We've been mostly following the HI USA Christmas Bike Ride route the last few days. Day 1 was exactly the route, except that we started across Interstate 8 from the official start at University of San Diego. We just started from our hotel, and had no need to ride to USD. We overnighted in Pine Valley because it was about the only place within range for us. On day 2 we bypassed Warner Springs because of better lodging options in Borrego Springs, and riding the additional miles to Borrego Springs (and eliminating the out and back to Warner Springs) would only add a few miles and was mostly downhill. Yesterday we rode a bit farther than the official ride since we stayed in Palm Springs, rather than Palm Desert. Starting today we'd be putting some distance on the official overnight stops, since we planned to ride the route in 5 days rather than 6. Whereas the official ride stays in Hemet and Fallbrook, we were only planning to overnight in Temecula. All of us were capable of covering the distance easily.
Today we pedaled from Palm Springs to Temecula. There was one long gentle climb to Banning, about the same as a rails to trails effort, and a harder climb up Sage Rd just prior to Temecula. Rather than climbing, today's challenge was expected to be prevailing headwinds near Cabazon.
We pedaled out of Palm Springs, continuing to shake our heads over the conspicuous consumption. Lush green grass was everywhere, Palm trees, flowering plants, and the ever present sprinklers spreading Colorado River water over everything to keep it green. We wondered aloud about how much of the sprinkled water makes it to the roots of lawn before it evaporated in the heat. Just off the top of our heads we estimated less than 50%.
Palm Springs and it's suburbs spread across the desert for miles, but we finally got to the edge. Mark and Alan continued their speedy ways, but Dave and I were riding together and performing lanterne rouge duty.We looked out at the power generating windmills, and noticed that at least the closer groupings were stationary.
We pedaled along Hwy 111 with just a whisper of tailwind. After about 10 miles we reached Interstate 10 and would be paralleling it for the next 20 miles to Beaumont before turning south. Our first planned stop today was in Cabazon, about 15 miles into the ride.
Dave and I were just a few miles short of Cabazon when we came across Mark and Alan along the side of the road. Alan had a flat tire. We stopped and commiserated with them as Alan made repairs.
Getting back on the road, it wasn't long before Alan and Mark were off the front again. Maybe it was more that I was off the back, but at any rate, they reached Cabazon before I did. Cabazon is not much more that a truck stop along I-10. There is a truck stop, Burger King, and some really large dinosaurs! The family restaurant familiar to AYH San Diego Christmas Bike Ride participants is now closed. The dinosaurs are evidently owned by the same folks who ran the restaurant, so their future is clouded right now. The dinosaurs are still there, but entrances to them was locked up.
I was refilling water bottles as I saw the others pedal off......... down the wrong road! I hopped on my bike and pedaled to catch them. They had gone down the ramp to I-10 and were standing in the shade of the overpass waiting. As I approached within 150 yds they pedaled off.
Be darned if I was going to chase them down to tell them of their error. I circled around and rode on the parallel access road. I would eventually have to get on the shoulder of I-10, but not for about 5 miles, and then for less than 1 mile before exiting again. The feared headwinds never materialized and we were now beyond the area normally impacted.
Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, but I think this casino I rode by in the middle of the desert has got to be one of the biggest eyesores around.
One can see it for miles around, but maybe that is the desired effect.
It was a warm day, and felt humid. I stopped a few miles short of Beaumont at a McDonalds for an ice cream sundae. Our support driver called me to see where I was and I ended up only being about 2 miles away. She came back and joined me for a frozen treat.
The planned pit stop today was in Hemet, and I knew there was a big descent from Beaumont to Hemet, and that my riding partners were probably nearing the planned stop. We scurried along and Julie got on her way to the meeting point, and I pedaled out.
As I rolled down the hill into Hemet at 45 mph, I noted that I hadn't seen any of my riding partners in nearly 30 miles. I've biked the route many times, I didn't have a overriding need to pedal it again. I weighed my options. I could continue to pedal solo into Temecula, or.... Julie had wanted to visit one of the wineries in the area......... I figured it would be more fun to have lunch with her at a winery than to ride yet another 30 miles by myself.
When I reached our meeting point in Hemet, she was surprised to here me say that I should just load my bike up and have her drive us both to a winery for lunch. But that is exactly what we did! We drove to Wilson Creek Winery, which was located at mile 66 of our route today.
We had spent some time walking around the gift shop, and looking around a bit, then went to the cafe for lunch. We were well into our cheese plate and wine when the three speedsters called to say that they were going to go off course for awhile.........at Wilson Creek Winery! We had a good laugh, and told them to come back to the cafe. Our reunited group spent the next hour there.
Rejuvenated by red wine and cheese, and knowing that the final run to Temecula was downhill, I said I'd bike the final 8 miles into town. We arrived at our lodging just after 3 PM, it was the first time we had arrived after check-in time and not had to wait for our rooms. We showered then Mark, Julie, and I went for a walk around town. I had always just biked through Temecula before, and it was nice to be able to look around a bit.
The feeling of higher humidity today panned out to a few clouds this evening just as the sun was setting.
We all walked a short distance to a nice Mexican restaurant for dinner, then called it a night.
...............road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle........total
Today..............54...........0................0............0.............54 Jan..................93..............0...............0.........0..............93 Feb................411..............0..............0..........0.............411 March.............653.............0..............0.........0................653 April..............696..............0...............0.........0................696 May...............900...............0...............0.........0...............900
June..............484...............0..............0............0..............484
July..............1300................0...............0..........0.............1300
Aug................638.............0.................0..........0.............638
Sept...............232..............0................0...........0............232
Oct...............307...............0................0...........0............307
Nov..............428...............0................0...........0............428 Total...........5898.............0...............0..........0.............5898
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