Hello everyone,

Let me start off by saying it was a beautiful day (sort of) . We all gathered in the hotel parking lot. Tracey gave us a great pep talk and it made Eileen cry. Tracy is one of the most motivating and uplifting people that I have met. We all yelled BOTON in unison and we all touched gathered in a circle everyone laying a hand on someone’s shoulders and proclaimed that we would all get to BOSTON together.

We then proceeded to Manhattan Beach of movie and volleyball fame, dipped our wheels in the ocean, took some group photos and started our ride to Boston up a really big hill.

Today’s ride was a lot more challenging the the first day ride two years ago. The wind blew all day mostly in our face at 30 plus mph and it got hot very quickly. We did about 3000 feet of climbing. We did get off course a few times but did not lose a lot of time in the process.

Tomorrow we get into the desert and will see wind farms, possibly a statue of Marilyn Monroe and a bit of climbing. Temperatures likely over 100. I will try to add a few photos but the internet it not too fast.

This was a really hard day because of the elements. When we got in, I went out with Herm for a taco. Herm is a fun guy from Detroit who met Mike K from XC 12.

Tailwinds

Chuck

Manhattan Beach

My speed into the wind