We stared riding at 6:00 a.m., which was before sun rise, due to heat we expected and the distance we were riding. We are riding west to east so one of the problems with an early starts is staring into the rising sun. This causes a problem for us riders as you can imagine. We have a hard time seeing where we are going, but it is also an issue for cars being able to see us. We have to be very careful.

The first 5 miles was fairly flat but then we climbed the next 30 miles. It wasn’t a steep climb but due to the heat it was hard. Then we had luck on our side with a nice tail wind and down hill to flat terrain.

By the end of the 90 miles the temperature had hit 106 degrees.

Most of the team is staying at a small church in Blythe but Ed and I wimped out and checked into a hotel. It is great, AC, a shower and free breakfast at 5:00 a.m. tomorrow. We did go back to the church for dinner, which the church graciously provide. The people at the church are great but we are old and we didn’t want another garden hose shower. The church shower only had hot water.  And we later found out this was also the case at the hotel. The locals told us that they have had heat as high as 120 + degrees so cold water is not readily available.

Now to bed early again.