or not.

Riding no hands was easy as always.  All of the above needs to be considered in light of the fact that this bicycle is designed and intended to be a lightweight club racer.  I am not advocating that you all ditch the heavier touring bikes to load up the club racer, but knowing how and what you bike is made of and can do is a good thin in my opinion.

The Bounty: 2 Dozen eggs, 2 onions, 3 cloves of garlic, 3 heads of brocoli, 1 cauliflower, a bunch of carrots, bag of beet greens, bunch of collard greens, 7 avocados and a large bag of vegetable chips.  Not bad for a lightweight steed burdened with my 215 lb self and all that produce.

Next up is to work out some gear lists and see if I can get it in the bags for some quick S24O spring rides.