Today was a 122 mile day starting at the coast, climbing over mountains and then a long descent in to extremely hot temperatures. The first 5 hours of the day were cool followed by 2 hours of 100 degree desert. Riding in the heat was not easy but it was not as bad as I thought it might be. There are many riders who had trouble with cramping and heat exhaustion and several had to be sagged in(driven by van to the finish). If you are not used to the heat or aren't drinking enough, your chances of finishing a day like today decline dramatically.
The scenery was mostly high desert followed by the desert here in the valley at El Centro. It's beautiful in a wild and stark way. The scarcity of large trees makes it so you have unobstructed views for many miles. Mountains that look like they are 10 miles away might be 30 or 40 miles away.
Tomorrow we will be in the desert the whole day riding to Quartzsite Arizona. As soon as they let us leave, I'm leaving to get as many miles done as possible before it gets back up over 100 again. It's 128 miles so it will not be an easy day. If we're lucky we will have a little tailwind to help us along.
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