Category: Rides

More often than not I end up riding alone.  Over the weekend I had an invite form a friend at the MOB Shop up in Ojai for a Monday ride they do down to Canada Larga Rd.  It was enough to motivate me to get out of the house, but not to start the ride in Ojai and ride down, then up, and then back down to Ventura.  More of a time issue than a legs thing, but I was determined to get outside after last week’s bike prep and packing bonanza.  I decided to ride up to Canada Larga hoping to cross paths with their group, and if that worked out, then keep on all the way to Ojai and head home from there.

It was pretty close to perfect out for riding.

Canada Larga Rd. is a little 4 mile out and back gem tucked between Ojai and Ventura.  A quick 7 miles up from my house, it is like popping into a time machine of what this area must have looked like 100 years ago.   For now it is mostly cows and a marginally paved County road, every couple of years there is a push by the land owners to put in some high $$$ houses, but the tax payers keep shooting down the proposals.  For now, it is a special treat, and hoping that it lasts.  We did end up crossing paths, and it all worked out pretty well.

The rest of the ride was a comfortably social pace and a chance to catch up with and meet some new friends.  I will be riding with them again for sure.

Heading home from Ojai, it was tempting to just keep heading north for a bit into the mountains, but my stomach was telling me it was time to get home for lunch. I took the semi scenic route home.  In Ojai “Share the Road” has a bit of a different meaning than most of us are used to.

After making most of the push home I was able to cap off the ride by rolling the last few miles with my wife, an awesome surprise for a tired rider.  A quick lap around the point and then it was time to hit the kitchen.

The whole Ocean Air Cycles project has been an organic progression.  I do have a plan, it distills down to making really great bikes that work, and sell as many as I can, and then sell a bunch more.  It is tilting more to the direction of partnering with brick and mortar shops as well as direct sales to get the bikes out into the world.  Today was my first shop visit.  I headed up to Ojai to visit an old friend and his Partners at the MOB Shop.  It was a great visit, all three owners took my 63 for a spin and came back with smiles.  Each noticed something different but consensus was universally favorable.  I am really stoked at the possibility of working with them.  I rode up, it was an incredible day, and I needed to get away from the keyboard.

The leaves are starting to fall, just a little chill in the air, but still doable in shorts.  The trip up took a bit longer then expected, so not as many pictures.  I will be heading up again next week, and plan on allocating a bit more time to snap some pictures then.  If any of you are contemplating a Rambler and live in Ojai, you should let these guys know soon, as in let’s get it done through Kickstarter.  They get “it” and would be stoked to put you on one, and I would love to run the builds through them.

The weather was so nice I decided to push the schedule a bit and take a different route home.

Blue skies and puffy clouds over the mountains.  I wish I had the time to get up there more, maybe in the spring.

there have been a few drizzly sorts of days, but today was the first chance I had to get out in a good solid rain.  The Rambler was still all clean and shiny from the expo, pimped out with a new chain and all.  I needed to pick up some fixings for the first turkey and soon to be soup that is going through the kitchen this season as well.  Is there a better way to run some saturday morning errands in the rain than on your bike?

The first stop was on the far side of town, through the farms and resulting mud, to the mushroom farm.  If you have a mushroom farm in your area, it is probably worth checking out.  I was able to score a pound of fresh crimini  shrooms for $2.50.  Heading back across town to the farmer’s market the rain really started to come down.

The fresh hard rain helped to clean the grit off of the bike from the agricultural diversion.  With the last stop in the bag, literally, it was time to head home and dry out.

Having a bike purpose-built to run wide tires and fenders really helps with keeping the rain rides fun.  Also, this was my first chance to push the Paul Racers in the rain.  While not as powerful as in the dry, stopping from the hoods on hills was no sweat at all.

Get out there and play, do not let the rain slow you down!

I know I should be working on my Kickstarter project, but it was just too darn nice out, I had some errands to get done (family has to eat) and a call from a local vendor who had wrapped up one of my projects.  So, I made the obvious choice…..

A quick roll along the coast and then through the farm fields to the other side of town..

A quick stop into Silkworm, local printer, turns into an awesome chat about his giant pedal trike entry into the local kinetic sculpture contest, some vintage rides they have hanging in the back, and all the usual good stuff.  I got what I was there for, over to pick up some food and then back down to the coast.

You may have noticed the bags switching around a bit.  I had them all off for some pictures, then decided to throw the saddle bag up front.  It was an easy way to contain a larger load and push the boundaries of the bike.  Handling was generally good until I went past 15 lbs and added the sloshing jugs of juice, pushing the load up over 20 lbs.  Everything was manageable, but 20 pounds off-balance and sloshing was at the upper end of that I would want to do often.  In low-riders I have hauled twice as much with little if any effect on handling.  Lessons learned, it was still a respectable load for a handlebar bag.

The stack of stickers is taller than the half gallon of juice, yes stickers.

These have been one of the languishing projects that was supposed to follow right behind the t-shirts, now a reality.  I will have them ready to hand out at the SF expo in a couple of weeks.  They will also be part of the Kickstarter rewards, I will have it up in less than two weeks (promise), and then after that they will be up on the store front.

Now it is time to pay the price for slacking disguised as product testing and marketing.