2010 Events
January 2nd - Views of Anacapa 200k
Moorpark Start/Finish - The course will follow the Moorpark Ridge to Ventura, over Casitas Pass to Carpinteria, down the coast to Ventura/Oxnard and back to Moorpark. Not flat, not hilly, hopefully just right as long as you did not stay up too late for New Years Eve. Route subject to change! (pdf of tentative route
Visit this site to generate GPS .gpx and .tcx files for the 200k.
Ride starts at 6:30am at the the Java Kai Coffee shop: 4225 Tierra Rejada Road, Moorpark, CA.February 20th - Santa Barbara 300k
Moorpark Start/Finish - The course will run to the beach from Moorpark then up the coast to Ventura and over Casitas Pass, 192, Mountain Drive, Goleta, return to Santa Barbara, Hope Ranch, Montecito, Casitas Pass, Port Hueneme, Moorpark. Route subject to change! (pdf of tentative route)
Visit this site to generate GPS .gpx and .tcx files for the 300k.
Ride starts at 6:30am at the the Java Kai Coffee shop: 4225 Tierra Rejada Road, Moorpark, CA.March 13th - Channel Isle 400k
Moorpark Start. Same route as last year with Moorpark Start.
Visit this site to generate GPS .gpx and .tcx files for the 400k.
Ride starts at 6:30am at the the Java Kai Coffee shop: 4225 Tierra Rejada Road, Moorpark, CA.April 10th - Pine Mountain 600k
Moorpark Start, overnight and finish.
Visit this site to generate GPS .gpx and .tcx files for the 600k.
Ride starts at 6:30am at the the Java Kai Coffee shop: 4225 Tierra Rejada Road, Moorpark, CA.
April 16th - Southern California Fleche
The Rules indicate that you can start as early as the afternoon on April 15, 2010 to avoid conflict with religious services (April 16 is the date RUSA uses on their website - don't ask why unless you want a long explanation involving complicated French Rules translated into English). If you would like to enjoy brunch at the finish with everyone, start on Saturday April 17 for a Sunday morning finish. Moorpark finish.April 29th - Clambake 1000k
Route on Bikely (subject to change!)
Route Description:
DAY 1 -- April 29 (226 miles, around 10K feet): Leave lovely Pismo Beach Motel 6 in the dark to head north to San Luis Obispo, where you will climb Cuesta Grade (6-7% for a couple miles) on Highway 101 to warm up. Then, take a fast drop to the wild west in the hills of the lovely north county. Spend the day on very lightly travelled roads once used by Jesse James, and pass by his old hangout at the Pozo Saloon. There should still be lots of wildflowers around the oak woodlands and grasslands, though how many depends on the weather to come. Head into tiny Creston for lunch, before going further out along Hwy 58 to Bitterwater Road, a truly forgotten area along the San Andreas Fault. Back to civilization at the Cholame Cafe for another lunch at its James Dean monument, and head north to even smaller Parkfield, the self-declared earthquake capital of the world. No worries, there are very few buildings or trees here. That's it for the earthquake country, time to go to San Miguel, home of the Californiamission said to have the best original wall murals. This is a good place for dinner, as the final 45 miles will be flat along back roads and sometimes on Hwy 101 up to King City Motel 6 for the night. No point in getting to this section too early, there is usually a strong headwind that dies off in the evening. As King City is a highway traveller's stop, there are late night eating establishments, as well.
DAY 2 -- April 30 (213 miles, around 13K feet): leave King City early to go up back roads to Greenfield, where you will take County Road G-16 over the CoastRange(summit 2400 ft) to Carmel. G-16 is a great ride, with very few cars until you approach Carmel. Most of the climb is rolling and gradual, until the final 2 miles to the crest, where you will appreciate your granny gear. Then you will have a long winding downhill to the coast, and lunch after around 90 miles. You should have tailwinds down the coast for the rest of the day. Start down spectacular Hwy 1 through the Big Surcoast. This ride along the highway cut into the sides of the mountains rising from the sea cannot be beat anywhere in the world. Although the hills are not particularly steep (6-10%), they are continuous for about 70 miles, until you drop onto the wide coastal benches near San Simeon, home to the Hearst Castle. The final 50 miles go fast, continuing through small coastal communities along Hwy 1 until you are back at the start in Pismo Beach.
DAY 3 -- May 1 (183 miles, around 6K feet): finally you've got a flat day on roads local cyclists know and love. Head south to Los Alamos alongside farms, vineyards and ranches, then climb short and deserted Drum Cany onto cross to Hwy 246 to Lompoc, with a big shoulder. From Lompoc, head back along lightly travelled Santa Rosa Rdto Buellton, home of the movie "Sideways", and frequent training area for professional teams such as HTC-Columbia, Discovery, Saxo Bank and others. Wind through vineyards and horse farms and return north on Foxen Canyon Rd, acclaimed as a favorite ride, to Santa Maria, and then work back up to San Luis Obispofor the last few miles before returning to PismoBeachfor a well earned rest.
HOTEL INFO:
Info is being updated. Stay tuned.
GETTING TO PISMO BEACH:
The closest commercial airports is San Luis Obispo(9 miles). You can fly into Santa Barbara(about 90 miles) or LAX (200 miles) and take the Coast Flyer bus right to Pismo Beach several times a day.
The Amtrak Surfliner trains from Los Angelesmake two stops each day at Grover Beach, only about a mile from the start. We can provide baggage transfer from the station, but youÕll have to ride your own bike. Bikes do not have to be boxed on the Surfliner.
From Salinasand points north, the Amtrak Coast Starlight trains only stop in San Luis Obispo(11 miles). Bikes should be boxed on this train. Once again, we may be able to provide baggage service, but you'll have to ride your own bike to Pismo.
Of course, you could always drive, or ride your bike, to get here ...May 22nd - Big Bear to the Beach
Route is in the process of being approved, but ride from Big Bear to the Beach. Plan on being in Big Bear for the finish of Stage 6 of the Tour of California, with Lance Armstrong, on Friday. Ride the 200k on Saturday. If you are up to it, go to the Tour of California Finish in Westlake/Thousand Oaks on Sunday. If you are interested in this ride you may want to make reservations in Big Bear NOW! Before they are all full from the Tour spectators.June 12th - SLO to Moorpark 300k
September 11th - SoCal Beach Cities Tour 400k
Simi Valley to Solana Beach point to point ride.October 9th - Big Sur 600k
Salinas to Ventura (or nearby) point to point ride.
We will update this page as soon as we can. Check the Google Group for the latest information or post a question if you have one.
2009 Events
As the 300, 400 and 600 are point to point rides and will be utilizing the train we are limiting the number participants with the hope of not overwhelming the train. If everyone on the interested list does indeed sign up for the 600 it is already almost full. Send in your registration ASAP if you want to secure your spot.
August 1, 2009: RUSA 200 Kilometer Brevet - Starting in San Bernardino, this is a mellow trip on the Santa Ana River Trail to the beach and back. Think hot fun in the summer time. (pdf map of the route) Start location: Cocos Restaurant, 242 E. Hospitality Lane, San Bernardino, CA.
Eventmaster: Steve Barnes (everestchallenge2009@gmail.com)
August 29, 2009: RUSA 300 Kilometer Brevet - Starting in San Luis Obispo, travel down through the wine country to the south coast of Santa Barbara to Ventura then inland to Moorpark. There will be limited floor space for sleeping before the start in San Luis Obispo at Vickie's house and at the finish in Moorpark at Lisa and Greg's. There are other nearby hotel options at both the start and finish. Plan on taking the train to San Luis Obispo Friday afternoon, it is easy - go to our Google Group (under Links on the Homepage) if you have questions to find out how! The start and finish locations are an easy ride to/from the train station. (pdf map of the route)
Eventmaster: Vickie Backman (vbackman@charter.net)
September 19, 2009: RUSA 400 Kilometer Brevet - This is a fun and very interesting ride. Starting at the Amtrak Station in Simi Valley, we will run out to Balcom Canyon Road and go over "the easy way" to a quick pit stop in Fillmore. From Fillmore we will head west to the beach at Ventura and will hug the coast from Surfers Point all the way down to Solana Beach. The finish is at the Courtyard Solana Beach so if you want to get a room there contact them directly. Jim is working on a group deal, but wait until he gets back from the Gold Rush to ask him how that works. The train station is just a short ride from the hotel and departure times are 6:45am, 10:04am, 12:34pm, and 4:35pm to get you back to Simi Valley. Therefore you have a few options, I imagine that a few may finish the ride and go directly to the train station (and then sleep on the train) and most will finish the ride, and sleep at the hotel for a while and then catch the train back to Simi Valley. For more information on train times, etc. go to the Amtrak website (pdf map of the route).
Warning! This route makes substantial use of the beach bike paths which have speed limits, and will likely be extremely crowded in sections. Remember that randonneuring is NOT racing! Anyone observed riding in an unsafe manner, going too fast for conditions, and/or exceeding the posted speed limits WILL BE DISQUALIFIED AND BANNED FROM FUTURE PCH RANDOS EVENTS!
Eventmaster: Jim Swarzman (jswarzman@yahoo.com)
October 17, 2009: RUSA 600 Kilometer Brevet - Starting in Salinas, ride to Carmel by the Sea and Pebble Beach then down the coast through Big Sur to Morro Bay by around sunset, then out to San Luis Obispo and down to Solvang then to Buellton or Lompoc for an overnight, followed by a run down the coast to Port Hueneme or possibly Moorpark for the finish. We are finalizing this route so expect some changes. What will not change is the starting point in Salinas. Logistics are easy with the train. If you have questions go to the Google Group and ask. There are several people who are experienced with taking Amtrak who can fill you in. The Start hotel will be less than one mile from the train station in Salinas.
Eventmaster: Jim Verheul (jverheul@alumni.usc.edu)
If you have any questions about this ride, or randonneuring in general please feel free to post a question to our Google Group, as there are many experienced randonneurs eager to help you out. It is about camaraderie not competition after all.
For those of you unfamiliar with our rides, here in an example of the type of
Other brevet clubs