Ventura to Camarillo

I decided that I was going to go for a 45 mile bike ride with the Channel Island Bike club last night. I woke up a half hour late this morning and contemplated my drive out to Ventura. I pondered for about a minute and decided to drag myself out of bed and hope there were some stragglers behind like myself.

The ride started at 8 a.m. and I arrived at 8:15. No riders in sight, there was nothing left but cars. I sat in the car and the lazy side of me tried to convince me to go home but I resisted.

I got of out my car and started to gear up and headed out with map in hand for my first long ride alone. No one there to encourage me and tell me that I could do it but me.

I started out in Ventura and approximately one hour later after riding through Somis and Saticoy I ended up in Camarillo at Noah’s Bagel asking the kind woman behind the counter for an egg bagel with peanut butter.

As I was riding I was thinking about how much better my ride would have been if I would have brought my ipod. At the same time I was thinking how I should have brought the ipod a little voice of Patrick is lingering in the back of my head telling me that it’s safer for me not to have it. He thinks I need to pay attention to the road and it’s unsafe for me to be listening to my music on a non bike path. So I guess I was glad I didn’t bring it after all. Knowing me I would be in the middle of changing songs and a huge truck would zoom by me and I would fall and hurt myself.

Sitting in front of the Starbucks and eating my bagel I realized that I rode 19 miles into Camarillo. In order to get back to my car in Ventura I would need to ride another 22 miles back. I started to freak out a little. I was a little tired from riding my hybrid and the other cyclists sitting at Starbucks told me the good news that I would be riding back against the wind.

So with that in mind I started my ride back. 1 1/2 painful hours later I made it back to Ventura. I’ve decided I’m getting a road bike. I’m starting my research.