Sunday,
July 29. Indio, CA to Temecula, CA. 85 miles of riding in 6:07 hrs.
I’ve always
said that you should always expect the unexpected on a X country bike trip.
Trouble is that I tend to forget that important tenant far too often. Today was
a classic case of that. Went to bed last evening thinking that I’d have some
serious climbing to do to get across SanJacinto Mts and the Santa Rosa Mts, but
then I’d be out of the desert heat and in the cool mt air for some amazing high
country riding. NOPE!
First
I’m going to digress just a tad. We went to this little hole in the wall
restaurant last night called Frankie’s. The place is famous for sushi and fish.
Had reservations going in based on first impressions, but wow, what wonderful
experience for such a meager price. Did some sushi for apps. which were just
crazy good, and then got these main dishes that were awesome. I got a big bowl
of miso fish soup with chunks of fish tail, belly, cheeks and shrimp. Add some
mushrooms and Japanese veggies to that and it was out of this world. I damn
near licked the bowl at the end. Jude got a Mahi Mahi with like a Salsa Verde
on top. WOW. Great stuff. And I mean part of it was like: “well, I just have
this little jaunt over the mts and down to the sea. We’re there!”
And
I stayed up late, watched the Olympics and had a couple Fosters Oil cans – too
many. Just totally did everything I didn’t do for the past 2 months of pre-ride
evenings. And it bit me in the ass today!
Did the
breakfast buffet in our hotel this morning and I had two heaping plates of
eggs, sausage and sausage gravy. I took off at 7 AM, in the desert city of
Indio thinking that I’d be up in the mts in 3 hrs max and enjoy the cool mt
air. So my pace was relaxed and my attitude was relaxed. Jude stayed around the
hotel to watch some morning Olympics. The ride down Rt 111 from Indio through
Indian Wells and Palm Desert was pretty spectacular what with all the massive
palm trees lining the road coupled with the amazing homes, haciendas and hotels
along the way. The places just reeked of money, money, money. But it was quite
beautiful to ride through. Now that riding was mellow, with it being a Sunday
morning the traffic was very light. Temp was in the mid 80’s so that was not
biggie. But once I got to Palm Desert and jcn with Rt 74, my world changed.
Now
I knew that Rt 74 was about 26 miles of climbing, but as soon as I made the
turn off of Rt 111 onto 74, the climbing was right in my face. That road ramped
up out of the valley for a good 4 miles at 6-7%. Jude was waiting for me at
this trailhead area where the road really ramped up into the heavens. I knocked
down a quart of ice water and a Powerade. Having just done that 4 miles of climbing,
I was totally soaked in sweat. I mean I was literally dripping. My jersey top
was completely saturated. That was a freaking wake up call! And when I looked
to the south up that climb it was just totally crazy, looking like it switched
back and forth a gazillion times. So I toweled off my face and neck and got it
rolling.
On
the good side I was able to do this whole climb in the middle ring. I just kept
a good rhythm and spun it out in a high cadence with occasional sessions of out
of the saddle. About 15 min into the climb a tri guy passed me just cranking
it. Dude had the whole magilla going – awesome carbon bike, shaved legs, great
pedal stroke. I didn’t even attempt to go with this guy. I was like, “ah, nope
I think I’m pretty comfy here and I have no idea how damn far I have to climb
like this. Have a good ride dude!” And on the good side of this story was the
fact that the dude only rode for another 15 min, took some shots at the
pull-off of a switchback, and then headed back down. So my little roadie ego
felt totally vindicated! Jude waited for me at about 6 miles in, and I did that
stretch at about 7 mph. What I had covered at that point was only half of the
really gnarly part of this thing, that according to a lady Jude was talking to
at the pull-off. Matter of fact this climb was so in your face that there was a
sign warning drivers not to use AC when doing the mt climb due to engine
overheating issues.
So
I did another 64 oz of liquids, and I was just guzzling the stuff, and then
whipped out again for more. Now for the bad side…zero berm on this climb, and I
do mean zero. I felt like I was just a moving target for any dipshit who wasn’t
paying attention to the road, especially on these blind curves – which were at
nearly every switchback. I was even scared to get out of the saddle for fear of
being too high in the air and getting clipped by the rear view mirror of a
pick-up truck or camper. But I had to do the OTS stuff just to give my quad
muscles a break and work on the hammies a bit. After 3700 miles of cycling this
stretch was just wigging the hell out of me. Not the climbing aspect, I love to
climb, but having just no berm at all and having all these crazy weekenders out
there driving up and down the mt and just whizzing past me within inches
sometimes. It’s too bad to, because the sights and the scenery was just
wonderful, looking way the heck back down into the valley where Palm Springs
and Palm Desert are located. It was just to stressful to enjoy the climb.
Got
up the second section of the really steep, gnarly stuff to meet up with Jude
again and guzzled another 64 oz of liquids. Once past Pinyon Pines the road got
a bit straighter without the switchbacks, but it still continued to climb, all
the way to the jcn with Rt 371 and Santa Rosa Summit, at 4900 feet. So from
Indio, which is 14 feet below sea level, I’d climbed nearly 5K in 26 miles of
riding. That was a bloody grunt for sure, especially with all the weekend
traffic just flowing up and down that mt. And as for my preconceived notion of
enjoying the nice cool mt air up there…NOT. It was still semi-arid and hot. Now
not nearly as hot as it was down in Indio, but it was still a solid 85+
degrees. And the trees were not all that big up there. Hell, there was still
cactus and desert vegetation up there at 4900 feet. Made the turn onto Rt 371
and began descending like a bandit. And I was thinking to myself that I was not
too into descending because that could just mean that I’d be right back to
climbing again to regain all the elevation. But that descent knocked off a
solid 1K of elevation and took me into the town of Anza.
And
again, so much for my notion of a nice, cool mt environment. Nope, this was
semi-arid and hot, about 90 degrees. Met Jude at a DQ and did another 64 oz of
liquids. Thank God I had the foresight to really buy a lot of Gatorade and
stock a lot of ice water bottles for today. I hadn’t figured on that kind of
heat today at all. By then my thoughts of maybe making it all the way to the
coast today, that was burst like a soap bubble. No bloody way was I going to
make it much further based on the climbing and the heat. So the ride on Rt 371
was on yet another totally bermless road – a good road mind you, but no berm
and a ton of weekend traffic. I’d figured out by this time that this is a prime
cut-over route for people coming from San Diego and LA to get to Palm Springs
and the desert valley area. They get on I-15 and then take 79 to 371 to 74 and
into the valley. Most people were coming back from their weekend in the valley
and heading to I-15. I was the little bunny rabbit on the road that everyone
was trying not to hit in their mad rush to get home.
Most
of 371 was a descent, and that 20-mile section went pretty fast. At the bottom
of 371 and the jcn of 79 I did yet another 64 oz of water – and I’d only pee’d
once up to that point! And hit it on Rt 79, hoping against all hopes that I’d
have berm. NOPE. Again, not but this sliver of 6 inches of berm to speak of,
and the traffic was just like rush hour, with lines and lines of vehicles
passing me. At least there was a rumble strip in the center so I could hear
them coming at me. It was totally nerve wracking, really, and I’m not one who
gets rattled much by traffic. These SoCal people drive like they’re race car
drivers for God’s sake. I mean they’re flying around blind turns, passing on
dbl yellows, and just screaming up and down the rollers. That up and down,
rolling section of Rt 79 just put me in a survival mode – and a religious one I
might add – to try to get the hell off of that road asap.
In
this whole trip that was the most nerve racking day of riding I’ve had. Made it
into the city of Temecula and it was as if I was arriving at the height of rush
hour. The place was a mad house right on the edge of I-15. Crazy place. Jude
had gone ahead of me and got so tied up in the traffic that I had to wait about
15 min for her to make it back to me. I was never so happy as when I loaded
that bike and the van and escaped all that traffic. What a mad house indeed. We
got a motel asap and then went straight to eat, finding an Indian restaurant
that was offering a Sunday buffet – it was jut super. Got some beer – WAY more
than I need but after today I just may tap into the reserves! The temp here is
87 degrees, which is a far sight from the 111 back in Indio yesterday. I’ll
take it. Did the motel pool for a half hour and here we sit watching the
Olympics.
Tomorrow
I’ll finish in Oceanside or Carlsbad, whichever is the Least trafficked route!
I think we only have about 30-45 miles to go to the coast. Then it’s time to
kick back and celebrate. So that’s it for today…..Pete
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