Author: Rob

Valentines Casitas Loop

This morning was much colder than expected, with temps in the upper 30’s and rain on the way, it looks like Old Man Winter may be on his way back to California.  I headed out the Ventura River trail to Lake Casitas, up the 150 to Burnham and back home for a quick 26.5 miles and 1000 ft or so of climbing. 

Fun rolling hills with flowers starting to show,

A little bit of climbing,

And the reward.

What a difference a day or two can make in the weather.  Looking like rain again in a day or two more, enjoy it while it lasts.

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. 

Grab On Brkake Lever Grips – 3rd Month Review

I have had the Grab On Grips on the Roadeo for 3 months now and a follow-up review is due.  The original review was favorable, and at this point I would still list them as a keepers.

They have been a nice touch of comfort on long cold descents.  When underbiking, skinny tires on dirt, more time is spent on the brakes than would be comparable to a full suspension mountain bike.  The little bit of added padding and grip eases the finger and hand fatigue on the multi thousand foot fire roads coming down from the mountains. Even with powerful brakes this can get tiring after 30 minutes or more of constant feathering of the brakes. 

The durability is better than I expected for these simple thin foam rubber grips.  Bumping into things, leaning against walls and a couple of minor lay downs in the dirt and no rips or tears yet.  I still have my doubts that they will out live the bar tape, but for the couple of bucks they cost I would say it was money well spent. 

I have enjoyed them through the cool winter, next follow-up will be after a few months of warm weather sweat.

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.