Carlsbad to San Clemente in Flirtees!

Just got back from another glorious vacation in California. My fiancé has the good sense to live there so I am down often, but this is the first time I've worked in a road ride.


Mainly this is due to my hatred of flying with bikes. So I was super glad to find Synaptic Cycle's Joe Bartoe who rented me a wonderful carbon steed for less than I would have paid to bring my bike on the plane one way.


The bike was a "Liscio" by American company Volagi, which is apparently the only one to include disc brakes as a standard feature on their road bikes. I was skeptical but won over in the end. I would almost say this bike was even better than having my own with me.


Here are the other big wins of my experience with Synaptic:

• The bike was fitted against measurements from my road bike emailed in advance so it arrived ready to ride
• It was delivered and picked up by the super affable Joe
• It came with full Ultegra, and the saddle and pedals of my choice. 

Top marks for Synaptic Cycles, and I am sure I will be in touch again soon. 


So with my borrowed bicycle, Gerhard and I set out for his first "real" bike ride (i.e. I made him stop to buy bottle cages and H2O receptacles at the local REI before we set off). We went from his place near La Costa Ave all the way to Pedro's in San Clemente where we gobbled down ten tacos and a lot of pop before turning back for a glorious tailwind push home.


All told, we conquered about 115km together, and it was wonderful!! Highlights of the ride included:

• Carlsbad Boulevard closed to cars for a triathalon course (which was nearly finished and didn't have any racers left on it) giving us a very large cycling lane for our personal use
• The old highway 101 now closed to cars through Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base, but is still open to bikes, making it the biggest rec path I have ever seen
• Unusual road signs like "Tank Xing" as we rode through range after range *yikes* 
• The sweet sweet taste of tacos to shut down a full-body bonk
• A very welcome tailwind all the way home
• The chance to show off my new Flirtees Kit (Thanks Casey!) [Find Flirtees on Twitter and Facebook]
• The part where we were finally finished. ;) 

Now that I'm back in Toronto where it's hotter than Cairo, riding bikes seems less fun. In fact, anything but sitting motionless in my air-conditioned office seems less fun. Til the heat wave breaks, guess I'll continue California dreamin'.

Photos by Gerhard Gross 

The Return to California

I loved California when I was there with Matt P and Pete G back in January. But I had no idea how big a role the region was about to play in life-as-I-know-it when I visited then.

Because this is the internet, and no one has an attention span longer than 2 seconds, I'll get straight to the point. Gerhard has accepted a new job at the biggest snowboard magazine in the biz: Transworld.

Transworld is based in Carlsbad, CA about half an hour north of San Diego, right on the coast. Don't ask me why snowboarding magazines always seem to be published in the most un-snowboarding of places (Toronto, as another example ... no offense Blue Mountain).

And so here we are, riding the rollercoaster of life in the fast lane, trying to figure out what happens next. Because California is a loooong way from Toronto on pretty much every level.

So how did this all happen? Well let me just brag and say it wasn't like Gerhard was looking for a new job. This job came looking for HIM. And if you follow his articles with Snowboard Canada, you'll know why. Or maybe they just saw this: http://bit.ly/ftXswe

Anyway, one thing led to another, and that led to a job-interview in Carlsbad. A quick trip, but I decided I needed to be there to try and make more sense of all this impending change. Maybe palm trees and ocean breeze would be the spoonful of sugar to help the medicine go down.

And it was.

I travelled via Vancouver where a former colleague and her boyfriend were kind enough to put me up for the night. That lined me up for an early flight to L.A. the next morning.

When I landed, I was immediately hyped. I went to pick up the economy car I'd reserved from the rental company, and let them up-sell me to a red convertible. It seemed like the obvious thing to do. Then I booted down the interstate blaring the pop-tunes, and letting my new cut and colour fly around in the wind.

I got to the hotel first, so I had the tedious honour of waiting for G. In the mean time, I got a sandwich and a drink from a place up the road and made like ten friends who all had great advice on what to do and where to eat for our little stay. I got back to the hotel and finally Gerhard arrived. We spent the rest of the afternoon booting around in my whip, checking things out and imaginging what life could be like there.

We thought the actual interview the next morning would be over in time for lunch and surfing, but it turned out to be an all-day appointment. So I had nothing left to do but take myself shopping! I also checked out the flower fields which are famous in the area and took myself out to lunch at the "Naked Cafe" before poking my head in some neighbourhood bike shops.

To celebrate the success of both our days, we headed to San Diego to try some fish tacos one of my sandwich-friends recommended. We drove by a rollercoaster and stopped for some spontaneous thrills and poetic symbolism.

It was a great trip. But is it real life? For one of us, starting June 6 it sure is.

Gerhard has been beavering away to get his documents in order for a move to the States. Lucky for him he doesn't have to "immigrate" in the formal sense because he is a dual citizen. But chasing down passports and social security numbers plus trying to squeeze the most out of his last weeks with healthcare have kept him busy.

I have been working on finding a roommate and fussing over Gerhard's to-do list. We're having a going-away party for G next Thursday by the way if you'd like to bid him farewell (and ingratiate yourself to him so you have a place to stay if you ever want to go to SoCal.)

So that's been the overwhelmingly heavy, scary, exciting, happy, confusing, sad, proud news around here.

Put Your Back Into It

"You can do it, put your back into it." Heard that song on the radio about once a day as we rip around on the PCH between trailheads down here. How fitting then that our last day of riding featured the famous Backbone Trail. Put your back into it, indeed.

Judging by the trail sign, the Backbone Trail is like the Californian version of the Bruce Trail. It connects all kinds of camp grounds, hiking trails and trail suitable for riding horses and bikes. And it's mad awesome singletrack.

After the serious business of pre-ride fueling (like, serious. I thought I ate a lot until I shared a table with Peter Glassford ...) we all drove south towards Thousand Oaks. PG had to get the car to the garage for its oil change so he dropped Matt P and me off at the Backbone Trailhead at the top of Decker Road. The drive up was insane. Crazy tight corners, steep incline and a little motion sickness for good measure. And guess what! Later, we'd get to ride DOWN it.

The coolest thing about California is that every day has been my new favourite day. Today was no exception. At times it felt like we were ripping back through Albion. And then the next corner would include a view of green fields, ranches, and the ocean below and you'd know you weren't in Kansas, Toto.

We followed the Backbone until we made a wrong turn and ended up at the top of a long fire-road climb -- Zuma Ridge Trail. Matt P did a great job of not worrying me that we were a little off course, and we picked out a climb across the valley that we figured would take us where we needed to go. So down we went. The terrain was loose and the corners tight so after a couple tips from Matt, I got some quality time practising transfering my braking and weighting the bike properly into and out of the corners. At the bottom of all that, we crossed a creek precariously balancing on cleats and rocks while shouldering bikes and that meant the ride had just become "epic", at least by my standards.

And then the climb. The climb made the ride epic by anyone's standards.

It was so long, and steep and exposed. My backbone was complaining like the dickens, but I made it, and I did it smiling. A couple more wrong turns and we made it back on track.

We rode out and back on a couple Malibu sections of the Backbone before looping back to the section that brought us back to the car. The only bummer was the horse. Of course, we could hear it clip clopping just up the trail on some of the flowiest single track of the day. That meant there would be no ripping it up because horses and bikes and singletrack do NOT go together well. So we cautiously approached and caught up. The rider turned the horse around so it was facing Matt P and I thought it was going to paw him into the ground the way it was stomping its feet and tossing its head. It had already freaked itself out by the stream in the trail in the other direction, so by now I'm guessing it was feeling a little cornered. Don't worry, we got by. And so did the horse.

We finished the ride with the sun in our eyes, and I was so sad that there would be no more Californian singletrack for me. But wait! There was still one more death-defying descent, this time on pavement. With guardrails. Apparently Decker road is somewhat of a measuring stick for the guys down here and it didn't take long for Matt P to disappear into one of the bends. I decided that I didn't need to measure up ... I just needed to get down. Safely.

And of course, after all that we had coffee. Waiting at home for me was my coveted can't-get-it-in-Canada Cherry Coke and dinner. I am now sitting on the couch, watching Ghostbusters, digesting a big meal and thinking about heading to bed soon. Tomorrow is going to be a long day. Back to Toronto, back to the cold, back to reality, back to work.

Romero Canyon

The day began with the usual homemade breakfast buffet. I had quinoa with blueberries and maple syrup, chicken, green smoothie and sweet potato. Then Matt P and I hopped in the car for the drive up the PCH towards Santa Barbara, checking out the surfers ripping on the way. Peter's mtb was still in the shop, so he was off to ride the Gibraltor climb on a solo five hour road bike mission (which ended up taking him even less than five hours despite a mad headwind).

Matt and I parked in the foothills and then started up the Romero Canyon climb. It was Sunday, so there were lots of folks hiking. I guess there's some animosity between hikers and bikers around here -- apparently the riders are a little aggressive? I dunno, we didn't see many other riders, but I did notice that sometimes when I said hello to those on foot, I was slow to get a response (if at all). Also apparently you're supposed to have a turkey-bell attached to your saddle so they can hear you coming ... whoops.

Anyway, the pitch was great for our day's work. We were able to keep a pretty steady pace all the way up, interrupted only a couple times, most notably by a rock slide that resulted in a little hike-a-bike. The other stops were all photography related. We met a nice local who told Matt about yet more mtb trails in the area and she explained that actually January is the best time to come to Cali because this is the time they're at their greenest tree-wise (before everything gets crispy in the summer sun) and the mountain biking is the best for climate and vegetation. Good to know!

At the top, we took in another amazing view and then it was back to scary-ass single track descending. Not as terrifying as yesterday, but still death-defying in a few places. Some of the trail was eroding off the sides in an odd mixture of shale, dirt and what seemed like wood chips. It was slippery regardless. That was the top half. The bottom half of the descent featured some amazing rock gardens, stream crossings and tacky dirt. So awesome. I was able to get back some confidence and clear some stuff I was unsure of. Always a good feeling.



Back at the car all too soon, we changed and then headed down to Santa Barbara to meet up with Peter for coffee, shopping and dinner. The drive into town through Montecito and then the outskirts of SB was eye-opening. Apparently the median price for a home in Montecito is about $2.8 million. And you can easily see why. Every estate has perfectly manicured landscaping featuring cacti and palms with colourful blooms. The houses were beautiful with that red clay roofing I love. Amazing drive, full of day dreaming.

In SB, we had coffee at the Santa Barbara Roasting Co, a local favourite for good reason. That set us up perfectly to walk up State Street. Peter got a sick new blazer and I found a couple sparklies between coffees, window shopping and people watching. We checked out the Arbor snow shop, this cool bike shop, and had Indian for dinner. Then it was back home to Oxnard and bed to get ready for the last day of riding: Backbone Trail. Santa Barbara is officially on my "come back again" list.

Ojai, Pronounced Oh-high

Yesterday we rode into un-charted territory. Peter had rode the trails of Ojai before so he sent us in the right direction, but for Matt P (and of course, me) we were going mostly by sight and Garmin. From where we parked the car, it was clear that the day was going to feature climbing. I had no idea what I was in for.

The sun and the amazing scenery were the spoonful of sugar that helped the medicine go down (or up, rather?). Past the lemon orchards, and the beaufiful homes up the streets of Ojai until we arrived at the trail head. Saw some deer making their way through one of the gated estates. Then it was singletrack time. Up and up and up and up. Three hours of up. 1,379m of up. Matt P had to dangle the In N Out burger just to get me up the final reaches.

And then Down!!! The open roads at the top of the exposed, wind-swept peak got us started. Literally the first time we'd coasted in hours. It felt awesome. I almost wept with relief. I was holding on over the loose gravel, waiting for my legs to get the shakes out when my right hand was unexpectedly flush with my grip, brake lever completely unresponsive. Wow, 1300 metres up ... the highest we could be ... and this is when my rear brake fails. Just in time for the longest descent of my life.

I tried not to panic and I gingerly made my way down to where Matt was waiting using just the front brake. "so you'll never guess what ..." I said. I didn't know what was wrong with it, let alone how to begin to fix it. I was starting to envision a loooong walk down. But Matt saved the day! the pivot on the lever had become loose and the part was STILL ON THE BIKE. A miracle. So we put it back together and thanked our lucky stars.

I was extra thankful once we found the singletrack we planned to descend on. It was not a trail you could do with one brake. It was terrifying with two. It was narrow. Off-camber. Rough and loose. And the sides gave way to 1000 ft+ sheer drops. I felt like a REAL mountain biker. My inner-voice saying "don't look down, don't look down, don't look down" on repeat.

Matt and I stopped periodically to rest our hands and arms and the brake pads. Also to "regroup" as Matt said. He meant literally, make sure we were still together. But I began taking "regroup" as regaining my wits so we could continue to the next dizzying switch back. It seemed to take forever to lose the elevation we'd gained, but finally, the trail began to widen, and the edges filled in with trees, and bushes. And we could finally let go of the brakes.

We coasted back into Ojai past some of the most beautiful homes I've ever seen. Even more beautiful because of what we'd just experienced in their back yards. A pair of riders on horseback completed the picture.

We parked at the "Park and Ride" which I think is actually meant for transit but suited us fine. There was a skate park there as well and it was suiting them fine as well. I saw kids there who looked like they'd just learned to walk, skating the quarter pipe. It was amazing. Ah, California.

We packed up and it was off to In N Out. I thought In N Out was just another burger place, but I was actually pretty impressed to find out that their fries are all hand cut and fried in the store. And they're gluten free. The buns are made to their order and they're preservative free. And the beef is never frozen. The menu is super simple: burger and fries. And they even had Dr. Pepper on tap. Anyone who's done a long ride will tell you, it doesn't matter what you put in your mouth at the end, it's going to be awesome. But I think In N Out stands alone. I hope we go back.

And so ended another amazing day in California. I'm not much fun in the evenings, so we sat around, ate and ate and ate, chatted, did some reading in the New Yorker before I was down for the count at 9pm.

Today ... The wind is howling, so I'm a little nervous about the ride. I think we're planning to head out to Santa Barbara.

My California Trip

Flying into L.A. past the Hollywood sign and into green fields with flowers and palm trees was especially surreal after having just been in Calgary where it was 20 below and snowing. LAX looked like an enormous intimidating airport but somehow I met my ride, Matt P, and it was off to lunch -- typical LA I thought: a salad as big as your head (so awesome after nothing but bits and bites for 8 hours). Then we drove up the coastal highway towards Oxnard passing the mansions of Malibu, strawberry fields, and of course the Pacific. I pinched myself more than once.

The house is amazing, a short walk to the beach with a rooftop patio. I've got a king-size bed and my own bathroom and the last two times I've fallen into it, I've had deep, replenishing sleep, which I'm gonna need because today we're adding another four hours of riding to the three we did yesterday + two hours of surfing.

OMG Surfing. I booked a lesson with the Silver Strand Surf School and never looked back. Because Matt P and Peter both wanted to come, we got a "semi-private" rate of $75 bucks for two hours and all the required equipment. Totally worth it. Our instructor Chris explained the basics on the shore and before we knew it, we were catching totally tubular waves dude. Much to my surprise and GLEE, I caught my very first one and surfed almost all the way back into shore. I was so excited ... until I realized I'd then have to paddle all the way back out to where they were breaking on the sand bar. Paddling. Is. Hard. All of us consider ourselves fine athletes and all of us were drawing on our deepest reserves. Today my chest is so sore it feels like I had open heart surgery. But nothing compares to the feeling of the waves picking up the back of the board, then one two three hard strokes before you jump up and ride it til it finishes gently enough that you can just sit back down on the board. Then paddle back out there. All of us rocked it and the stoke was high on the drive back.

The riding was equally exciting. Matt P and I headed down to Mugu State Park for three hours of fun. We climbed two mountains, rallied a few amazing descents, and delivered a necessary shock to my system. I bonked, but I think mainly the problem was my body was a little confused as to how we went from snow to shorts in such a short period of time. I'm optimistic today will be a little more measured.



Peter's bike is in the shop after he hucked it off some sweet jumps, so he's doing a group ride on the road today. Hopefully he gets it back in time for the three of us to check out the Back Bone Trail together before I have to leave. For now, it's just me and Matt P. Today: http://venturacountytrails.org/TrailMaps/OjaiGridley/Map_NordhoffRidge2D.pdf

Looks like something I'll need some fuel for, so it's breakfast time. Later skaters.

California, Girl!

Exciting news for 2011 training!!

I'm taking some time to check out Matt P and Peter Glassford's California operation.

So next week, I'll be winging down to LAX before catching a ride up to their house "30 seconds from the beach" just north of the City of Angels in a place called "Oxnard".

Then it'll be four days of mountain biking, eating [fresh local strawberries], recovering, listening to Katy Perry and reading "Gidget".

I don't know how much of a "base miles" benefit I'll get over such a short trip, but making friends with my new bike and giving myself the gift of riding in a new place with people who know where to go will be pretty much the best thing ever.

Stoked!