Left to right are: Tim Robinson, Douglass Weymouth, Way-Chung Wong, Martin Vasilevski and Dan Marazon.
On September 15th, those of us who were planning to ride the Rosarito Ensenada Ride in Mexico, got together to test ourselves on the Ventura (Calif.) River Trail from Marina Park to Ojai and back (Garmin map here).
Claudio Pagán, who did not participate in the Baja California event, popped up here and there to take some photos and videos. Gina Alo also showed up for the traditional Trikke carvers breakfast at Denny’s and added to the camaraderie of the day. After breakfast we headed to Marina Park and got started down the trail. Darrick Bruyn had to go back early for a clinic in LA but rode up to Foster Park and back.
We got a good start and made it up to Ojai around 10 or so and the heat was already getting up into the 90′s. I was ready to head back down to Ventura and the cool breezes along the coast. Tim Robinson and I decided to return to Marina Park. Way Chung Wong and Dan Marazon decided to go back up to Ojai, while Martin Vasilevski rode down to the bottom of the trail where it zig zags and came back up to meet Way and Dan before returning to Marina Park.
I learned several import things on this training ride. The first thing: not to carry extra weight on my Trikke T12. I had two Camelbacks, one on my back and another in my cargo net. The sloshing of the water back and forth is okay when you are going for a shorter ride, but it really wore me down on this ride. It breaks your momentum and makes it hard to get started from a stop. The next thing I learned: you should not wear new gloves on a long distance ride. I had never gotten blisters on my hands before but managed to get three on my left hand due to the new gloves. I was happy with my hydration and electrolyte program, except for the Camelback problem. I bought a 3-liter Camelback for the actual R2E ride.
I recommend doing a training ride such as this to figure out what you need when planning an endurance ride. Although we will no longer be allowed on the Mexican ride with Trikke Carving Vehicles, those of us who plan to complete the next Trikkenut 100k in 2013 will be well served by pushing our training so we can make the complete ride by being prepared.
About Douglass Weymouth
Click here for details
