Today was the picnic ride put on by two local bicycle clubs, Orange County Wheelmen (OCW) and Bicycle Club of Irvine (BCI). As it was perfect timing for our ongoing training for the Amtrak century, Pat, Chris and Theresa signed up to ride. Theresa's husband, Steve came along as well and Suzanne decided she didn't want to miss the fun and made a last minute sign up. The ride was free and if you were a full club member of either club you got a free lunch (Subway Sandwich boxed lunch). Guests had to serve and do dishes. Just kidding, they just had to pay $5 for the meal.
It was a huge turnout from both clubs. BCI does a great job of using different colored route slips for each of their rides. Which works great since much of the routes crossed each other and BCI usually has a coffee/rest stop mid ride where all routes converge. It made it easier to ensure you were following the right person, but making sure the route slip was correct. We met at Deerfield Park in Irvine and had a choice of 14 miles 30 mile, 40 mile or a 60 mile ride. Course when we picked up the route slip we realized it was really a 32 mile ride. Oh well, we are ready.
Riding with a large group on streets is a whole different feel from our bi-weekly evening rides. Plus there were some rollies. As we were traveling up Shady Canyon trail, Theresa realized this would be the perfect extension to our Sand Canyon ride. This first long hill really stretched out the group of riders. Steve and Theresa took off with the front of the pack. Pat stayed with Suzanne, but Suzanne held her own keeping up and learning to use all her chain rings and left shifters. We can't imagine how fast Suzanne would be on a road bike.
The ride started at 9 a.m. and it was already warm in this part of Irvine. But the route quickly took us through turtle rock and then onto Bayside drive through Newport Beach where the cool ocean breeze kept us comfortable. We did a quick jaunt to stop at a Peet's coffee which is a normal stopping point for the BCI folks, then proceeded on a tour of Back Bay opposite way around and attacked the little hill up to Jamboree. There we met up with another chick, college student, Susan who decided to abandon the 40 mile ride and finish with us. Course, Chris was the smart one, she followed people who knew where they were going instead of the rest trying to follow Theresa as she tacked on a couple of extra miles looking for Irvine Center Drive. I think she was trying to make up for the couple of miles Suzanne and Pat may have missed when they were lost early on. Or so they claimed to be lost.
There were no masseuses at the end of the ride, but Suzanne and Pat spent a little bit of time stretching before consuming their lunch. 32 (or 34) miles is just a bit long to go without a proper refueling. There was a little bit of shopping though. So truly a good "chick" ride - exercise on bikes, food, and shopping.
It was a great ride with great fellowship and even some food at the end. I wonder when the next adventure is?
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