Our group of 16 cyclists started off after a ritual wheel-dipping in the Pacific, down the coast and through historic Ventura. With all our combined nervous energy it was like a slingshot being let loose and most of us fell into a long peletón zipping along at over 25 mph. I even attacked a few times and pulled out ahead, such was my early exuberance.
Needless to say, I couldn't keep up that pace and eventually fell back. Once alone, I even took a wrong turn and added a few miles to my personal cross-country course. But I eventually found my way to the lunch wagon in Santa Paula at around the 50 mile mark. After lunch, I chose to ride alone at my more usual pace of about 15 mph winding along rolling country farming roads west of LA, then onto busier Rt 126, part of the historic Camino Real (the [Spanish] King's Road), where the farm laborers
were harvesting the vast acres of red chili peppers and finally into LA county and Valencia, home of Magic Mountain roller coaster park.
We were rewarded with rooms at the five-star Hyatt. Even though exhausted, I couldn't pass up a brief swim in the pool.
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