I am SO ready!

My last major training worry is out of the way. It's been a really cold Winter / Spring, and I haven't had a chance to get in any hot-weather rides. We enter the desert on day 2 of our trip, and cover 100 and 115 miles across the Mojave on days 3 and 4. I was a little worried about acclimatizing to those conditions.

We got our first taste of summer on Saturday. A group of us rode just under 90 miles in temps that reached the low 90's. The hinterlands of Livermore were smokin' hot. Throw in about 5000' of climbing and it was a pretty serious training day. We all got through it though. Only one rider had a short dose of leg cramps. Other than that we all rode well.

The key to hot-weather riding is to keep the intensity level low all day. We rode a little slower than normal, and took a couple of extra rest stops. Other than that it was pretty uneventful. Which was nice. "Eventful" days in the heat mean loads of cramps or worse. Making it through the day with essentially no issues was a major confidence boost. Let's get it on!