It had been over nine months since my daughter Amanda and I took a bike ride. When she approached me about getting out again, I was game. We decided to revisit one of our favorite rides from last year, the trip from Ventura to Ojai. It starts at the base of CA-33 and ends at Bryant Street in Ojai. The ride is a combination of the Ventura River Trail and Ojai Valley Trail that spans over 30 miles.

I’m not going to go into the logistics of the ride since we followed the same route from our first ride, which is documented here if you are interested. The purpose of this post is to compare the ride to our first attempt and to document the ride profile and splits.

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My oldest daughter Amanda and I enjoyed our first ride along the Pacific Coast Bike Route in Ventura County this past summer. We liked it so much that we decided to do it again during her winter break. We had to cut our first ride short at the Cliff House Inn since the trail was still under construction (and due to time constraints). This time, we took the trail from Marina Park in Ventura to Rincon Point at the Ventura-Santa Barbara county line.

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Back in July, my oldest daughter Amanda and I took our first ride to the rock. It was my first extended bike ride in years, and, quite frankly, I was just happy to survive. We subsequently took a few more rides over the summer before she headed back to college in the fall.

When she came home for winter break, she asked if I wanted to take another ride out to the rock. I figured, why not? So we took our second ride out to the rock this past Christmas Eve.

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For our final bike ride of the summer, Amanda and I rode the Marvin Braude Bike Trail from Santa Monica to Redondo Beach. I knew going in that it would be a long ride of more than 40 miles round trip. Fortunately,  the terrain is flat since the trail runs along the beach.

Our first three rides of the summer were over 25 miles each, so I figured we had trained sufficiently and were ready for it. Here’s a look at the trail, including the ride profile, how it went for us, and tips I learned for next time.
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For our third bike ride of the summer, my oldest daughter Amanda and I chose to ride along the coast from Ventura towards Santa Barbara. After doing a little research and deciding how long we wanted to ride, I figured that we could make it from Ventura to Seacliff, just south of La Conchita. My calculations figured it would be about an 18-20 mile ride, round trip.

Since the ride is along the coast (except for a one mile stretch along Seacliff), the biking is relatively flat and the scenery is beautiful. Overall, it makes for a fun, enjoyable ride. Here’s a look at how it went along with a few pictures that I took along the way.

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After surviving our ride to the rock, my oldest daughter and I decided to ride the Ventura River and Ojai Valley Trails. It’s a little over 15 miles one way and involves a steady uphill climb just about the entire way from Ventura to Ojai, which means it’s a steady downhill ride back. I had ridden the Ojai Valley Trail when the kids were younger, and from what I could remember, the ride (and climb) was manageable. Of course, I was almost ten years younger at the time.

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My oldest daughter Amanda has been doing a bit of biking while at college – it’s her primary mode of transportation while at school. When she came home for the summer, she said that she wanted to do some biking and asked me if I’d be interested in taking a ride out to the Point Mugu rock. Since I wasn’t sure if she was serious, I said “Sure, I’m in!” It turns out she was serious, and we finally made the trip this past Saturday. Here’s how it went.

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