Tour De Palm Springs Ride Report

February 14th, Valentine's Day, turned out to be a perfect day to ride in the Palm Springs area. Several of the group met at 4:30 a.m. and headed out to the area hoping for some clear weather and good temps. We had both. Several of us had to register that morn and so 8 of us, Tall Mike, Short Mike, Butch, Dan Maidment, Rosalie, Bonnie and Jim Dover, set out around 7:20 for the 100 mile ride. The temperature starting out was about 44 degrees but the first 15 - 20 miles the winds were so bad, I was thinking that the 55 mile route sounded pretty darn good. But by 20 miles, the winds had died down, the sun was out and the hills were topped with snow and they seemed to almost surround us.

The first rest stop was so jammed we all got a bit separated and I ended up riding alone until "Tall Mike" and "Tandem Mike," also known as "Short Mike" caught up with me. They pulled me along and we had some great downhills where I hit my record speed. (I've been advised by Short Mike not to reveal that because it's not all that fast) I've never seen so many flats so early in a ride before. There were a ton! The 3 of us rolled into the lunch stop at about 52 miles and soon after, Butch came in and then Dan. We ran into Leah and Joe as we were leaving the lunch stop and they said they would catch up with us. Ha! No way! We rode like the wind. Well, Dan was bent on, oh never mind. Some excitement for me was when we were in a long paceline and someone hit the brakes and Tall Mike swirved and Butch hit my back tire. But good Ol' Butch! He stayed upright this time! Good job, Butch! We ran into some friends of mine and Short Mike's from the forum and they took some pics which will be posted on the website soon.

The ten of us went to an English pub in the downtown area and had dinner afterwards. The roads were rough, the food was fair, the company was great. It was alot of fun and a great ride in Palm Springs! Thanks again, guys, for pulling me along.