I spent two days at a desert art collective refuge for eclectic artists….East Jesus, which is just outside of Niland Ca. by the Salton Sea. It’s an interesting self sufficient, communitarian creative collective in the middle of nowhere. An artist friend is doing some work there and invited me out.

I used the trip to ride the east side of the Salton Sea…78 miles of basically flat road, with a good shoulder, not much traffic (the west side has a busy state highway which is used by most of the north/south traffic). The east side road is broken up by sections of fun rollers, which I assume makes up the 700 ft of gain on the ride. A good headwind going north but I knew that so I just saw it as a good challenge and then a blessing coming back…..and with temps in the high 90’s it was a challenge. The success of the ride was probably as much about my preparation for it, some hot yoga, hydration/nutrition (before/during/after) and having balanced electrolytes for the entire ride. Hard riding in dry desert heat means salty sweat stains and deposits’ for me so I also washed off my head a few times during the ride. Just three places to get water on the ride, mostly just abandoned buildings/business’s on the route, so I planned water carefully. It was a good ride for me…..still slower than before but with the same positive determination I always try to put into a hard ride.

No hipster reward food to be had out in that area of the desert….sitting in the shade with a quart of chocolate milk from the only grocery store in Niland, helped when I got back. The woman I stayed with also fixed a wonderfully nutritious roasted sweet potato salad for a recovery meal when I got back too.

Just three weekends left before the Tour de Pink. With the rides I’ve done in my training plan I feel good about where I’m at. Doing a long ride this weekend with Alex on the first day's route of the tour and then cut back until we do the 3 day tour.
















+1 on emily's wish for a good weekend for all........