The 2007 MARDI GRAS CENTURY tour was lots of fun for the riders and the after ride party at the Greek was great with good food and dancing. If you were a rider in the tour this year and have any comments please email Ventura Velo because we want to hear from you so we can continue to improve our tour events. Our riders followed 3 proven and popular scenic coastal-valley routes and many riders said they enjoyed the spectators for the Tour of California, who lined a portion of the Century and Metric routes May additional guests enjoyed the after ride MARDI GRAS PARTY with cajun music provided by J.T. and the Zydeco Zippers. We want to thank our loyal sponsors including Starbucks, Trader Joe's, Ventura Bike Depot, the Greek, the Ojai Valley Inn, Uncle Tren's Cycling Productions, Ray's Bikes of Ventura, and the Ventura Port District, for their help and support, which helped make the ride a success.
THE PARTY REPORT At the after ride party J.T. & THE ZYDECO ZIPPERS filled the room with violin & accordion music in songs like "Jolie Blond" and "Jambylaya" as people danced under The Greek's tower. Two beautyful and talented bellydancers did a great job of warming up the crowd, too. 10 Gallons of Chicken & Sausage Gumbo disappeared as did the BBQ Tritip and Chicken Shiskabobs and vegies too. The tour routes were fun to ride and we received many positive comments were given to the ride and party staff by the participants.	RIDE REPORT The weather this year was great for the tour. Many of the riders said they really enjoyed the 3 routes, which included a QUARTER Century making a loop around scenic Ventura on many of the best coastal bike paths and lanes that City of Ventura has to offer. The longer routes continued to Ojai, thru the "Valley of the Moon" then on to Santa Paula where the METRIC riders turned back toward the start. The CENTURY riders rolled through orchards along the Santa Clara River banks to Bardsdale and then up Grimes Canyon Road towards Moorpark, passing sunny ag fields on the way to Camarillo and the SEABEE base in Port Hueneme. The riders then continued on to Oxnard and back to Ventura Harbor. Many of the Century and Metric Century riders said that they enjoyed riding along the portion of our routes that were shared with the Amgen Tour Of California as crowds were out early to watch the events which made our ride more fun!	The MARDI GRAS CENTURY tour was a success this year as we had great weather and many walkin riders. Ventura Velo was able to raise over 4 times the amount of money compared to last year's Marid Gras Century, which had rain on ride day. The money raised from this event will go to the New Orlean area Habitat for Humanity for home construction to help rebuild that great city which was flooded and so badly damaged by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and is still slowly recovering. If you were a rider in the tour this year and have any comments please email Ventura Velo because we want to hear from you so we can continue to improve our events.
The Ojai Valley Inn & Spa sponsored the Mardi Gras Century tours and donated a one night mid-week stay at the Resort, a $400 value. If you are intrested in becoming a sponsor for any of Ventura Velo's events, please email us. If you can sponsor Ventura Velo, you will help us generate more funds for maintenance of the local cycling trails and facilities, supporting Bike to Work/School events and help us in our public service work.	Ventura Harbor Village is a major sponsor of the The Mardi Gras Century and the Three Harbors Tour. The village has many activities for the family and they can come out to the Harbor, too, and have fun while you are out riding in the tours or any time.	The Mardi Gras Century and the Three Harbors Tour routes are designed to be training rides for the California Coast Classic Tour (CCCT). You will find many of the same type of riding conditions on these tours as you will find on the CCCT. This past year Ventura Velo helped sponsor a team of 5 riders in the CCCT and they said that they found our tours to be a good training rides for the over 500 mile CCCT. We will also support Team Ventura Velo in this years CCCT.
	Mardi Gras Party Photos by Loree Collier