Day 1 was a great start, but predictably, with a few challenges over 116 miles. We hit the road after a hearty breakfast in the hotel restaurant and headed for the beach for the traditional dipping of the rear wheel in the Pacific. Most of the folks did this although a few "non-traditionalists" didn't want to get their feet sandy in the 200 yard walk to the water. Whatever melts your butter! Since there was a damp marine layer hanging over us most of the morning, I wore my Greg Norman long sleeve shirt under my jersey for a little additional body heat. The temps were about 55 degrees when we started with a little mist every so often. Our team of 17 ebbed and flowed as we followed the Santa Anna River on the aptly named Santa Anna River Trail for about 40 miles. It was rolling and lovely, but also well-used by many Sunday morning cyclists, walkers, joggers and later in the morning, kidsters on little bikes. I'd recommend this well maintained trail to one and all! However, since the trail was busy and narrow, there wasn't a lot of time to look around or sightsee. Eventually cool turned to warm and warm turned to hot and hot turned to darned hot! Watching all the new folks to ABB scurry around the rest stops was amusing. Barb Munk runs a tough rest stop, ensuring all riders ditch their gloves and wash their hands with an antibiotic before grazing at the snack table filled with fruit, nuts, granola bars, cookies and water/gatorade. They also have everyone "sign in please" to keep good accounting of the riders. That way, if Steve King takes a wrong turn and doesn't show up at the rest stop, they know they need to start providing a DF steer (aviation talk for "go this way") to the lost soul. I'm just sayin'! From the first rest stop to lunch at about 65 miles, we climbed about 3600 feet, but it was a gentle 1% climb most of the way, and yes, we had a tail wind. ABB now provides a "full lunch" instead of taking all the riders to dinner each night. Makes sense from a financial point of view I guess. We sat under shade trees in fold out chairs and enjoyed turkey and cheese sandwiches on wheat, rye, pita, tortias or straight up, if that's your persuasion. Lots of fruit, nuts, trail mix and of course, the ubiquitous container of granola bars and peanut butter and crackers. Good nourishment and 15 minutes later, we were onto the hot portion of the ride into and through the town of Beaumont. About 20 minutes after I left the rest stop, I pulled away from a group I was riding with and was feeling pretty good. After cresting a hill I was rolling along, enjoying the smell of the orange grove across the street when my eye catches a guy wearing a bike helmet crawling on all fours in the lane opposite me. I pulled over and tried to get him to come my way but he hollered back that ". . . my nose is broken and (undecipherable after this)"! He stands up and walks back to the 2 x 6 inch fence post that had fallen in the road and tossed it into the orange grove, forever banishing it from hitting another defenseless cyclist. He then walked my way and it was obvious that he had landed face first. His lip looked somebody had used a chain saw on it and yet he repeated that he thought he'd broken his nose and wanted to know if his teeth were broken. I told him his teeth looked okay, but decided there was no good way to explain his lip situation so I ended our conversation with, "your teeth look great!" We tried to call his brother using the injured man's cell phone, but that was impossible sit it too had taken a major hit and would not "swipe" to get the lock off. I eventually got him to give me his brother's number and I called him, but of course, I instead spoke to his trusty voice mail account. About this time, as my fellow cyclists arrived, a guy in a truck stopped, offered to assist and Mr. Broken Nose hopped in the back of the truck and headed for 1) his house (as he directed) or 2) to a hospital to sew up that chain saw cut lip. While I enjoyed lending a hand, I later realized the extra 30 minutes in the sun didn't do me any favors. As I pedaled the next 20 miles, I drank plenty, but I'm sure my core body temperature kept rising. Although I didn't feel aerobically winded, I was having a harder time taking a deep breath so I decided I'd pull into Burger King for a shake and some cool down time. The shake and the cooler temps helpd after about 20 minutes and when I pulled out I joined up with 4-5 folks that were just driving by from my ABB team. The next 30 miles were phenomenal on many levels. Fast (3-35 mph most of the way on a downhill incline all the way to Palm Springs with a 30 mph tailwind. The two mitigating circumstances here were 105 degree heat and a road that was like riding on a washboard for over an hour. And while the tail wind was wonderful for sailing along, it provides little help in cooling my already toasty body. In honor of St. Louis, I decided to tell anyone who asked how I was feeling that I felt like a St. Louis toasted ravioli! After crashing in the hotel room for 30 minutes until the bags arrived, taking a couple Motrin, and drinking some cold water, I felt human again, walked to dinner at Lulu's a sheik Palm Springs eatery and had a delicious meal of lasagna topped off with some chocolate cake to kill for. We finished the evening with our "Rap" where we discuss the day's events and then talk of the ride tomorrow. With a 133 mile ride to Blythe tomorrow, we have a team plan to battle the heat. Starting about 6:45am and we'll have rest stops at 40, 60, 80, 100, and 120 miles. We had one heat stress casualty that went to the hospital today and our goal is to avoid more tomorrow. Always great to have a plan. My motto for today stems from Mr. Broken Nose: You absolutely have to pay attention ALL the time. Even 1 second of not paying attention can dramatically change everything. Stay healthy! Steve