Several of our riders participated in this past weekend's 2011 Tour de Palm Springs on Saturday, February 12th in preparation for the upcoming RAAM event in June. The Tour de Palm Springs hosted almost 10,000 riders and raised over $180,000 for local desert charities. It consisted of a 10 mile, 50 mile, 65 mile and 104 mile routes. Rick Nichols and his wife, Cheralyn rode the 65 mile ride while Tony Wilcox and his wife Celeste rode the 104 mile route. Rick and Cheralyn completed the ride in about 3 1/2 hours while Tony and Celeste spent over 8 hours on the bikes to complete the Century course.
Weather was warm and sunny with a mild breeze all morning long which contributed to dehydration and sun/wind burn for the riders on the longer routes. There were also multiple cyclist crashes; some minor, some not so minor requiring ambulance trips to the hospital. Rider hazards included rough roads, pot holes, tangles with other riders, traffic and simple weariness. With almost 10,000 riders, there are bound to be some accidents - hopefully no one was hurt seriously, although we did hear reports of several broken collar bones and stitches.
The 65 and 104 mile course routes converged for most of the tour, starting from downtown Palm Springs near the Spa Hotel and Casino and traveling north out towards the windmills along the 1-10, then back down most of the valley. The 65 mile course veered off and returned towards Palm Springs somewhere out near Indio, while the 104 mile route continued on out to the city of Coachella, before turning around and heading back to the west. Overall, a great day to be on a bike a certainly great training for the 2011 RAAM.
