Ride Report

 Joshua and I successfully completed the 56 mile Tour de Palm on Valentine's day.  I was really impressed that Joshua managed it, as he has never done anything more than 25 miles, and that only once.  I, at least, had a 40 mile ride under my belt, and routinely do 24-25 miles.  At that, I'll admit to a great deal of satisfaction that I was able to complete this.  More on why towards the end of the report.

The weather for the ride was probably as good as you could ever want.  The morning started out quite cold - down around 48 or so, but  never warmed up much past 65.

The ride started out in downtown Palm Springs.  An estimated 10,000 riders attended for the entire event.  I don't know what percentage set out on the 56 mile event, but I think it was a rather large percentage given the number of people at the start.

We were sent off in small waves, so it probably took about 15 minutes for the Joshua and I to get going.  Once going we were directed around the corner by one of the many police officers helping out with the ride.

Of course, in keeping with Murphy's Law, once we turned the corner and started cranking we immediately hit a red light.  Oh well.  Right after that, the ride went into full swing.  With the storms that had visited Southern California this year, and the overall cold weather, the scenery was gorgeous, with snow capped mountains/foothills everywhere.

Joshua, as I noted, really had to work hard at this,

 and work hard he did.

The ride took us through several communities, including 1000 Palms and Rancho Mirage.  It also afforded us an opportunity to travel along the southern edge of Joshua Tree national monument, and around the vast windmill farms in that area.

The ride was well supported, with vans and motorcycles traveling the route to assist cyclists with mechanical problems.  There were also 3 SAG (Support and Gear, I believe) stops along the way with additional mechanical support.  They were located at 19, 33, and 45 miles in.  These spots also provided water and some carbs for the first two stops.  The problem with water being that it lacks the electrolytes you really need, but we had packed plenty of gatorade and powder, as well as power bars, so that water was a nice supplement.  The opportunity to rest a bit was even more welcome.

Especially with the hard riding going on.

The last stop had some sandwiches, but they were clearly not expecting the numbers as all of the meat sandwiches were gone by the time we pulled in (of course, we weren't riding very fast.  We averaged 11.8 mph for the ride, which for me is quite good, but more serious riders were probably in the high teens), and even the PB&J were running out.  Fortunately, they did have bananas.  At the beginning of the ride, I was offered a banana but figured I was good with the supplies I had.  My mistake.  By mile 40, I was starting to battle muscle cramps, likely from the blood pressure meds I'm on.  A few miles after the last SAG, the banana started to kick in and it was welcome.  I'll remember that the next trip out.

The ride continued with more beautiful scenery as we headed back into town.

However, scenery aside, we were glad when the finish line was approaching.

This ride was really a great opportunity.  It raises quite a bit of money for charities in the Coachella Valley, and we attempted to raise some funds for the Osteogenesis Imperfecta Foundation - with very limited success - but a good try.  In some ways for us the greatest thing was to attempt something beyond what we had ever accomplished before.  Joshua had never ridden even half this distance, and I had never ridden so hard for such a distance.  I'm now looking forward to the next challenge.