Day 4, Palm Desert to Hemet

I woke up in Palm Desert this morning and brought up the day's forecast on my somewhat smart phone.  It showed that our day's destination, Hemet, had an increasing chance of rain as the day went on, with heavy rain predicted by mid afternoon.

It was hard to believe with the clear blue sky an warm temperatures of Palm Desert this morning.  But believe it I did, and planned to finish the 60 mile ride sooner rather than later in the day.  I set out on that plan.

I took down my tent, packed my bags, and was pretty much ready to roll before breakfast.  I had a good breakfast with my fellow riders, then while they were packing up, I took care of final details and put my bags in the truck.  As Ralph announced, "leaving in 10 minutes, leaving in 10 minutes" I pedaled off.

As I made my way along the route I was amused by Southern Californiaisms.

There was a choice of routes today, as is usually the case. The official route goes around a mountain, through an area notorious for headwinds.  The alternate goes over the mountain. The choice is between the chance of battling headwinds for 20 miles, or the chance of climbing a long grade to find snow and ice covered roads.

I don't ride in ice and snow, but I have been known to ride headwinds. I chose the official route around the mountain.  As I neared the section famous for headwinds I noted the fresh snow on the mountains and was glad I had stayed low.

In past years of riding this event I was amazed how abruptly the winds appeared as we turned into a pinch point between rows of mountains. A sure sign of the prevalence of winds were wind generators dotting the countryside.Today however, the windmills were for the most part stationary. There was a bit of wind on the far end of the corridor but it turned out to be a tailwind! (God must be a cyclist!)

When I reached Cabozon, the traditional lunch stop for the group, I decided to skip the usual cafe because that often turned into a visit fest that stretched way too long. Instead I made a  stop at A & W where I had a small bite to eat and made a few phone calls to folks back home.
I then continued along on my mission to arrive in Hemet before the rain.  The gentle climbing all day culminates in an exhilarating 40+ mph roll down into the outskirts of Hemet.

I picked up my pace a bit as I noticed increasingly darkening skies.  I was about 2 miles out from our evening accommodations when the first few drops started falling.  I managed to roll into the finish before the roads or I got wet.  I finished as rider number 6.  If I had shortened my 30 minute lunch stop in Cabozon I would have made it in before any rain fell. I had nothing to complain about however as from there on the riders were coming in wet, really wet.

One  rider had more to complain about.  The ride so far has been marked by a few issues.  Most were minor cases of road rash.  Today was our worst incident.  A cyclist and vehicle collided in an intersection just as he came into Hemet.  A totaled bike, a trip to the ER, and a few stitches to an ear were the result.  He's lucky to be able to smile about it.

At least for me it was a good day.  I made it in dry and comfortable. For those that came in later, or went over the hill, it wasn't quite so nice.

   ...........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total Today............,60..............0.............0..........0..............60 Jan..............105.............34............0..........0............139 Feb.............428............108...........0.........24...........536 March.........809..............0.............0.........22...........831 April.........1010..............0.............0...........0..........1010 May..........1000..............0............20........0............1020 June.........1500..............0.............0..........0............1500 July..........1558..............0.............0..........0............1558 Aug...........531..............0.............0...........0..............531 Sept..........730..............0.............0...........0..............730 Oct............844.............0.............0............0.............844 Nov...........835..............0.............0...........0.............835
 Dec...........724..............0............0...........0.............724  YTD.........10,071.........142............20..........46..........10,278