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)

Day 1 - Sunday 24th April 2011 – Costa Mesa – Palm Springs CA

Opening the curtains this morning revealed an unpromising sight – wet ground, heavy grey clouds and probable light drizzle.

We went to breakfast at 6:30am but it was a bit of a shambles with Patrick and I served last about 7:15am. We ate our eggs, muffin and oatmeal before heading out to load our luggage. We were naturally last for this.

Shortly after, we headed out of the hotel down to the beach – about a 2 mile ride. After dipping our back wheels in the Pacific Ocean and a few quick photos, we were on our way en masse at about 8:15am. With numerous turns – the route map runs to 1.5 A4 pages with double columns for the 122.2 miles, no one was keen to lead the way but we managed to stay on track. My Flightdeck speedometer stopped recording after a few miles but my 2^nd one seemed to work o.k.

The weather was cool – 17°C, calm and dry to start off. Most of the early riding was on bike paths which meant no car traffic. A few light bits of drizzle mean it will not be a dry ride this year. After about 29 miles, we joined the road and had a short hill climb to the first sag stop.

Another 30 miles of mostly false flat roads lead to lunch at Perris. Prior to that, I did some Fred Flintstone riding after hitting a stone and being thrown into the dirt on the side of the road. Both feet came unclipped and the chain came off! Somehow I managed to stay upright and stopped. The chain was quickly flicked back on and riding continued. Lunch was basically make your own sandwiches with the usual SAG snacks of granola bars, cookies, fruit and nuts etc. All good carbo loading and salty nutrition!

Heading off after lunch the temperature dropped back to 16°C before warming up as the sky cleared. Up a gentle six mile climb, I crawled slowly up and the temperature dropped a couple of degrees. Once over the climb and into the town of Beaumont, we turned with the promised downhill and tailwind leading to easy pedaling speeds of over 45 miles an hour and cruising at 35-40 miles an hour very comfortably. A speed camera in Beaumont flashed as we passed it and the sign said speed limit of 25mph! We were easily exceeding that! Hitting some wide patches of reasonably deep sand at high speeds in the desert on the way into town also added to the excitement of the day!

After more fast riding, including a couple of brief excursions onto the freeway, we arrived at the hotel at about 3:30pm.  

For dinner, we wandered up town to a Thai restaurant for plenty of water, rice and good angel wings, egg plant, other vegetables and beef.

Route details for tomorrow were given out at 7:30pm with breakfast scheduled at 5:30am tomorrow for the 134 mile ride to Blythe.

Numbers for the day:

Departure time: 8:15am (from beach)
Distance: 112.2 miles (180.5km)
Riding time: 6hrs 21m
Average speed: 17.7mph (28.4km/h)
Maximum speed: 46.5mph (74.8km/h)
Vertical climbing: 4,383ft (1,336m)
Temperature: 16-29°C
Arrival time: 3:30pm

Saturday 23rd April 2011

We again breakfasted at the hotel before continuing my search for an adaptor. The hotel staff were most helpful and one phoned Radio Shack and said they had one but they were about 2-3 miles away. No problems I said, we can walk. So we did and that problem was solved so the laptop can now be used freely where Wi-Fi is available.

As the ABB accommodation starts today, we had to check out and check in again. We had arranged to keep the same room so this was not a problem.

In the afternoon, we walked down to the beach before returning to the hotel to complete the ABB rider registration, have the bikes checked again, and then go through a very thorough over three hour presentation on the logistics and safety aspects of the ride etc along with details of tomorrow’s ride – we breakfast at 6.30am (hopefully!), leave at 7.15am for the beach and head off to Palm Springs after that. There are just over 20 riders registered for the cross country tour with just one female rider. I am also one of the youngest with the oldest around 64. They did not have the ABB cycling jerseys in our size so we have to wait for these.

With a head full of information and what to do and what not to do, we headed off and had a kilojoule laden dinner at Denny’s before returning to the hotel to pack and prepared.

Tomorrow we ride ……..

Friday 22nd April 2011

After a good night’s sleep, we breakfasted at the hotel before wandering down town to try and find an adaptor for the laptop and to see any local bike shops. We visited a number of bike shops and I also bought a US cellphone for $9.99. There was no luck with the adaptor so went back to the hotel and started assembling the bikes. We took the bikes down to the ABB mechanic for final assembly and safety check. My helmet was failed despite having been in Patrick’s hand luggage. We wandered back up town but failed to see the bike shop we were looking for. Later that evening, we followed Mike from ABB to the bike shop where I bought a new helmet.

On the way back to the hotel, we tested the local cuisine of Taco Bell which filled the slot.

Thursday 21st April 2011

The journey had begun.

Patrick and I left Napier just after 6pm bound for Auckland. The AirNZ guy tried to charge Patrick $75 for his bike but after a brief review of the AirNZ web page, he agreed that my belief that there should be no charge was in fact correct. The flight to Auckland was uneventful and we proceeded to the AirNZ lounge to wait for the flight to LA. While the boarding pass said boarding at 8pm, this was way off we and boarded about 9pm. The plane was full but we had seats at the front of the cabin next to a door so had plenty of leg room.

Flying through the night and back into Thursday, we were aided by a tail wind and landed around 2.30pm local time. The plane was delayed on the taxi way by VIP traffic, presumably that of the USA President.

The immigration official was not overly excited when told I was planning to be in the USA for five weeks and had very little cash on me. However, we were soon fingerprinted and waved through.

Once out of the terminal, we looked for transport to the hotel. The airport help advised the only way was by bus to Disneyland then a transfer to John Wayne Airport and then the hotel shuttle bus. While waiting outside the terminal for the first bus, we saw a van marked “John Wayne Airport” so I asked him for a price. He said $40 each. I offered him $35 which he accepted. We loaded the bikes, jumped in and then he asked exactly where we were going. We said to the Ramada Inn at Costa Mesa and he said he could do that for a few extra dollars. Having seen his prominent sign that a 15% gratuity was not included in his price, I offered $40 each all inclusive to the hotel. He accepted this and we continued on our way. The hotel is about 45 miles from LAX and took about an hour so it seemed like a reasonable price, especially as the first bus was $25 each!

We checked in at the hotel o.k. and met a couple of the America by Bike (ABB) staff in the carpark.

Patrick chose pizza for dinner so we ate at the local pizza restaurant just around the corner from the hotel.

Where for art thou Jason? (USA map)

Where for art thou Jason? (hotels)