Lon's Route Description
We depart the Pacific Ocean and begin climbing the first 50 miles. After crossing four mountain passes from 3,000 to 4,000 feet elevation we drop back down to sea level near the 100 mile mark. The desert will be 110 degrees at this time of year. The climbing today is almost 7,500 feet. With all the climbing and desert heat this day is a tough introduction to the Elite Tour.
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We depart the Pacific Ocean and begin climbing the first 50 miles. After crossing four mountain passes from 3,000 to 4,000 feet elevation we drop back down to sea level near the 100 mile mark. The desert will be 110 degrees at this time of year. The climbing today is almost 7,500 feet. With all the climbing and desert heat this day is a tough introduction to the Elite Tour.
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San Diego Forecast
El Centro Forecast
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Elite Tour
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Tom Rosenbauer
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Elite Tour
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Contact
Tom Rosenbauer
Ride Statistics
As you can see from the profile above, we had a whole bunch of 'up' in the first 50 miles. To put this into perspective, one of the biggest climbs on the Eastern PA brevets series is Fox Gap which is about 1000 feet of gain. The first climb was nearly four times as long. Altogether, we had 4 mountain passes to cross before the glorious 10 mile descent around mile 80. As we descended, it felt like we were headed into the depths of Hades, with the on-road temperatures topping out around 105 (as shown by the grey line in the profile). The spike in temperature around mile 90 was from the bike baking in the sun at one of the rest stops. While the on-road temperatures quickly got into the 90's, a slight headwind and the dry air made this manageable -- as the saying goes, "It's a dry heat".
As you can see from the profile above, we had a whole bunch of 'up' in the first 50 miles. To put this into perspective, one of the biggest climbs on the Eastern PA brevets series is Fox Gap which is about 1000 feet of gain. The first climb was nearly four times as long. Altogether, we had 4 mountain passes to cross before the glorious 10 mile descent around mile 80. As we descended, it felt like we were headed into the depths of Hades, with the on-road temperatures topping out around 105 (as shown by the grey line in the profile). The spike in temperature around mile 90 was from the bike baking in the sun at one of the rest stops. While the on-road temperatures quickly got into the 90's, a slight headwind and the dry air made this manageable -- as the saying goes, "It's a dry heat".
That's me on the left. Below, we all are lined up at the start for a group photo.
George Metzler (left) and Luigi Barisone (right) arriving at one of the rest stops. George has ridden many of my Eastern PA brevets and today, we finally got a chance to share some miles together. George commented that although we live in the same area, we have to travel over 3000 miles to get a ride in together. He's sporting a very nice life vest that we found on the road. Luigi had a tough day with flats. I helped him fix 2 flats he got within the first 40 miles. He had at least one more flat along with a couple of slow leaks. It's not the sort of thing you want to be dealing with on a hot day.
On the left is the view as we climbed up from the Pacific Ocean. Below is at the top of one of the mountain passes we crossed.
At the lunch stop.
Taking shelter from the burning hot desert at one of the rest stops.
Terri Schwartz cooling off with some water (left).
Below, Terri and Tom Schwartz at the finish with Ed Pavelka in the back. Ed, along with Fred Methany (below left) and myself were the beneficiaries of Tom and Terri's amazing 30-mile pull through the desert on their tandem at a 21+ MPH pace.
Below, Terri and Tom Schwartz at the finish with Ed Pavelka in the back. Ed, along with Fred Methany (below left) and myself were the beneficiaries of Tom and Terri's amazing 30-mile pull through the desert on their tandem at a 21+ MPH pace.
Our progress so far, along with the message board.