Indio to Blythe - Life as a Staff Member

Today was day 1 of the desert crossing.  It seems like yesterday was a desert crossing but it was not.  As I said in last night's blog, I decided that riding the desert was not for me today.  So I "signed up" to be a staff member for the day.  It really did give me more of an appreciation for the work it takes to make the tour a success.  Tracy and her team work really, really hard to make the ride safe and fun for the riders.  A lot of thought and effort went in to keeping the riders on the road hydrated and cooled down whenever possible.  A lot of the riders chose to ride only a portion of the day.  So they were bumped to the first SAG and sent on their way.  Others made the smart choice to call it a day before they got in serious trouble.  And some of the riders made it the entire way.  It was not easy in that heat and in the wind.

I remember the desert as being pretty when I came across in 2010.  I must be remembering the sights further on down the road.  Because there was not much about today that was pretty. 

There is a father and daughter from England on the trip.  (Actually there are two of them.)  The photo above is of Becky and Roger.  She is really a lot of fun.  She gets excited about everything and it is interesting to see our country from her eyes.  We have one recumbent rider on the trip, Chris.  He has the sleekest looking recumbent I have ever seen.  It almost looks like a high performance motorcycle.  He is super fast on it and seems to have no problem climbing either.  The final photo is of Robin and I in our stylish hats waiting for the riders on the side of the road. 

Tomorrow I will be back on the road for about 2/3 of the day.  I don't think I can ride 116 miles in this heat so will take a bump to the first sag.  Everyone is looking forward to cooler temps as we head to Prescott in two days.  The high there is predicted to be 77 degrees.  It will feel like it is freezing.