Another great day. It started off cool this am, but warmed up quickly with a 3 mile climb about 2 miles into the ride, and then followed by another 6 mile climb about 10 miles later. We are going to have a route rap tonight to discuss the desert, as we have 2 more big days going across and we need to take precautions, including using camel backs in addition to our water bottles. Dinner is on our own tonight, as we are at a casino with a lot of different options.
Here is a map of where we have come from and today’s ride.
Here are some things that I have learned on the tour so far:
1. The guy in the picture at the top is Tom, and he is the logistics manager of the tour. He is a guy you want to keep happy. He puts your luggage on the foot of the bed in your hotel room every afternoon. He also loads the truck each morning, as we bring our luggage down to the front of the hotel each am. But in my opinion, his most important role, is making sure the SAG stops are fully stocked with all of the goodies, and drinks. Tom, like me likes the pastries in the am. After about 30 miles, you roll up and Tom has the goodies. We get along great :). The second picture is the luggage waiting to get loaded into the truck this am.
2. The hills are Loooooooong in CA, and I hear out west. In middle TN, they are steep but usually end in a half mile to mile at the longest. Not here, as I stated above we had a 3 and a 6 mile climb early on. THese are some of the hills that we had to climb.
Check out the video below.
3. The Wind is your friend, ONLY when it is blowing in the same direction that you are going. In the pictures, if you look closely, you will see many windmills, which again is good for biking sometimes.
Fortunately for me, when I took these pictures, the wind was BLOWING at my back. I was going 28-30 MPH with barely pedaling. It as a great 7-8 miles, unfortunately we don’t go straight and we make turns, and the wind changes directions, and I paid for this great tailwind. We went along I-10 and the traffic was going in the opposite direction, so some of that wind was probably from the cars/trucks, but still.
3. I saw not 1 Palm tree (except for these in the welcome to Palm Springs corner), or 1 Spring, when I was in Palm Springs. I am sure there had to be some on the golf courses, but I didn’t see any, and we passed many. It seems as if Palm Desert got it right in naming their city, which sits next to Palm Springs, it is a desert.
4. The Desert is hot. I already knew this, but riding your bike in a desert makes it hotter. For those of you that will respond with nice comments about this one, I might add Heat is Heat, and it’s hot, don’t tell me about dry heat.
5. There is still snow on the tops of some of the mountains. Look closely.
6. That you folks are wonderful!! With my company match of your donations, we are at about $25,000 for The Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital. Thank you!
Thank you for following along with me on this journey, and if you can please make a donation to the Children's Hospital below. 100% of your funds go to the Vanderbilt Children's Hospital.
https://vanderbilt.ejoinme.org/bikeacrosstheusa
As a non-profit institution, the Children's Hospital provides care to the children who come through its' doors regardless of the family's ability to pay. Caring support from the community allows this level of service to continue.
