visit home, part 3

i did in fact do other stuff while visiting the folks, namely, i visited with the folks. but, just as my discovery a couple years ago that i could hike in the desert revitalized my interest in the area, now cycling has re-re-extra-vitalized it. i was tired on day 3 and by myself, hops having dismissed herself from cycling in the near future. i got out the door a little late but i got out the door.

when i arrived at dinah shore, i decided to take a left instead of the planned right turn toward indio, where i'd spent the previous two days. left would take me into palm springs, and hopefully put the wind at my back for the return trip. ha! i should know by now that that never works out.

on the way to palm springs i saw a group of 3 roadies and considered joining them to find the local routes and such. then i remembered who i was and kept on going. after a while, i saw a bike lane across a street, so i went to it. then, i saw signs indicating a city-encompassing bike route, so i got on that. it took me on a zig-zagging path through residential areas, inching closer and closer to mt. san jacinto, until... a hill! my first of the trip. a 7%-er for 100 feet or less. heh. less of a hill and more of a speed bump, not that i was going particularly fast, being tired and all. i dont think i had ever biked 3 days in a row, certainly not when day #1 was 50 miles.

over some tiny hills i went, and then saw that the bike path went in the direction opposite of my whimsy, which is to say, it went back into town when i wanted to head out toward the desert. so i ditched the signs and found myself on palm canyon heading toward the 10.

presently, at about the 12 mile mark (a nice warmup) i found myself at the stoplight at the bottom of the Tram road. Every year there's a run/walk up this road. Take a look at those times. Notice how slow they are? The tram road is legendarily tough. But I had just conquered King's Mountain Road in the bay area, and told everyone how flat the desert is. How hard could the tram road be, for a seasoned roadie like myself? (heh)

I didn't want to do it in my tired state, especially since i wanted to do more flats, as i wouldn't have flats to do back in the 650. but the tram road was a challenge, and it was calling to me, and i didn't know when i'd have another chance. so i hooked a left on 21 and lewis and said to the brothers come on, let's do this. well, i hooked a left, anyways.

the tram road is hard. it's no help that i was tired, but it was a big help that it was 92F, dry, sunny, and absofargenlutely gorgeous out. spectacular views of the desert in several directions. i was sweating joy out there.

the first thing i noticed was a discrepancy between my senses and my sensors. the road segments that looked flat were actually 7% grades. the things that looked like mild inclines were actually 12% grades. i crested over a short 12%-er and decided i'd coast down the hill to rest. well, i swear my front tire was lower than my rear, but i kept rolling to a stop. i looked at my dingus and it said i was on a 2% grade! wtf?! it sure looked like downhill to me. so i pedaled downhill to the next 12% hill.

i pushed myself onward and upward, climbing about 1500 feet in 3 miles. there were very nice elevation signs which proved that my dingus is miscalibrated. still, it gives a good indication of grade and elevation change, if not absolute elevation. when i got to the sign that said "turn off A/C, steep grade ahead" i had to laugh. if the steep grade was ahead, what was i on?

shortly after that sign was one that said "elevation: 2000 feet". i decided i'd take a rest here (violating my code of no resting for the second time in 3 days (third time if you count the first aid break)) and call the chef to find out the total elevation, and hence how close i was to the top. i could see the tram cables and did not see where they terminated - but closer examination of the skyline indicated that i was looking at phone lines, and hte tram cables terminated not far in front of me.

we decided that i was a mere 500-700 feet of climb from the top. by then i'd had a jolly good rest and decided i could hack it. i took off on a 13% graded start, remembering vividly how Bowdler had gashed his leg doing exactly that, and what had happened to hops the day before. after one injuryless false start i got going. after a couple hundred yards i reached a big WELCOME sign, the lower parking lots, and decided i'd save the rest of the climb for next time.

i turned around and enjoyed the most thrilling bike descent i've yet experienced. i hit 47mph and decided i should go a little slower. the road was super bumpy and by the time i got to the bottom my feet and hands were numb from the vibration. near the bottom, i passed another roadie on his way up (he was climbing out of the saddle -- i need to figure out why people do that, it would beat me for sure) and we shared grins. he was out there having as great a time as i was. neat!

i decided it was time for some more of those flats. i continued on 111 out toward the freeway. it turned out that this road was about a 2% climb the whole way, which was no problem after the leg burning tram road. i spun myself out to about a half mile from the freeway and decided i'd had enough. i dismounted, carried my bike over the center divide, and turned myself around.

that's when the headwind hit me. crap! i had 5 miles or so of headwinded flats to do to get back to town. sigh. actually, it wasn't flat, it was -2%, so that alleviated some of the wind frustration. i came to a bridge over a wash and stopped, dismounted. the was was full of sand dunes that flowed up into an unscarred mountain vista. it was some of the most scenic scenery i'd seen in the desert, and i took a moment to enjoy it.

i pedaled back into town, got a little lost looking for dinah shore, and ended up on 111 through palm springs/cathedral city. i had expected 111 to be harrowing and so had practiced city cycling on ECR. well, i tells you: 111 is nothing compared to ECR. no potholes, nice road, drivers (mostly) keep their distance. i made great time and arrived home (sprinting up 2 hills that used to give me trouble in my HS days) in time for a shower.

hops had had enough of working on her thesis so we went to the chef's local bike shop and showed off her stitches. 2 employees were appreciative, but the gay one nearly fainted. good times!