Oceanside to 29 Palms (cycle day 1)

A quick spin down to the pier at Oceanside to meet Tim who completed an unaided C2C recently in 35 days and some photos and we set off at 8am on the dot.

6 miles as a foursome just to get rid of some nerves and then Seren and Richard did the rest of the first leg.

The bear and I took over after about 20 miles and took a slight detour while looking for the turning for Rainbow Canyon. (its very different cycling on roads you don't know it not like cycling around Carmarthen and Pembs). We find the canyon and start climbing fairly steeply in rising temps.

Rich and Poppy (Seren) take over for their second stint and we get in the van.

Fortunately for The bear (Andy) and I there's an accident on our next stnt and we take a detour up and over some more mountains and in blistering temps (over 30c and we haven't hit the desert yet).

Our next leg take us through a very busy Palm Springs cycling along with 6 lanes of traffic and traffic light junctions every 200m. stop start all the way. the final couple of miles are a killer in strong crosswinds. We pass a wind farm on the outskirts of Palm Springs which has what looks like a couple of thousand turbines and are thankful to see the motorhome up ahead as Andy has bad cramps and I knackered. The thought of another leg today and 14 more days of this is filling my head and I have to kep telling myself its just another ride try to enjoy it.

The Bear and I last leg is a good one I feel strong we have the wind with us and its a fairly flat run through Joshua tree and on to The Harmony motel in 29 Palms. Stoney has joined us for the last leg to christen his new steed and on arrival at our dig we find that we're there before anybody else so we all strip off to our shorts and dive in to the pool and then the jacuzzi to wash our kit. The others arrive and we're advised that we're not staying at this place now but the Best Western a quarter mile further down the road. cold wet kit goes back on and we're back on the bikes down to the hotel where we once again all pile in to the pool.

Pizza's for dinner and then we hit the hay to get some sleep and dream of tomorrow.

Phil