Weather Cooperates for So Cal's Presidents Ride

The rain was on. The ride was off. The rain was off. The ride was on.

Such was the hectic nature of Mother Nature on the morning of Saturday, February 19, 2011, when as many as two dozen trikkers were expected to trikke off at 10 am, Pacific Time, for the first-ever Presidents Day Weekend Trikke Ride in the Southern California enclave known as the South Bay.

“We went to bed Friday night expecting to cancel the ride,” said Irene Tice of SouthBay Trikke, the local Trikke dealers who sponsored the Presidents Ride, along with TrikkeWorld. A certified Trikke trainer, Tice cited the wet and windy week, along with the 70% chance of showers on Saturday morning. “We had to go by the weather, which was changing every hour."

While trikking in the rain is possible, the risks are greater, said Andy Pliska, also of SouthBay Trikke. “Riding in the rain is all about technique and knowing your terrain. It's also more of an upright ride.” He went on to add: “The people who come to our rides have various skill levels and rider safety is our primary concern.”

Since the week had been fraught with showers and extreme winds, it's safe to say most of Saturday's riders expected nothing short of a rainout on ride day, which is exactly why Pliska called off the event at 8am, two hours before start time.

“Then I looked outside,” said Pliska, who also serves as tech guru for the Trikke Academy. “There were dark skies to the east, clear skies to the west and only eight-mile-an-hour winds. I said, 'let's do it!'”

Suddenly, the postponement, announced minutes earlier on Facebook, was reversed, and followers of the SouthBay Trikke page begin chiming in with approval. The ride was back on!

A short time later, on a large plateau towering over the Pacific, riders began assembling in the parking lot of Miramar Park in Torrance Beach.

Underneath a high-flying American flag shooting straight up in the sky from a white SouthBay Trikke truck, trikkers began coming to life, many of them dressed in patriotic colors, nearly all of them still getting used to the idea they'd be trikking today.

"Our hardcore riders showed up,” said Pliska. By start time, ten who lived close enough to make it were good to go.

Their diligence and dedication paid off. The weather held up. The sun came out. The beaches of the South Bay began to fill with surfers, volleyball players, bikers, tourists, all of them enjoying another day in suddenly sunny Southern California.

And then there were those ten hardcore trikkers, rocking and rolling up and down the beach Trikke path, from Torrance Beach to Redondo Beach, then Hermosa Beach and back.

As usual, the crew of carvers served as the day's main attraction, their traveling road show turning heads and stirring curiosity along the way — all of this taking place along beaches with a long history of head-turning curiosities that wind up becoming iconic symbols of the California lifestyle. Surfing, skateboarding, volleyball, Frisbee golf, windsurfing. And now, trikking.

“Our ridership is growing,” said Irene Tice. “We're putting the word out and people are responding.”

The first-ever Presidents Ride followed on the heels January's first-ever MLK Jr. Trikke Ride of Long Beach, also sponsored by SouthBay Trikke, along with Long Beach Trikkers (a local club started by TrikkeWorld's co-founders).

As more riders come on board via word of mouth and the Internet, the number of So Cal Trikke events increases. Next Saturday, February 26, 2011, the circuit welcomes another new event, the Last Saturday of the Month Ride, also sponsored by SouthBay Trikke. “This gives riders a place they know they can come once a month and ride with other trikkers,” said Pliska.

Additionally, three endurance rides are around the corner, the Buellton 62K on April 9th, (near Trikke headquarters), and in June, the Aliso Creek Marathon in Orange County, followed six days later by the Ventura 100K.

As winter recedes, it's less likely those rides will be under threat of rain, but for a cool, sunny, mostly dry February Saturday in the middle of winter, the ten-mile Presidents Ride seemed to suffice for most trikkers.

“It turned out to be a beautiful day,” said Juan Ortega, a welder from South Gate who's been trikking for years but never in the South Bay. “The ride itself was really nice, the scenery, the view. I enjoy every mile on my Trikke.”

Ortega is one of the many trikkers who rode solo before becoming a regular on SouthBay Trikke's group rides. “When you're trikking in a group, you're with a family,” he said. “Afterwards, there were a lot of hugs, meaningful hugs.”

For Sean Tice, also a certified trainer at SouthBay Trikke, the ride's conclusion came just in time. “By the end of it, you could see a dark wall of rain way out in the ocean, heading this way.”

Fortunately for the Presidents riders, the approaching storm held off just long enough for them to enjoy the hot dogs and apple pie portion of the event, scheduled post-ride as part of the day's theme: a celebration of hot, apple pie and trikking.

There was even time for some patriotic photo opps before the riders dispersed and the latest round of thundershowers began pelting the California coast, prompting Irene Tice to conclude, “Now we have another great annual event under our belt."