Hold on Tight!

Day 2
Riverside CA to Indio CA, 85 Miles

The morning was on the cool side but the steep 3 mile climb right out of the gate helped to break the chill.
At the 26 mile mark we had a real climb of 6 miles that is a gentle reminder of the many climbs ahead.

Above is one of the 2 support vans (SAG's) that we have along with us. The SAG's will set up a support once a day most days and twice a day on the real long or difficult days. SAG stops provide a place to refill the bottles and get some energy bars, fruit, cookies  (hydration & calories).

The picture above is of the windmill farms outside Palm Springs (picture stolen from Vinny's blog without permission or consent). Where there are windmills, there must be wind.
Later in the day we had a combination crosswind that provided a big net gain but it also caused a couple riders to be blown off the road. I rode with Dana the last 25 miles into Palm Springs. We had strong winds that had us running at 34 mph on the flat but the road was bumpy and the cross wind gusts kept us on our toes, it was "pedal hard and hold on tight!".

The road was so bumpy... (how bumpy was it?) it was so bumpy that I rattled my camera to death. I had to stop in a store in Palm Springs and get a new camera (test run will be tomorrow).

Today was overall a good day, the next 2 days will be the early test of the ride. Tomorrow at mile 6 we start off with a 11 mile climb. We will go past Joshua Tree & Twentynine Palms then continue the ride through the Mojave. Tomorrow is 105 miles and 115 on Wednesday.

Tomorrow the key will be Sunscreen & Hydration, any tailwind would be appreciated.

Dream BIG, Jeff