Day 2 – Sunday, May 13th - Manhattan Beach to Riverside, CA

Distance: 78.8 Miles

Elevation Gain: +2340 ft. or 29.7 ft./mile

Net elevation change: +861 ft.

Route

Mileage and elevation for the day were just under the tour average. The weather was overcast and in the high 50's at the start and warmed up to the high 60's/low70's by the time we got to Riverside.  For the most part the wind wasn't a factor. I'm not sure conditions can get much better.

Today was pretty much all urban riding as we worked our way through heavily populated areas with lots of traffic lights and stop signs. Combine this with a road surface that was showing real signs of neglect, and roughly 27 right or left turns that needed to be made, and it was a mentally challenging day. Fortunately the early Sunday start really helped as traffic was very light and non-existent is some places. I can't imagine trying to do this on a weekday. Wide-open spaces and fewer turns aren’t far off in the future.  We will start our crossing of the desert on Tuesday.

Out of the hotel we rode two by two behind the tour van for the first couple of miles to get to the Strand Bike Path that runs along the beach. Another 3 miles had us at the Manhattan Beach Pier for the ceremonial wheel dip for those willing to shed shoes and socks and lug their bike across the sand to the ocean, then reverse the process and try to clean your feet well enough so you don't have sand in your shoes for the remaining 74 miles of the ride.  From that lead in you can probably guess I declined. Having grown up at the beach (Atlantic City and Brigantine), I'm all to familiar with the discomfort that lingering sand can cause.  However, I did get some pics of all this fun.

Manhattan Beach Pier

Yours truly rolling into the pier. Courtesy of Jim Lyle, veteran of two crossings, most recently in 2017, who just came to see us off.

The whole crew before leaving Manhattan Beach.

Mike and Barry at the Pier

The Florida Crew before leaving the Hotel.Mike, Barry and Chris

The hill to leave the Pier. There are two more levels beyond these two

Once we got up that hill we continued east on Manhattan Beach Blvd. and Redondo Beach Blvd. towards Compton. Fortunately, we turn south and head east once again on El Arno Blvd. through Lakewood.  Before we get to Knotts Berry Farm we turn north and then east on South St. in Cerritos (Spanish for Little Hills). Originally it was named Dairy Valley when it was incorporated in 1946 since there were over 400 dairies and the cows outnumbered the 3400 residents 29 to 1. Today there about 49,000 residents and I didn't see one cow.

We ride on through Fullerton which was founded in 1887 and historically was a center of agriculture (Valencia oranges in particular), petroleum extraction, transportation and manufacturing. Personally I think the more interesting tidbit is that it is the birthplace of the electric guitar, largely because of Leo Fender who settled here in 1949 and developed the Fender Telecaster.

We then went south and crossed the Santa Ana River and headed east on Santa Ana Canyon Road. Using a variety of roads and streets and the Santa Ana River Bike Trail we continue east running roughly parallel to CA 91 passing through or near Anaheim Hills, and Corona (once the lemon capital of the world), before coming to roost for the night at the Marriott Courtyard on University Avenue just west of the University of California – Riverside.

Sneak peek at tomorrow

93 miles to Indio, California, the low point of the tour with an elevation that is 14 feet below sea level.  With a population of 76,000, Indio came about because of the need for a halfway point between Los Angeles and Yuma, Arizona for the Southern Pacific Railroad. While it started as a railroad town it quickly became an agricultural center for onions, cotton, grapes, citrus and dates. Today it is known as the “city of festivals”, the most notable of which is the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival which attracted 250,000 people over two weekends in 2017.

While Indio is the lowest elevation on the tour there is a fair amount of climbing including a 700 foot climb over three miles starting a  little over a mile into the ride and then a 1100 foot climb over six miles starting at about 31 miles into the ride. 

The forecast at the start is very similar to today, but in Indio it will be 10-12 degrees warmer at our start time and the high is forecast at 94, sunny skies all day with 10-20 mph winds out of the WNW in Indio. The desert awaits.