Today was the longest ride so far. Sue had introduced me to the “Old Kranks” via email and I got an invite to ride with them. The “Old Kranks” is a club made up of mostly older people, but they are in great shape. I met the group at 8:30 at the Pleasant Valley Park and Ride in Camarillo and then we were off. There were six of us: Allan, Ron, Daniel, Mike, Wendy, and myself.
I didn’t know where we were going, I just wanted to stay with the group and not hold people up. I did pretty good with the pace. We rode all over Oxnard, Channel Islands, and Port Hueneme. We first headed up to Mandalay Bay. It was really pretty there. We rode right along the beach and I always love that. The beaches are very wide and there is a little bit more room between the houses and the ocean than in Malibu. In Malibu the houses are right on the water, sometimes the tide comes under the houses. But in Oxnard, there is a wide sandy beach, a small paved road, which is where we rode and then the houses. Boy, it was really nice.
After that we rode the bike path to Channel Islands Harbor. This was the first time I had ridden with these cyclists and they were fast, but that was good for me. They really pushed me (in a good way) to be my best. They really raised the bar for me. We made a stop at Anacappuccino in Port Hueneme. They have the best Chai Latte. We sat outside at the picnic tables. Everybody is still in social distancing mode. After that we headed to the Naval Air Base and stopped to take a couple of photos of the group. Then we rode up Las Posas and over Potrero to the Cal State University Channel Islands campus. It is a beautiful campus and very peaceful. Allan told me that at one time it was a mental institution. That made me love it even more. Allan told me that folklore says it’s the Eagles “Hotel California” – you can check in, but you can never check out. I did see banners up for teaching credentials and I even thought it would be a good place to teach. We stopped and took a couple of pictures all keeping social distance.
We headed back and we rode the same street that I had ridden on Saturday with Gail. By this time I was getting pretty tired. I was glad I was with the group. Being with a group really forces you to push yourself to the limit. I made it back to the Park and Ride and my mileage was 46.2 miles at an average speed of 13 MPH, a little bit faster than I normally ride.
