Jump to content

2015 LA Wheelmen Grand Tour


az_cyclist

Recommended Posts

It was a pretty good weekend. There were going to be 13 of us Bull riding the Grand Tour Lowland route this year, 12 from Phoenix.  4 of us were riding together to CA in my friends F-250.  He had a bike rack built so we could fit in all 4 bikes.  We were on the road by 6:30 Friday. I drove for him for a couple of hours from east of Quartzite till we stopped for lunch in San Bernardino.   Our hotel was in Thousand Oaks.
 
Nice hotel, wiht a Brennans for the bar and restaurant.  Shepherds pie and Newcastle Brown were for dinner.
 
We left the hotel at 4 am, and were started by 4:50.  It was clear and about 58 when we started (cooler as we passed the canyons on the PCH).  As we got to Pt Mugu it got cloudy, and stayed that was for most of the morning. About 30 miles into the ride my computer started acting up, dropping down to 8 mph when we were steady at about 18.  At the first checkpoint I adjusted the magnet a bit, got some food, changed from my glasses to sunglasses, and was ready to go.
 
The ride to the next check point was not too bad, and we got a great pull from another group that was riding along with us.  Between checkpoint 2 in Moorpark and 3 in Ventura  there was a scare. The road crossed some RR tracks diagonally,and 2 of our group went down.  Fortunately both riders and their bikes were ok,and we rode on after a short time.  It was sunny by the time we were thru Moorpark, and sunny and warm for the climb to Ojai for the lunch stop.
 
We were feeling good , and left the lunch stop in about 30 minutes.  I was still having to wrestle with my Garmin.  I would have to turn it off and restart it periodically.  We rode back to the coast, then along it to Rincon Pt, near Carpentaria.  Riding the path along the beach was the same, but they did have a new bike path along, and separated from, the Pacific Coast Hwy.  We always have a headwind on this part of the route but it was worse this time.  After 10-15 min at Rincon we enjoyed a nice tailwind as we rode back to Ventura and the last check point in Port Henemie.
 
We thought we had a decent shot to make it back to the start by 7:30, which would mean we would finish before dark. The last 20 miles or so are along the PCH with the ocean to our right.  Since it was cloudy it was not quite as nice as when it is sunny.  The last 10 miles have a series of climbs that are not terrible, but you wish you didnt have to climb after 180+ miles.  We got strung out on those hills, but regrouped to ride in together. We rode in to the cheers of 3 wives of the group that had made the trip, and the greetings of the volunteers.  I checked in, got my 15 patch for the Grand Tour, and enjoyed the beef dinner.
 

We met briefly at the hotel pool after we got back (and showered), then hit the sack and met at 7:30 the next morning for breakfast then the drive back to Phoenix

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...