Desert ride

Nice! What's the temperature?

Sweet! I'm going to come off as ignorant here, but I never lived in a desert-y environment so I don't know how that works. Is the ground flat the entire way or are there hills?

temps in th 60°s days
had 2 rain days, cool ,
mid 40s at night

Have a mix of level & hills
can find about any ride type you like

That's cool. What's the ratio of level and hills? Is it level for miles on end or do you run into a hill often?

Very nice picture and love the colour scheme of your bike. Is it on a stand or propped up against something, I can't properly see?

How is the humidity in that desert environment?

http://ridewithgps.com/routes/11646465/elevation_profile
link to the Tour de Palm springs 100 mile ride

Humidity since I got here in the 70%+ range
+ 2 days of hard rain, el nino effect.
Humidity higher in the winter

Using pedal on back side
on a sand berm to hold the bike up

50 & 25 mile routes are pretty flat
routes here:
http://www.tourdepalmsprings.com/event-info/routes/

Flatbardave said:

http://ridewithgps.com/routes/11646465/elevation_profile
link to the Tour de Palm springs 100 mile ride

Humidity since I got here in the 70%+ range
+ 2 days of hard rain, el nino effect.
Humidity higher in the winter

Using pedal on back side
on a sand berm to hold the bike up

Many thanks for the info 🙂

Weather link :
http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lat=33.8200183&lon=-116.39028869999999&site=all&smap=1&searchresult=Thousand%20Palms%2C%20CA%2C%20USA#.VpEeppQ76rU

Hope to ride thru the windmills today

That's awesome! I love the picture, thanks for sharing!

did 44 mi tody thru the windmills
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Hope you never forget carrying your water bottle on such rides. You also need motivation by riding in groups. I have never tried riding through a desert but I know that it is a wonderful experience. Did you ride through the sand or on tarmac?

Flatbardave said:

did 44 mi tody thru the windmills

Damn. That thing fell so hard that it buried a blade!

9lines said:

Hope you never forget carrying your water bottle on such rides. You also need motivation by riding in groups. I have never tried riding through a desert but I know that it is a wonderful experience. Did you ride through the sand or on tarmac?

installed th 2nd bottle cage for here, not bad since I got here but anytime over 30 miles , 2 bottles of water is a good idea when above 60°
I didn't eat enough, next time more snacks !

Roads: Varner, 20th & Dillon
Part of 20th was dirt, but solid, part of Varner is pretty poor asphalt & very bumpy. The dirts part of 20th was better than the bumps on Varner

Brooks saddle starting to get more comfortable.

CAMPYBOB said:

Damn. That thing fell so hard that it buried a blade!

Angel wings for the Sirrus :-)

Older model, several used around that fenced area as landscaping art.

Lots of them not operational. There is a bone yard for older model & lots of new upgrade models being installed. Huge machines
Saw some way off , that have like a fan cage around them to lessen bird kills,
smaller units, but probably start being more in the future

Made it back for a bit
Got in a few rides,
Feels great to ride in 70° temps
Hope to ride the 50 mi tour de Palm Springs

When I did that ride in the early 80's the wind turbines weren't around yet.

Flatbardave said:

rode 32 miles , (16 up & 16 back down) part of the route for the 100 mile tour de Plam springs
Ramon/thousand palms canyon rd:
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Hi. I'm just curious what kind of tires did you used on your ride?
Isn't it the dust of the desert made the roads slippery and hard to manage?

JB Fernandez said:

Hi. I'm just curious what kind of tires did you used on your ride?
Isn't it the dust of the desert made the roads slippery and hard to manage?

Sand that blows onto roads does not make the roads slippery, the only issue that could arise is sometimes the sand may pile up a bit thick in spots along the side of the road and could slow your bike down a bit. I don't recall the tires I used when I did the ride but they were whatever tires I had on all the time at the time. Flatbardave might know what his tires were, but they don't have to be anything special.

Depending if the tour 100 changed it's route since I rode it may or may not take you over roads with goatheads, I didn't have any issues with that when I did the ride but I heard they ran the route with street sweepers the day before. Whatever tire I was using I put in Mr Tuffy liners, but I'm not sure if I needed them. When I use to live in Palmdale and Lancaster area I averaged about 10 flats a week due to goatheads, I had to keep making adjustments to my tires before I finally made the switch to Specialized Armadillo All Condition tires and never had a flat again.