A car free mini-vacation

So I know the seven of you who read this blog are waiting with baited breath to see how my cycle trip to Ventura County went over the 4th of July weekend.

It went great! Not only were there no mechanicals (thank goodness), but my wife kept up a good pace and, most importantly, had a great time.

As I blogged about here, this wasn't a tough route. 53 miles total with only 1,400 feet of elevation gain/loss and gradients of 2% or less, it was pretty easy for me at least.

The heat on the return leg, however, was pretty tough. Highs were in the upper 80s which meant that the temp was at least 100 degrees on the black tarmac of the highway.

Other than that though, we were treated to some excellent views of the Santa Clara Valley, one of the nation's top citrus producing regions. Citrus smells permeated the air as we pedaled our way through. Here's a brief slideshow:



Now unlike say, the Epicurean Cyclist who boldly rides out into the middle of nowhere and survives on his wit & planning alone, my wife and I are not campers. We stayed at a hotel in Ventura and were able to pack pretty light. The cheap Avenir panniers I got on Amazon worked well and stayed put on my skinny Tubus Luna rack. All told I probably carried about 30 lbs of clothes, toiletries, and other stuff on the way there.

I was concerned about the rear wheel on the Jamis but I had zero problems. Not even one flat!

Anyway we were able to avoid the use of a car for the entire weekend, even as Ventura filled up with tourists and the streets became gridlocked. We'll be doing this again, for sure, once the weather cools a bit.