The wheels are rolling

Yesterday was the official start of the tour, but it was a day of orientation and meeting the other participants and the staff who will accompany us. CrossRoads Cycling Adventures has done this tour for several years and is very organized, as you would to need be to assist 14 or 15 bikers across the continent. There are 2 riders who are each doing 1/3 of the ride, one with us now from LA to Albuquerque, NM, and another joining us from St. Joseph, MO to Boston. It is a great group, everyone is very friendly, and the staff is great.

After a 5:45 breakfast we had our bikes ready and bags loaded in the truck for transport to Riverside,CA where we stay tonight.  It is Mothers Day and we applauded all the mothers present, and I want to wish a very happy Mothers Day to any mothers reading this.

At 7:00 bikes were rolling and we made our way 5 miles to Manhattan Beach for the ceremonial dipping of our rear tires in the Pacific, with the plan to dip our front tires in the Atlantic at Revere Beach in Boston on June 28.

The CrossRoads vehicles ran interference for us at key intersections as we mad our way through and eventually out of LA.monitored our progress.  After 42 miles we hit a very nice bike path with views of the mountains and the Green (?) River for about 15 miles.  The day had started out overcast with temperatures in the low 60's, but within a couple hours the sun was out and the temperature hit 80 by rides end.

Bikers grouped and regrouped as we travelled along.  I had lunch with another biker at a taqueria in Corona, CA. It was not mandatory to habla Espanol, but it was useful.  Unfortunately, my one year of college Spanish was roughly 45 years ago, so I asked questions, but ended up adding some mystery sauces to my tacos.  Very tasty and no ill effects.

After an 80 mile day everyone has retired to their rooms immediately after dinner for rest and prep for tomorrow's ride which will be longer and hotter:  100 in Palm Springs and 99 in Indio, CA.  We do have an 8 mile climb earlier in the day, but we are passing a wind farm/wind turbines where very significant tailwinds are common, one of the staff reported a year where there was a headwind which he described as tougher than any hill he's ever climbed.  Hoping for a tailwind.

On that note, I better sign off