Early 2020,
just before everything shut down 5 BFer's, tired of concrete skies, snow, sleet and rain decided to meet up in
warm, sunny Arizona for a week of bike riding. It was supposed to be a great kick start to the cycling season. For some reason we thought renting an RV was the way to go, enabling us to move around Arizona for various rides. We wanted to make it an annual event, but COVID got in the way. By the spring of 2022 things were looking better, so, learning that an RV with 5 adults in it isn't the most comfortable way to go, we b
ooked a Palazzo in Tucson and rented a BAT( Big A$$ Truck) that fit 6 in the cab and 6 bikes in the bed.
For some reason we didn't recidivate in 2023, but the Usual Suspects were contacted many months ago, and six agreed to add the first week of March 2024 to our dance cards. The next step was to determine where - the SF Bay Area was kicked around, Palm Springs, Tucson (again), but settled on SoCal as our target. @
Andy_K, @
SquireBlack and myself are flying down from Portland, Oregon. @
rccardr, @
Spaghetti Legs and @
nlerner are flying in from the east coast. We decided that LAX was a good common denominator, with many flights at different times so we can coordinate our arrival.
We're hoping to coordinate with our SoCal brethren while we're in the area, meet for rides, dinner, and adding harbor pilots to enhance our riding experience. Here's our itinarary:
March 2 - we all fly into LAX, grab the BAT, and drive up to a AirBnB Palazzo in San Gabriel for two nights, where we'll be well positioned for...
March 3 - ...the monthly Rose Bowl ride. This was a natural, once we realized the dates would coincide with this ride, it was a no-brainer.
March 4 -
ride the San Gabriel river trail to Sunset Beach. I was worried about having to come up with a route from near the foothills to the ocean, then remembered riding along one of the river trails several decades ago. We'll spend the night at a hotel there. Of course, we'll take turns matriculating the BAT downfield for the next 2 days.
March 5 -
Ride from Sunset Beach to Carlsbad, where we've reserved another AirBnB Palazzo. We'll stay there through the following Monday, March 11 when we fly out. We'll have the BAT so we can drive an hour or so to ride starts. We've located a lot of good rides in the San Diego area online, but we're open for suggestions for anyone in the area who would like to join!
March 10 - Brian Bayliss vintage bike ride in San Diego.
I'm announcing this in advance so that our vintage bike brothers and sister in SoCal might have time to plan a meet-up, maybe lead a ride or two, and of course plan after ride calorie and hydration events. Post here or PM me if you're interesting in participating with the Usual Suspects for Spring Training 2024.
Might rain on our parade, but we're bringing Neal Lerner along for weather insurance.