Author: Rob

New Years Eave Morning

Back out to the canyons on what was a bit colder than I expected morning.  Temps at home were around 37, but out in the fields and back in the canyons there was frost.  The wool worked and the wind breaker never came off.  The only things that suffered were my feet, next time I will pack some extra socks. 

The star of the show today is my new GoPro® Helmet HERO™ Wide Camera. In my quest to better capture the rider point of view on my cycling adventures, I opted into one of these little power packs.  The angle of view is about 170 deg and grabs a far wider line of sight than the lenses I currently have for my other cameras.  Out of  the box impression is really good.  I want to use it a bit more to form a better review later next week.  The two biggest plus points are the wide-angle and waterproof for the rain.  The only downside so far is the signal to noise ratio, using the camera for still captures there are a lot of throw aways while the camera is running on autopilot strapped to your helmet.  So here are today’s light grabs.

Looking back towards Point Mugu

Frigid and frosty in Wheeler Canyon, I was not really prepared for this and my feet are still a bit chilly..

I still am amazed at times how many miles of near empty back roads there are.  It is particularly nice when they are freshly re-paved…

Island views for the ride home, crystal clear weather before the next storm

Have a fun and safe New Year, enjoy the weekend and get outside.

Toodle or Ramble?

This morning was definitely a toodle. 

Rambles are the rides we go on for some distance without a fully structured plan, they can be what ever you want them to be, but they are usually longish.  This morning I was not feeling the ramble, but needed to get out of the house.  Time for the toodle, 30 min or so around the neighborhood to get some air, grab some pics in the perfect morning light, and spin the legs a bit before the next round of rain hits.  Started out with what was the beginning of my older 7  mile commute by bike here in town,

those were the days.  Then the commute to LA, 1.75 hours each way, for a year and a half started, some things you do not ever miss.

Passing over the 101, I made my way out onto the pier.  The original pier dates to 1872 and was used to offload and load steam ships before the roads out here were any good.  The thing has been annihilated by winter storms and rebuilt many times over the years.  Last year I made it out to the end when 18′ swell was bashing through the boards, not long before the police came and chased me off.  Today the police were our for reasons similar to mine:

At first I thought I might be out of luck for some reason and the pier was shut down.  Turns out they were taking advantage of the light and grabbing some pictures too.

Heading back towards home along the point I stopped to take a look at the progress on the river mouth restoration,

This used to be the parking lot and MUP between the ocean and the County fairgrounds, The plan is to restore it to a more natural state and help the river back to what it may have once been.  Pretty cool stuff, and it along with the sand coming down from the mountains will only help with the seasons surf.

Rain In the Santa Clara River Valley

Back into the rain again this morning.

I have been spending most of my time up in the Ventura River Valley the last few weeks as my coastal rides have been plagued with mud flows. This morning I decided to set my sites east and head back up into the Santa Clara river valley and start exploring some of the tributary canyons I have previously ridden past. The rain makes this a little more fun since there is water in the creeks and rivers. Today’s particular target was Wheeler Canyon.

The rain through the night and into the morning was pretty heavy and hopes were high for some water in the creeks, lighter traffic in nice too.

Not raging rapids, but better than dry creek beds.  The ride home was wet all the way with the clouds starting to break up as I worked through the foothills back into town.

I did not cover the amount of ground I had hoped for in the time window.  I would like to blame it on tires, rain or 45 deg weather, but my legs are lagging a bit after the Holiday.  I look forward to sharing some of the beauty and resources we have in this region.  There is a long history in the river valley, with the native peoples, agricultural  and ecological changes over time should give me plenty to learn about and share within the context of cycling exploration.

Get out and enjoy you home town, find something new to you this week.

Christmas Past

With Christmas in the rear view mirror I was able to get out of the house for a bit this afternoon.  Conditions were all you could hope for and then some.

Light breezes and 62 deg, surf was flat making it easier to keep my mind on the road.  Most of the rain had dried up, but some serious areas of mud still resulted in a little portage.

after that it was easy going,

The mission on this ride was to scout out what looked like another possible route into the coastal range ahead of me in this picture.  Once again I  was greeted with a locked gate, cameras and razor wire.  Most of the time the roads lead back into the land leased by the oil companies other times they lead back to ranches and farms.  These are the roads that perplex me a bit.  They are combinations of dirt and pavement, some have county mile markers, they are listed on public maps either as surface streets or fire roads.  The question I have yet to answer, are these public roads, do our tax dollars pay for their upkeep in any way, yet the land owners to the sides of them gate them off?  Seems like a lot of effort to keep a few dog walkers and the occasional cyclist out of the hills.