Tour de Palm Springs

Saturday we did the Tour de Palm Springs, with a time of 5 hours and 15 minutes.

From the start, the ride heads North, and then Southeast. The second half of the ride restu. Dillon Road was a series of little rollers and then a long, smooth descent where we found ourselves cruising at 27-29 miles an hour, and hitting 40 when we put in some effort. I'd been told that the ride is typically windy, but yesterday it was calm and warm, with a high of 80 degrees.

I was with a group of 7 guys from PAA and the Rose Bowl, and we ended up were working a pretty effective pace line from mile 50 to 70 or so. We ended up collecting a small peloton behind us, and it was a good feeling to hear them thanking and cheering us as we all turned into the 70 mile SAG stop.

Alan's Tuesday Night 'Emerald Isle' Ride

Emerald Isle. 7/10ths of a mile that averages a 16% grade. This is Alan's baby as I know it, and the fact that he can do this regularly (easily?) leaves no doubt in my mind as to why he can go and do the Simi Valley Ride and keep up with the top amateur racers. I started doing this with him (imitation being the sincerest form of flattery) and finally figured I should share the route.

Here's the ride in a nutshell:

The warm-up and initial climb is from the rose bowl (point A) to the top of Flintridge Sacred Heart (point D) via Inverness (Winding section C). Then we descend to the bottom of Emerald Isle (point E), kill ourselves going to the top (point F) and spin and recover along the ridge (to point G). Then a long descent to Linda Vista (point H), and a climb back up to Lida (point I). From Lida Back to the Bowl/ end of the ride is one long descent.


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Wednesday Night Lebansky Ride

On Wednesday nights, I've been riding the Lebansky ride with Alan. Its a nice route through Pasadena, San Marino, and La Cañada. The ride is mostly a tempo "conversational" pace, but there are a few sprint sections (near points 'E', 'K', and Lake Ave) and one hard grind (up Linda Vista from point 'F' to the 210).

The ride typically runs from 6:00 sharp to 7:15-7:30. Afterwards, we sometimes go have a beer at a nearby dive bar before separating and heading home.

Here is the route:

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Cyclocross @ Sante Fe Dam

Saturday I overslept and missed my traditional saturday morning ride. As I nursed my 2nd cup of coffee and tried to figure out what to do, my sister was telling me about where she rides horses: The Santa Fe Dam. She showed me on google maps where she likes to go with her horses, and I blatantly stole her route to do on my bike. You can see the route here.

It was massively fun. It turns out that there is a settling pond that had two-foot-tall grass that you could ride through; its incredible to be riding along with your feet disappearing into the grass and no idea what is in front of you. Another settling pond had been converted into very small motorcross course, complete with jumps and banked turns. The recent rains ensured that the course was slippery and muddy, and so riding the course meant having wheels randomly sliding around in two-inch mud. Naturally, by the time I got home I was caked in mud.

Can't wait to do it again!