Obstacles Make Short Ride Longer

With fewer than five miles of Class I beach path in Ventura County, cyclists were understandably concerned when 100 feet of it went tumbling into the sea during last winter’s storms.

Local newspapers were swamped with letters to the editor praising an unidentified “Mr. Sandman�--who tried to save the path by dumping a truckload of sand into the washout--and criticizing the bureaucracy, which had been unable to decide on a solution.

Even with a chunk missing, the path is still fun to ride, although it does present problems for cyclists, namely the weekend flood of pedestrians, joggers, skaters, surfers and strollers.

Cobbled together in the mid-to-late 1980s when the city of Ventura began sprucing up its pier area, the 3.9-mile path still doesn’t have an official name, but the state Department of Parks and Recreation, which maintains the path except for the Promenade section, favors “Ventura State Oceanfront Bikeway.�

The trail head is at the entrance to San Buenaventura State Beach at the corner of Pierpont Boulevard and San Pedro Street. With the path snaking behind sand dunes, cyclists don’t get their first clear view of the ocean for a half-mile. About then, the first covey of pedestrians looms ahead. Downshifting adjustments are made. The speedometer reading falls from 9 m.p.h. to 3, a near-crawl that has to be maintained for about a mile.

“You really can’t ever get a good aerobic workout,� said Tom Gonzalez, 18. “Just when you get a sweat going, you have to slow down to avoid baby strollers.�

The path flows under the Ventura Pier, through the Promenade and by Surfer’s Point--a lot of action compressed into a relatively small area. Cyclists have to be on pedestrian alert until they leave the point. From there, the path parallels a parking lot at the Ventura County Fairgrounds and passes fenced wildlife sanctuaries. But just when you’re making headway against the steady westerly winds, the path detours at the infamous washout.

The barricades that direct cyclists around the hole and into the parking lot are only temporary. The city of Ventura hopes to rebuild the path if a way can be found to prevent erosion and satisfy state Coastal Commission environmental requirements.

“One of the solutions,� said Steve Chase, the city’s environmental coordinator, “might be to put in a cobblestone beach (in front of the problem section) to dissipate the energy of the waves.�

The worst-case scenario for a cyclist: If the path can’t be rebuilt, it probably will be rerouted around the fairgrounds and up a city street because fairgrounds management doesn’t want to lose parking space. If that scenario occurs, the 3.9-mile Class I path will be decimated, shrinking to two separate 1.5-mile segments.

As the path is now, it takes cyclists past the washout and north along the Ventura River to the Main Street Bridge. The next section is called the Omer Rains Oceanfront Bikeway after a retired state senator. The half-mile stretch along Main Street protects cyclists from oncoming traffic with barriers of wood and concrete, conveying cyclists into the Ventura River Group Camp at Emma Wood State Beach.

The Class I path runs for about an additional mile, mostly alongside Southern Pacific railroad tracks. With surf crashing 50 yards away, day-dreaming cyclists often are bushwhacked by freight trains sneaking up from behind and blasting their air horns.

The path ends abruptly at an on-ramp for the 101 Freeway. Cyclists wishing to venture farther north can take the Class II route on Pacific Coast Highway, an easy ride with intimate views of the ocean. But getting as far north as Rincon can be tricky, necessitating a trek on 101, which “is a survival ride,� bike-shop owner Gary Klein said.

Nothing like a cement truck to make a cyclist appreciate baby strollers.