Day 2 - Monday 25th April 2011 – Palm Springs - Blythe CA

We arose at about 5:20am for the scheduled 5:30am breakfast. The hotel was on to it and the standard basic USA continental breakfast of cereal, yoghurt, fruit, muffins and pastries etc was soon dispensed with.

Mike Munk, the tour leader, has his own ride blog at http://www.bamacyclist.com/BAMA/Fast/Fast.html

After yesterday’s breakfast fiasco, he loaded the below as Patrick and my photos. He should be updating this today with well fed photos!

Under a clear blue sky, we set off at 6:33am with a light tail wind. The first few miles were mostly urban riding and we were joined by a sheriff from Mecca (California) who was riding today as part of one the other rider’s fund raising efforts. He told us at four way stop signs, the rule is first one there goes. Failing that, we need not worry today as he would ensure we had no problems!

After a gentle ride for 41 miles, we reached the first sag stop as a huge flock of birds circled lazily in a low level blue thermal – vultures perhaps seeking easy prey?? The sheriff said he was going to turn around and go back to Palm Springs. However, when he learnt there were further sag stops with snacks, he decided to carry on.  But, shortly afterwards, we started an approximate 25 mile climb and he soon dropped off. He turned around somewhere I heard. The “climb” though was only about 2,000 feet in total so was very gradual and comfortable. We reached lunch at the 2^nd sag at around 11am after 66.8 miles.

From there, it was largely gently downhill with a slight cross / tail wind and we rode along at 20-30mph (32-48km/h) quite comfortably. It hit 36 degrees so regular drinking was required and I went through at least 10 bottles for the day. Some of the I10 (interstate freeway) had extremely rough shoulders we had to ride on with gaps across the road every two metres or so. This was hard on the rider and bike – luckily I didn’t have the GT frame or it would have cracked! The final sag at 116 miles left just 18 miles to the hotel and we were way ahead of the luggage truck so were in no hurry. I checked my tyres and pulled out a truck tyre wire but luckily it did not puncture. The rider from Norway, Lasse, was in a hurry and we let him go as we hit around 50km/h. We caught him up soon afterwards and rode in to the hotel with him.

Arriving first at the hotel at around 2:50pm, our room keys would not work despite several resets. The hotel was full and the staff had no idea what to do. We were let in with a master key and eventually were given a master key to use as the maintenance person did not turn up in a timely manner. Checking my tyres again, I pulled two bits of glass from the back tyre but again with no obvious puncture.

For dinner, we walked downtown and had Sizzler with all you can eat salad and dessert.

The route for tomorrow was given out at 7:30pm in the hotel carpark – 115 miles and 3,360ft of vertical climbing are the task. The course profile shows mostly uphill and cross / head winds are predicted. Breakfast is scheduled for 6am with luggage load at 6:45am so we should be on the road by 7am.

Numbers for the day:

Departure time: 6:33am
Distance: 135.1 miles (217.4km)
Riding time: 7hrs 13m
Average speed: 18.7mph (30.1km/h)
Maximum speed: 32.7mph (52.6km/h)
Vertical climbing: 2,549ft (777m)
Temperature: 16-36°C.
Arrival time: 2:50pm
Weekly (Monday – Sunday mileage) to date: 135.1 miles (217.4km)