Eldorado
BY EDGAR ALLAN POE
Gaily bedight,
A gallant knight,
In sunshine and in shadow,
Had journeyed long,
Singing a song,
In search of Eldorado.

But he grew old—
This knight so bold—
And o’er his heart a shadow—
Fell as he found
No spot of ground
That looked like Eldorado.

And, as his strength
Failed him at length,
He met a pilgrim shadow—
‘Shadow,’ said he,
‘Where can it be—
This land of Eldorado?’

‘Over the Mountains
Of the Moon,
Down the Valley of the Shadow,
Ride, boldly ride,’
The shade replied,—
‘If you seek for Eldorado!’

El Dorado happens to be one of my favorite poems and I thought of it today because of the beautiful mountains surrounding us as we rode to Indio Ca and the metaphor of the poem as it relates to the seemingly futility of riding endless miles.

We had a great day! We started off with a 3 mile climb and then had a pretty tough 6 mile climb around mile 30. In years past the 6 mile climb was brutal but this year it was only hard. I think that i averaged 5 mph 2 years ago and was at least 7 or 8 this time. Once we finished that climb it was off to the races. There were quite a few stretches were we went over 30 mph for extended periods of time. We  might have even got faster if not for the fact that the highways were a little iffy with debris and potholes.

This congrats with 2 years ago when we had brutal headwinds and probably more heat. It was relatively cool for Palm Springs.  I rode most of the day with Ted, Lou, Kevin and Howard who are all strong riders.

The area is known for the Coachella music festival in the desert and Date palms. Kevin treated the whole group to date floats at the hotel and gave us a bit of history and local color. I forget the name of the mountain with a tram up to the snow covered peaks but Kevin said that in one of the Tour de California races won by TJ Vangarten, that the temperature hit 115 and many pros dropped out. TJ apparently said this was the toughest stage he had ever been on.

Went to a Mexican dinner for diner with Kevin, Lou, Howard, Jim and Sabina . Tomorrow another day of almost 100 miles through the desert. please keep the prayers and well wishes coming through as they seem to be working!

Thanks for reading

Chuck