madmaxone

Just picked up my jersey and wristband. Seems very organized, lots of vendor tents and people taking over the downtown area. Can't wait for tomorrow.

Propofol

So, how did y'all do?

They made some last minute changes in the 56 mile course, so it turned out to be a little under 63 miles. Nice of them to tell everyone - I ran out of water after 56 miles and was dying.

Overall it was a fun but grueling ride. The first 10 miles were full of 25mph headwinds and crosswinds. Downhills with a tailwind were fun though.

bernmart

Awful crosswinds/headwinds, especially in the morning. Worst I've ever had to cope with; my arms still ache from fighting to keep the bike up and straight. Some interesting changes in the century route, which I rode, and mostly good ones. But signage remains poor, and the route slip was in so small a font size that it was unreadable unless you stopped the bike. So easy to print the route slip in double columns--why didn't they do it? Food mediocre. Wonderful volunteers, especially teenagers. I'll probably ride it again next year, though I can't explain why.

DM5

Yup, the wind made the first 10 miles feel like 30. My riding partner got thrown off balance and I definitely saw others struggling with the crosswinds.

The first decline with a tailwind was rejuvenating though - and on a freshly paved road! Hit 50mph for the first time, and without much effort.

I thought the rest of the ride was fairly pleasant with some pockets of wind but nothing like the beginning. This was my first organized ride and overall I enjoyed it. The volunteers were fantastic, it was nice to chat with a few of them.

Feeling great...6 months ago I rode 10 miles on a road bike for the first time, yesterday I rode a metric century.

bernmart

Wow! Congratulations!

Cog_Zombie

Overall the course was great, too bad about the high winds but that is mother nature. My girlfriend and I encountered the high winds about 7 am at the windmills. It was soo bad riders were being thrown off there bikes. My girlfriend bike look like it was sailing in the wind when she was holding it by one hand and covering her face. I've been in bad pretty strong winds in the service those winds were over 70 miles an hour. There were so many riders down.

Overall the course was well marked you really didn't need the map, never used it. The food was excellent, no complaints they did a great job at the selection for the cost of the event. We really like the volunteers, especially the human bike holders. I wouldn't mind doing this event again but the winds are still fresh in my memory. The band at one of the rest stops was great, it reminded me of a Grand Fondo event. I even bent my derailleur and KHS fixed it at one of the rest stops.

rdtompki

+1. They could easily improve the route sheet and course markings. It wouldn't have hurt to print out updated route sheets for the 56/63 mile ride or post a new course description at the registration so we could update the mileage. The cross winds on the tandem were brutal with all the sail area we have, but the downhill, even with our large chain ring out of commission, were a treat. I glad we skipped the 100 mi (we did it last year) with as hard as we worked for the first hour. Who would have thought we'd use our 24t chain ring on a 2% grade.

Desertrats97

Yes the wind was horrible but its like any other ride. Sun, wind, snow or rain. Great day. Im from here so im used to riding in the wind.
I did saw a few people get thrown of their bikes. But most of those were i Mt bikes or cruzers. I rode on a pack most of the way. And one of the postings below is right i hit about 45mph it was great. it was like a huge climb with a great downhill. Everybody was on fire with the wind on our backs.

I will ride again next year.

madmaxone

The first 10 miles were tough in the wind and blowing sand. The last 90 miles were easy, but the route could have been marked better. The SAG stops were packed with food, drinks and helpful volunteers. I'm definitely going back next year.

pgjackson

First 10 miles were probably the toughest 10 miles I've ever ridden. It was just like an Iraqi sandstorm except the sky didn't turn orange. People literally being blown off the road. Exposed skin blasted by sand. Had to of been at least 50mph winds. Then the next 50 miles were glorious as we had the wind at our backs. Then the remaining 40 miles were straight into the headwind again. Nearly impossible to maintain anything over 15mph. That HS band at the 70 stop was off the hook!

The first couple of minutes of this video gives you an idea of the wind (no my video by the way).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mr3BKUA9_3s

jeepseahawk

I had a blast except the first 10-20 miles uphill with a gail sandstorm, it had most of us sideways. Besides the sandstorm nothing to report negatively, easy sailing, 3000 ft elevation gain. Once we started down hill the wind was in our backs, got to 47 mph at one point, trying to catch up with my group because I am a clyde and this clyde sucks going up hill. I did pretty well for my second century, 1st one took me total of 11 and half hours elapsed time, this one was 7 hours 45 minutes with a 15.6 average and 6 and half hour ride time. Here is my garmin report below. I lost one of my water bottles in that wind, blew right out of my hand twice, first time I retrieved, second time it gave up the ghost.

https://connect.garmin.com/activity/148887999

Desertrats97

That Video just about sums it up. Great ride, Lots of helpers. Nice. Tons of riders.

Propofol

I felt the exact same way. On one hand, I thought it was cool to ride a metric century (my first as well). On the other, the organizers not telling us the course distance was increased really threw off my hydration strategy. Around mile #59 I kept asking my riding partner "does this ****ing course end?"

There were also some pretty significant crashes near the finish. There was one middle-aged guy lying face down and motionless in the middle of the road at Dinah Shore and Date Palm, around mile 61 - when paramedics turned him over I saw his face covered with blood. Behind him around a half mile back was a crash involving 3 riders. Palm Springs PD and FD showed up fairly quickly for both incidents.

I just got home (Los Angeles). There was a huge cluster**** on the westbound I-10 at Banning that turned the freeway into a parking lot from noon until after 8PM. Apparently some very large potholes opened up in the road that were damaging vehicles, so the 4 lane freeway was closed down to 1 lane. Traffic was backed up for more than 50 miles. It took us 4 hours to get from Palm Springs to Cabazon, which was only about 15 miles away.

Overall it was a fun ride and I will definitely consider doing it again next year. I don't think I could handle a century with winds like that, though.

pgjackson

That traffic was ridiculous on the 10! Never seen a major Interstate purposely necked-down to one lane like that (and that construction looks like it's going to take a while to complete). You and I must have come across the finish line about the same time. Two big wipeouts within about a mile of the finish line. Wonder if they were trying to "race" to the line and lost control. Overall I thought this year was a lot more organized than last year...especially the start.

Onixus

I did the 25mi ride and we had a great time! It was all fun and enjoyable except for the head winds! they were absolutely crazy!
for those of you travelling up there from San Diego, I recommend that on the way back you take the 74 from Palm Desert. It's a narrow highway but very efficient through the mountains without traffic.
See you guys there next year!