| TUESDAY : Marina
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| Summary: 26 miles, flat and fast (slower in November
and December) |
| Difficulty: Hard |
| Time: 6:30 AM |
| Place: 26th
Street and San Vicente Boulevard, Santa Monica, CA [Route
Map] |
| |
| Description: This ride begins with a short warm-up
around the Brentwood Country Club. After a left turn back
onto San Vicente, there is a build up of speed on a slight
downhill and a high-speed sprint before 7th Street. After
a brief recovery, the hammer goes down as the group heads
south through Venice and the Marina del Rey peninsula (Silver
Strand). The pace varies for the rest of the ride (from 18
to 30 mph) as it winds throught he Marina and back up to Santa
Monica by the reverse route. There may be several sprints,
depending on the composition and mood of the group. When the
ride returns to [the now ascending] San Vicente, there is
a build up of speed for two miles leading up to 26th street
which splits up much of the group. Then a brief regrouping
at the 26th street before a final 200-400 meter sprint down
the back side of San Vicente. Beverages at Peet's
in Brentwood (San Vicente and Gorham) afterward. |
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| Danger!: This ride travels through several high-traffic
areas, most notably on the return up Ocean Avenue, which a
has a thin shoulder and lots of motorists fueled on caffeine,
yammering on cell phones and many times late for work. Keep
your eyes open for open car doors and head up for fast red
lights! |
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| Tips for New Riders: Marina is a difficult ride on
two levels. First, the ride is just plain fast. If you are
new to group riding, you may find that you have never pedaled
this fast for this long. While the ability to draft will aid
your efforts to stay with group, gaps will often open through
corners and traffic signals that will require superior fitness
to close. It is a good idea to have a basic knowledge of the
Marina area, so that if you are if you are dropped, you won't
end up in Torrance trying to find your way back. Second, this
ride often entails elbow-to-elbow riding at high speeds. If
you are uncomforatable with this aspect of group riding, we
strongly suggest you try our Friday ride, Marina
Lite, which follows roughly the same route but is much
less difficult or the Tuesday Marina JV ride (see below). |
| TUESDAY : Marina
JV Ride |
| Summary: 24 miles, flat |
| Difficulty: Moderate |
| Time: 6:30 AM |
| Place: 26th
Street and San Vicente Boulevard, Santa Monica, CA [Route
Map] MEET AT NORTHWEST CORNER (diagonally opposite
76 station) |
| |
|
Description: This ride heads west on San Vicente
(no warmup lap). This ride follows the same route as the
faster Marina ride but no warmup lap.
Rotating paceline where practical. Double rotatiing paceline
south of Washington. Beverages at Peet's
in Brentwood (San Vicente and Gorham) afterward.
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| Danger!: see above |
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