Pines to Palms: 78 km through the high desert on 31 December.. or how to make sure you don't stay awake until midnight on New Year's Eve
Pines to Palms: 78 km through the high desert on 31 December.. or how to make sure you don't stay awake until midnight on New Year's Eve
Pam and the boys dropped me off on California Highway 74, just outside of Hemet for the climb up to the summit above Mountain Center, in the high desert of South California.
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The climb was classic.. switchbacks from the desert up into the pine forests:
Even Google Earth doesn't do it justice for the sheer starkness of the mountains here, dry as a bone but stil very colorful and alive. The perfect place to climb in winter, when the temperatures were reasonable. In July and August, this place can be 48 degrees, but on this lovely mid-day, it was 19 and dropped to about 16 at the top of the climb across the high desert valley filled with pine trees.
The drop down the other side was one of the all time great technical descents in cycling:
Just at the bottom of the descent, I pulled into a turnout to let some cars pass me. My strategy is always to take an entire lane on a fast downhill like this, because you never know what is going to be in the road and if you stay over to the right, some idiot is going to think that maybe he can squeeze his car between you and the huge truck climbing up the mountain grade. So, when I pulled into the turnout there was a rock that I hit going about 45 km per hour that pinch-flatted my front tire.
I called Pam to let her know that I had flatted and reset my Garmin, but I quickly ripped out the bad tube, put in the new one, pumped the tire up to about 60 psi, started the Garmin again and did the rest of the descent to meet up with Pam and the boys at the Denny's in Palm Desert. From there I decided that it was going to be more fun to finish the ride to the Westin Rancho Mirage Resort.
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Well, in my list of favorite rides, I have listed cols and rides to wineries.. but I think that combining a ride over a big col and ending up in a desert oasis resort is also a fav for sure. Hot tub, cold beer and my boys were in the pool having a great time when I arrived. Pam was talking environmental politics with people who she had met while lifeguading our tadpoles and the dry cold chill of the desert in winter arrived as the sun set. Spectacular day!!
