Data: 119.7 miles Riding time 6:35 (18.1 mph avg)
Another great day! Since we were on Interstate 10 so much of the time, the real highlight was a 20-mile ride up Box Canyon from just north of Salton Sea up to Hwy 10. My map even designates it as a "scenic route", and it was! The rock formations were incredible.
Here we are riding in a pace line not long after we began, near Indio. I am the fifth rider in line. At the beginning of the day we are mostly together, but as the day goes on, and the hills arrive, the group spreads out. Notice how three of the riders are pointing to their right; this is a common occurrence when riding in a line to point out dangers in the road to those behind, and the pointing ripples back through the group.
Here's another shot of the pace line as we were in cactus country, before hitting the climb through Box Canyon.
Box Canyon was the only uphill today, although the entire 20 miles was uphill -- just not too steep (in my opinion. Some thought it was). Here's a few of us headed into the canyon. I'm the one at the back.
Farther up the canyon I have pulled away. I was one of the stronger hill climbers today.
After we reached Interstate 10 and headed east, we had our lunch stop. Barbara Munk, wife of tour leader Mike Munk, lays out the fixins on tables and we make our own sandwiches and grab our grub. We then put a few bars and bananas in our jersey pockets to eat later. I also have my own Power Bars and Power Gels to use.
The rest of today's ride was with a cross wind or tailwind, gradually downhill to the Colorado River, so we went fast. Seeing the desert scenery was not too special for me since I've seen it my entire life, but I took a fresh appreciation when the riders from Germany and Netherlands and UK all remarked how spectacular it was. Here's a photo of Jerry Christiansen and me riding along the interstate.
At the Chiriaco Summitt on Interstate 10 there was a General George Patton Museum. Nothing around there except this museum, with a huge statue of him and about 10 WWII tanks outside. It turns out he trained his Army Tank Corp nearby there in 1942 prior to going to North Africa. Here's the statue with a couple of our group in front.
The tour leader warned us about all the tire-puncture hazards when riding on the interstate (like the steel wire fragments from blown steel-belted tires), so it'll be interesting to see how many flat tires we had today (knock on wood, I still didn't get one). This morning, we took a count and 8 people had flats yesterday, and one guy had four! I decided not to draft while riding on the interstate, so I could have clear sight in front of me. It actually was not as bad out there as he said. Speaking of drafting, so far I haven't drafted much -- maybe 40 miles of the 240 we've done. I just feel more comfortable riding alone or pulling others. That could change, though!
I hope I sleep better tonight. Sunday night and last night I just kept waking up and not being able to go back to sleep. I think I know the answer: BEER. I went without for the previous two days, and I'm not used to that. I remedied that tonight! As you can see in the photo above, Jerry's jersey was Leinenkugel Beer, and another rider's jersey (Logan's) had a picture of a cold glass of beer and it said "It's why I ride". Then it hit me what's been wrong with me. My coach and the tour leaders always warn us to eat and drink what we're familiar with, so tonight I got on the ball and followed direction!
I've still had Bob Papineau as my roommate. He and I both signed up for triples, and we're eventually supposed to get two different roommates each, but for the third night it's just the two of us! We hope it continues!
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