Indio to Blythe, CA

This was not a fun day for me.  It's 97 miles to Blythe from Indio.  We rode on the shoulder of Interstate 10 most of the day.  There's a twelve-mile climb out of Blythe with 2-6% grade.  The wind was in our faces and the road surface was in very poor shape.   It was raining as we arrived at the hotel.  Weird weather this year.  I was pretty beat by the time we finished the ride.  Willie is a saint for staying with me.  Willie is stopping to thank first-responders when he can.  We visited the fire station outside of Blythe and met a very nice fireman who opened the doors so we could see the fire engines before carrying on.  No Dalmation - I was disappointed.  Someone should buy them a stuffed dog at the very least!

6:55 hours, 97 miles, 2,309' of climb, 4,608 Calories.  Yes, I got my large, chocolate mile shake at the end.

This is a shout out to the motorist who stopped to talk to Harry and Tony.  Thank you!

Oh, yes.  I had one of those f-words, a fl@t, just before the second SAG stop.  I walked the last 0.3 miles - it was faster than changing the inner tube on my own.  When I got to the stop, Larry took my bike and replaced the tube for me while I refilled my water bottles and grabbed something to eat.

Dinner is now over and I need to finish this  quickly before I go to bed.  It's 116 miles to Wickenburg, AZ tomorrow with some hills to climb.

The iron men.  No keeping up with these big dogs.

 The twelve-mile climb out of Indio.

FL@T

Note the condition of the roadway.  Brutal.

Riverside to Indio, CA

The weather in SoCal is screwy this week.  Deborah reported heavy rain at home.  We had sunny skies.  Normally, the wind blows West to East through the Banning Pass.  In past years, the tailwind allowed riders to reach 30 mph without pedaling.  Guess what - not this year.  Headwinds all day.  It started out cool in Riverside, but by the time we got to Indio it was in the eighties.  Last week, it was 110 degrees - thank goodness for small favors.

Willie, Dan, and I rode together for most of the day, with Mary joining us at the beginning of the ride before we started up the six mile hill about thirty miles into the ride.  The climbing wasn't bad, mostly 6 & 7% grade, but long.  After the hills we descended but were slowed by the head winds blowing out of the East.  It was a long slog into Indio and the hotel.  I'm indebted to Willie and Dan for their support.  I'm no longer the young buck I was!

Tomorrow will be a long, long ride across the desert to Blythe.

Today:  6:09, 93 miles, 2,669', and 4,411 Calories.

Cousin Harry's bike.

Snow on the mountains.

 Dan at the top of the big hill.

Windmills in the pass on the way to Palm Springs.

Willie points the way

And we're off! Manhattan Beach to Riverside, CA

Breakfast was at 5:30 AM in anticipation of a 7:00 AM departure.  CrossRoads makes a big deal of the first ride, lining up the riders two-by-two and escorting them to the beach.  It was a cold morning; rain had fallen overnight, and the wind was off shore.  Let me repeat that, the wind was off shore; it was in our faces all day, but we didn't get rained on much.  After wheel dipping in the ocean; no, I paid too much for mine to expose them to salt water; and group pictures, we headed up the steep hill from the pier and headed east.  The first part of the ride is on city streets with many, many stoplights.  We then started up the Santa Ana River canyon and joined a wonderful bike path that parallels the busy freeway.  The ride through Corona was not very nice, with traffic, and narrow roads.  After we reached Riverside, we were treated to the beautiful ride up Victoria - nine miles of palm lined street bordered by orange groves.  Short of the hotel by one-mile we stopped at McDs for large chocolate shakes - an appetizer before dinner.

79 miles; 6:00 hours; 2,321' of climb; and 3,544 Calories burned.

Day 1 - The Gathering

It's Saturday, the day before we leave on our ride.  I drove up to the hotel in el Segundo and picked up Willie, Peter, Mike J, and Tom for breakfast.  Ira rode his bike from home and Karen brought Harry in her car.  It was just like old home week - lots of laughter and tales - hard to believe it was eight years ago that we first met each other.  It was wonderful seeing everyone.  I'm so glad Mike J, Ira, and Karen were able to see us off.

Today's schedule:

Bicycle Pick-up
Orientation Meeting
SAG (support and gear) Orientation
Dinner
Early to bed for tomorrow we ride!


Willie, Ira, Tom, Harry, Karen, Mike J, and Peter

Everyone "helping" Ira unlock his bicycle.

The bike

The bicycle I have been riding for the past seven years was starting to wear out.  After nearly fifty-thousand miles, the wheels were shot and parts were having to be replaced at an alarming rate.  I decided it wouldn't be prudent to use it for this year's ride.  So,  two months ago, I called Mohammed, owner of my LBS (local bike store), The Old Bike Shop in Hermosa Beach.  I loved my old Colnago (that's Italian for expensive), so I asked him to get me a new one.  He was able to find a frame and put all the bits and pieces together for me in time to use it to train on.  Today, I took the new bike in for a final tuneup.  Here's a picture of Mohammed, me, and the new bike.

My nine weeks of putting in the miles in preparation are over.  This week is a recovery week and I'm tapering off.  Sunday's departure will be here soon.

The map

Click on the image to view larger.

We will bicycle through fourteen states in forty-nine days with five rest days.

RIDERS LIST

I'm going to need a program to tell all the players!  This year, there are ten riders going all the way from LA to Boston.  In addition, there are twenty-two cyclists riding different segments of the journey.  Average age is 62; 6 women and 16 men; five Brits, three Germans, one Welshman, and one Israeli.

Here's my list:

LOS ANGELES TO BOSTON

WILLIE                   VA                          60

CHRIS                    GB                          70

HARRY                  GB                          53

DAN                       OH                          67

JIM                         CA                          72

HOWARD             WALES                   63

MIKE                     GB                          70

ROGER                  GB                          69

MIKE                     MN                          63

TONY                     GB                          51

LOS ANGELES TO ST JO

HEINZ                    GER                        66

BRIAN                   GER                         57

LOS ANGELES TO SANTA FE

MARY                    MD                          60

PETER                    NY                          67

LOS ANGELES TO ALBUQUERQUE

DAN                       GER                        44

DENNIS                 CA                           70

JULIA                     HI                            59

OLIVER                 HI                            50

LEE                         CA                          73

FRANZ                  HI                             64

ALBUQUERQUE TO ST JO

LORI                       FL                            57

PAUL                     MA                           72

ALBUQUERQUE TO CHAMPAIGN

JOANNE               CO                           58

LAURIE                 IL                            51

TOM M                 IL                              56

CHAMPAIGN TO BOSTON

BARRY                  MN                         70

TOM R                   NJ                           71

BETH                     CT                           67

BOB                       CT                           67

DARRELL             TN                          56     TO ERIE

CHAMP                  IL                           67

JACK                      ISRAEL                 57

Blogger doesn't like tabs so the columns don't line up!