Ride Report: Cool Breeze Century 2017

The Windbreakers have returned from a fantastic cycling weekend participating in the annual Cool Breeze Century www.cibike.org in Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties.  Seven club stalwarts (Rick, Joe, Craig, Tom, Mike, Jim, and yours truly, John) made the trek north for the 100 mile-loop through beautiful coastal foothills and along beachfront roads.

We started the fun on Friday evening, with a fantastic ride prep dinner hosted by the Scheu's at their Hollywood Beach family house.  Following dinner, great wine and beer it was off to bed.

We were joined by our "trail angels" at the sunset dinner at the Scheu's
on Friday evening.  Doc offered the "cure for what ails you" following dinner.

We rose early the next morning (5:00 am) for breakfast and prep for the day's adventure. At 6:00 am we met Rick at the Sullivan family house located at the Ventura Keys, parking our cars there for the day.  By 6:45 am we were off and rolling north along the coast, to Carpinteria, Montecito (and a stop for lemonade), and Mission Canyon, to lunch in Goleta.  

Morning meet-up at the Sullivan's

Following lunch we headed back south through Hope Ranch, the Santa Barbara waterfront and Summerland, with an off-route SAG stop at Island Brewing Co. www.islandbrewingcompany.com in Carpinteria at mile-83.  We powered the final miles back south along the coast to downtown Ventura, for a celebratory beer at Topa Topa Brewing www.topatopa.beer and authentic street tacos from Mom and Pops Tacos www.momandpopstacos.com. 

Clockwise from top left: Lemonade stop, mile-37 in Montecito; Island Brewing Company
SAG stop, mile-83; post-ride celebration at Topa Topa Brewing, and the traditional Cool Breeze
popsicle at the final rest stop at Rincon.

Special thanks go to Team Scheu and Team Sullivan for their hospitality hosting the Windbreakers this weekend.  We were lucky to be joined this weekend by our top "trail angels"...Kathy, who has been along for our adventures in Colorado (Ride the Rockies) and Oregon (Cycle Oregon), and Mary, who has been at each Cool Breeze Century and has provided support during our Tour de Craft Brewery adventures.  A special Windbreaker thank you to each of our trail angels.

A great weekend of fun...we missed the rest of our gang, but more adventures are in store.  Ride On!

Big News in Windbreaker Country

August 7, 2017.  Last night, Windbreaker phones lit up with the news that one of our NextGen, Griffin Easter, son of Windbreaker veteran Tom, had emerged victorious in Stage 6 of the Vuelta a Colombia, a 12-stage UCI class 2.2 race as part of the America Tour 2017.  Griffin crossed the finish line ahead of the rest after a grueling 237.7 km stage from Socorro to Sogamosa.

Crossing the line in Sogamosa

El Campeon Stage 6. First American to win a stage since 1989

Griffin and brother Cullen are competing as members of Team Illuminate, a U.S. based team.  Both have been training recently in the high country of Colorado and are posting very impressive results.  Well done lads...congratulations and Ride On!

Our own Heads of State gather with teammates on the podium