Here’s my ride report for the 2005 LA Wheelmen Grand Tour (Highland route). The ride was this last Saturday, starting in Malibu, working it’s way up to Ojai and back to Malibu. This was my first double and was great day on the bike.
My day started at 3:40am, my car was already packed, so I was out of the house by 4:00am. I had a quick one hour drive to Malibu (I will probably never get from Orange County to Malibu in an hour ever again). I had a quick smooth check-in and prepared to roll out. Originally, I had planned on hitting the road at 5:00am. I was running about 15 minutes behind schedule and decided to wait until 5:30 so I wouldn’t need to start using a headlight. I had my light sagged out to the last rest stop, and got going at 5:40am.
It was pretty much a straight shot 35 miles up the coast to the first rest stop in Port Hueneme. I started off at a pretty conservative pace, and passed on the temptations to jump on the faster pace-lines that would fly by. There’s about 8 roller through Malibu and the area north of there, other than that it was a flat cruise along the ocean. I averaged about 18mph to the first rest stop. I made the first stop pretty quick, about 10 minutes of eating and stretching and I was off to rest stop #2.
The second leg is where things heated up a bit. From Port Hueneme (Oxnard), we took a turn inland. Shortly after the rest stop, I got in a nice pace-line that moved quickly through Oxnard farmland. It was during this stretch that I met up with Chuck Bramwell aka Mr. California Triple Crown. Chuck put on the CA Triple Crown (special recognition for those who complete 3 double in a year) and also puts on the Breathless Agony ride. On and off I would ride with Chuck for the next 40 miles or so. I had a good time talking about Breathless Agony, riding hilly areas of Orange County, traing for Everest Challenge and so on. It felt good as a first-time double rider to be with experienced company (this was Chucks 10th time on the Grand Tour). At mile 45 we came to a little hill called Portrero Road. I had been hearing this name for a couple of days leading up to the ride, so I knew I was in for something special. The climb started off with a steep (maybe 10%) ½ mile climb then leveled off for a bit and then I saw the wall. The route slip read “Very difficult for 1 mile”, it was right. For a mile I grinded out a climb that topped off at 18%. I watched my HR jump to 180, oh ****, I was going keep it at 160 or less on the climbs. Oh well, I don’t of any other way to get over a hill like that. At the top of the climb there was a mini rest stop, I stopped for about 5 minutes and was off again.
After a short descent, we were off into the hilly farmland of Thousand Oaks and Westlake village. There was some very cool scenery through these parts as we rolled through farmland, horse country and movie star mega-ranches. I met back up with Chuck as we approached a small climb around a lake. The weather started warming up around this point. All the weather forecasts had predicted mild temperatures in the mid 70’s. It was now sunny and in the mid 80’s (still not bad, it can break 100 easily in these areas). We came out of the rural area and had about 20 miles of city riding, including about 5 miles of climbing before the next stop. About 5 miles before the next stop I met Phil. Phil had left his shoes at home and borrowed some shoes and pedals from one of the ride staff. They were some very old lace up Nikes that had seen better days. Turns out Phil lives in Irvine, which is about 10 minutes from Fountain Valley. We would end up riding almost all of the remaining 125 miles together. I spent about 15 minutes at the stop in Moorpark before heading on.
80 miles down and 37 to lunch! The few miles through Moorpark were some of my least favorite. Moorpark looked to be and old run down, hot and dirty town. We quickly came up on a 2.5 mile climb that took us up into Grimes Canyon. It’s here that I took a wrong turn that resulted in 3 extra miles and about 500’ of climbing. I got back on track, climbed another 1.7 miles and hit the first really fun descent of the day. The descent down Grimes Canyon was around 3 miles of a technical twisty road. I always enjoy these descents where you can out ride the traffic and have the lane to yourself. Because of all the turns, I don’t think I topped 40 mph. At the bottom of the hill we took a turn into headwind hell. Everyone within sight quickly formed into an organized pace-line and we took turns fighting the wind. Along the way, we came to a traffic control stop where a pick-up had flipped over. Everyone seemed okay and it broke up the 8 mile stretch of wind fighting. We were now at the 100 mile mark, 17 miles to lunch! The main obstacle now was the 8 mile climb up Ojai Road. Phil and I took turns pacing each other up this climb, wasn’t too long and we we’re half-way through it. After about 45 minutes of climbing we were treated to another fun windy descent. I think I suffered most in this stretch from mile 100 to 117. I had to talk myself through the temptations to get off the bike and rest, I knew once I did that once I could be in trouble. Finally sometime around 2:00pm and at mile 120 there was lunch! The lunch stop was in a shady park and I enjoyed fruit, roast beef, pasta salad and one of the best Cokes I’ve ever had. In addition I re-applied Chamois Butter (possibly the best move of the whole day), took some advil, e-tabs and tums). We took more time than intended at the lunch stop, but it was well needed. After about 35 minutes at lunch, it was time to keep on keeping on.
The next 30 miles were hilly and very scenic as we cruised through Ojai and around Lake Casitas. I dropped Phil on one of climbs about halfway through this part and we would rejoin a few miles later. During this stretch of climbing, I suffered some severe post-lunch stomach cramps for about 30 minutes, this was something entirely new to me. After the last of the big climbing we were treated to one last descent, another fast twisty, take the whole lane type of descent. At the end of the descent, I dug out my Tums and chased it with some water and Phil showed up. We rode into the Rincon checkpoint at mile 141 around 4:30pm. This is the checkpoint where the 300 and 400 mile riders get their additional route slips! I enjoyed a like warm cup-o-soup, a can of V8, half a coke and some fruit. We over extended our stay by a few minutes and were then back on our bikes.
The next stretch from Rincon to Port Hueneme was the best. We had strong tailwind pushing us down the scenic coast at 25 mph while we took turns pulling, while the ocean sprayed us in the face. This truly was perfect, we rode like this for about an hour as it starting approaching dusk and we came into Oxnard, where is was about 10 miles of city riding to the last rest stop (which also served as our first). At the last stop they were serving some amazing home made chicken/vegetable soup, yummm. We ate while we contemplated whether or not we could finish in daylight. I thought that almost 40 miles in less than two hour was unrealistic, so I hooked up the light that they had sagged in for me. At about 6:45 we headed out.
I really felt good at this point, because despite some soreness ant tiredness, I knew I would finish unless something drastic would come about. As we headed out of Oxnard towards Malibu, it was more tailwind along the ocean as the sun started going down. About 15 miles from the finish we started hitting the 8 rollers, these sure felt easier in the morning! At about 8:00pm with 10 miles to go, I powered up the lights. We were still going pretty strong and were passing up others as we made our way through the rolling coast. This last hour I had food cravings like never before. I was craving Big Macs (I hate Big Macs) and any other **** I could think of. The fancy Malibu coast restaurants were getting dinner under way and smell was killing me. With 5 minutes to go I couldn’t take it and ate a Cliff Bar in about one bite. A couple of minutes later we rolled into the finish at about 8:40pm.
They were serving a BBQ dinner of tri-tip, bbq beans and bread. We ate and discussed our ride and plans for more upcoming doubles. The LA Wheelmen do a terrific job on this ride. The stops and support were first class. This was a great first double, and I look forward to my next. Throughout the course of the day, I probably consumed about 10 bottles of water and sport drink, 2 Cliff Bars, 1 and half flask of gel and all of the great rest stop fruit and sandwiches. Next time I need to bring a camera (sorry, no pics L). Also next time, I will try and cut down on rest stop time. Hopefully it won’t be long and I’ll have my first CA Triple Crown. I feel so lucky to have had such a great day on the bike with minimal soreness and other issues (including no flatsJ). It’s two days later now, and legs and butt are sore, but nothing to whine about.
Here’s the stats:
Total Distance = 211 miles
Total Climbing = 10,150 feet
On-Bike Time = 12:45
Avg Speed (while on bike) 16.5 mph
Avg Speed (overall) 14.06 mph
Total Time = 15 hours
Weather = A++++ (60 degree low about 90 degree high)
Support = A++++
Route= A++++
My day started at 3:40am, my car was already packed, so I was out of the house by 4:00am. I had a quick one hour drive to Malibu (I will probably never get from Orange County to Malibu in an hour ever again). I had a quick smooth check-in and prepared to roll out. Originally, I had planned on hitting the road at 5:00am. I was running about 15 minutes behind schedule and decided to wait until 5:30 so I wouldn’t need to start using a headlight. I had my light sagged out to the last rest stop, and got going at 5:40am.
It was pretty much a straight shot 35 miles up the coast to the first rest stop in Port Hueneme. I started off at a pretty conservative pace, and passed on the temptations to jump on the faster pace-lines that would fly by. There’s about 8 roller through Malibu and the area north of there, other than that it was a flat cruise along the ocean. I averaged about 18mph to the first rest stop. I made the first stop pretty quick, about 10 minutes of eating and stretching and I was off to rest stop #2.
The second leg is where things heated up a bit. From Port Hueneme (Oxnard), we took a turn inland. Shortly after the rest stop, I got in a nice pace-line that moved quickly through Oxnard farmland. It was during this stretch that I met up with Chuck Bramwell aka Mr. California Triple Crown. Chuck put on the CA Triple Crown (special recognition for those who complete 3 double in a year) and also puts on the Breathless Agony ride. On and off I would ride with Chuck for the next 40 miles or so. I had a good time talking about Breathless Agony, riding hilly areas of Orange County, traing for Everest Challenge and so on. It felt good as a first-time double rider to be with experienced company (this was Chucks 10th time on the Grand Tour). At mile 45 we came to a little hill called Portrero Road. I had been hearing this name for a couple of days leading up to the ride, so I knew I was in for something special. The climb started off with a steep (maybe 10%) ½ mile climb then leveled off for a bit and then I saw the wall. The route slip read “Very difficult for 1 mile”, it was right. For a mile I grinded out a climb that topped off at 18%. I watched my HR jump to 180, oh ****, I was going keep it at 160 or less on the climbs. Oh well, I don’t of any other way to get over a hill like that. At the top of the climb there was a mini rest stop, I stopped for about 5 minutes and was off again.
After a short descent, we were off into the hilly farmland of Thousand Oaks and Westlake village. There was some very cool scenery through these parts as we rolled through farmland, horse country and movie star mega-ranches. I met back up with Chuck as we approached a small climb around a lake. The weather started warming up around this point. All the weather forecasts had predicted mild temperatures in the mid 70’s. It was now sunny and in the mid 80’s (still not bad, it can break 100 easily in these areas). We came out of the rural area and had about 20 miles of city riding, including about 5 miles of climbing before the next stop. About 5 miles before the next stop I met Phil. Phil had left his shoes at home and borrowed some shoes and pedals from one of the ride staff. They were some very old lace up Nikes that had seen better days. Turns out Phil lives in Irvine, which is about 10 minutes from Fountain Valley. We would end up riding almost all of the remaining 125 miles together. I spent about 15 minutes at the stop in Moorpark before heading on.
80 miles down and 37 to lunch! The few miles through Moorpark were some of my least favorite. Moorpark looked to be and old run down, hot and dirty town. We quickly came up on a 2.5 mile climb that took us up into Grimes Canyon. It’s here that I took a wrong turn that resulted in 3 extra miles and about 500’ of climbing. I got back on track, climbed another 1.7 miles and hit the first really fun descent of the day. The descent down Grimes Canyon was around 3 miles of a technical twisty road. I always enjoy these descents where you can out ride the traffic and have the lane to yourself. Because of all the turns, I don’t think I topped 40 mph. At the bottom of the hill we took a turn into headwind hell. Everyone within sight quickly formed into an organized pace-line and we took turns fighting the wind. Along the way, we came to a traffic control stop where a pick-up had flipped over. Everyone seemed okay and it broke up the 8 mile stretch of wind fighting. We were now at the 100 mile mark, 17 miles to lunch! The main obstacle now was the 8 mile climb up Ojai Road. Phil and I took turns pacing each other up this climb, wasn’t too long and we we’re half-way through it. After about 45 minutes of climbing we were treated to another fun windy descent. I think I suffered most in this stretch from mile 100 to 117. I had to talk myself through the temptations to get off the bike and rest, I knew once I did that once I could be in trouble. Finally sometime around 2:00pm and at mile 120 there was lunch! The lunch stop was in a shady park and I enjoyed fruit, roast beef, pasta salad and one of the best Cokes I’ve ever had. In addition I re-applied Chamois Butter (possibly the best move of the whole day), took some advil, e-tabs and tums). We took more time than intended at the lunch stop, but it was well needed. After about 35 minutes at lunch, it was time to keep on keeping on.
The next 30 miles were hilly and very scenic as we cruised through Ojai and around Lake Casitas. I dropped Phil on one of climbs about halfway through this part and we would rejoin a few miles later. During this stretch of climbing, I suffered some severe post-lunch stomach cramps for about 30 minutes, this was something entirely new to me. After the last of the big climbing we were treated to one last descent, another fast twisty, take the whole lane type of descent. At the end of the descent, I dug out my Tums and chased it with some water and Phil showed up. We rode into the Rincon checkpoint at mile 141 around 4:30pm. This is the checkpoint where the 300 and 400 mile riders get their additional route slips! I enjoyed a like warm cup-o-soup, a can of V8, half a coke and some fruit. We over extended our stay by a few minutes and were then back on our bikes.
The next stretch from Rincon to Port Hueneme was the best. We had strong tailwind pushing us down the scenic coast at 25 mph while we took turns pulling, while the ocean sprayed us in the face. This truly was perfect, we rode like this for about an hour as it starting approaching dusk and we came into Oxnard, where is was about 10 miles of city riding to the last rest stop (which also served as our first). At the last stop they were serving some amazing home made chicken/vegetable soup, yummm. We ate while we contemplated whether or not we could finish in daylight. I thought that almost 40 miles in less than two hour was unrealistic, so I hooked up the light that they had sagged in for me. At about 6:45 we headed out.
I really felt good at this point, because despite some soreness ant tiredness, I knew I would finish unless something drastic would come about. As we headed out of Oxnard towards Malibu, it was more tailwind along the ocean as the sun started going down. About 15 miles from the finish we started hitting the 8 rollers, these sure felt easier in the morning! At about 8:00pm with 10 miles to go, I powered up the lights. We were still going pretty strong and were passing up others as we made our way through the rolling coast. This last hour I had food cravings like never before. I was craving Big Macs (I hate Big Macs) and any other **** I could think of. The fancy Malibu coast restaurants were getting dinner under way and smell was killing me. With 5 minutes to go I couldn’t take it and ate a Cliff Bar in about one bite. A couple of minutes later we rolled into the finish at about 8:40pm.
They were serving a BBQ dinner of tri-tip, bbq beans and bread. We ate and discussed our ride and plans for more upcoming doubles. The LA Wheelmen do a terrific job on this ride. The stops and support were first class. This was a great first double, and I look forward to my next. Throughout the course of the day, I probably consumed about 10 bottles of water and sport drink, 2 Cliff Bars, 1 and half flask of gel and all of the great rest stop fruit and sandwiches. Next time I need to bring a camera (sorry, no pics L). Also next time, I will try and cut down on rest stop time. Hopefully it won’t be long and I’ll have my first CA Triple Crown. I feel so lucky to have had such a great day on the bike with minimal soreness and other issues (including no flatsJ). It’s two days later now, and legs and butt are sore, but nothing to whine about.
Here’s the stats:
Total Distance = 211 miles
Total Climbing = 10,150 feet
On-Bike Time = 12:45
Avg Speed (while on bike) 16.5 mph
Avg Speed (overall) 14.06 mph
Total Time = 15 hours
Weather = A++++ (60 degree low about 90 degree high)
Support = A++++
Route= A++++
OC and I can attest he's a great Rider and when I grow up I want to beable to keep up with him on at least one Hill 
