pgjackson

Anyone doing the Palm Springs Century in February?

Propofol

Not doing the century, but registered to do the 56 mile course with a buddy.

If I see someone riding a black Rossetti I guess I'll know who it is.

dblackwood72

Registered for the century... Did it last year, a lot of fun and great SAGs. It's a nice flat century to get your season started!

pgjackson

Yep. Did it last year also. Had a blast!

bernmart

Yup. I thought I read that they'd changed the century route a bit, and promised to improve signage? Easy to get lost if you're alone. Otherwise, it's a blast.

jeepseahawk

In....should be fun

pgjackson

I thought I read that also, but the map looks exactly the same. The route was very good, except for the first 10 miles through town. Too many riders leaving at once and too many stoplights.

Nachoman

I've done the ride quite a few times.
Here's some tips. Lots of flats on that ride. Bring extra tubes.
Also, they run out of food. Don't rely on them.

Desertrats97

Its a nice ride with great weather. i think last year was about 75 degrees tops. Lots of people so get there early and be in front of the group.
My first year i got stock for the first 10 miles stuck in the beach crouser group. not fun. Great ride with great weather.

bernmart

I'm looking forward to the ride, but I'm still concerned about getting lost. This tends to happen during the last third of the ride, which takes place in neighborhoods where few people speak English, so asking for directions is iffy. Here's what I'm wondering: I have a Garmin Edge 305. Is there a way to upload the route to my Garmin (not a map; it won't handle that) so I'd have turn-by-turn directions? If so, is there a source for the route online in uploadable form?

Maybe I should ask this in the electronics forum, but I thought I'd ask here first. See you on Feb. 11th!

megalowmatt

I've ridden the 56-mile course and felt like I was shoulder to shoulder with riders almost the entire time.

Propofol

This will be my first time. I've ridden the Acura LA Bike Tour many times before it went away, and that event had 15000+ cyclists all riding at once thru the streets of LA. I can't imagine Palm Springs being any worse.

megalowmatt

I should have clarified that I actually like having that many people on the courses...made it a lot more fun for me because of the people watching factor. I think the TdPS had ~12,000 riders last year.

In contrast I rode the Tour de Perris in October and there were only around 200 riders. There were many, many miles I rode alone and had no idea where I was going. Lol.

bowser29

registered for the century

Desertrats97

what the hell will try the century. see that's the problem with forums like this one gets excited. see you all in next month.
I ride a 2007 scott cr1 pro. Black and yellow. last year i only saw 2 bikes like mine.

pgjackson

Yep, I like the crowds. Makes it more interesting.

Propofol

So is it a fairly flat course? I mapped out the 56 mile course on MapMyRide and only saw a stretch of 3% max grades for about the first 1/4 - 1/3 of the course. After that it was pretty flat.

I'm excited, I've never ridden in Palm Springs before.

pgjackson

I think the Century has about 2000-3000 feet of climbing...which is nothing. There is one steep incline about the 70 mile mark.

jeepseahawk

I rode first half of century route 2 weekends ago, 2000 feet of climbing but very easy spread out over 55 miles. Max 3 % grade and the whole course is like 2800 feet.

https://connect.garmin.com/activity/142100087

d8168055

best SAG's, most well-stocked, than any other century i have done..i will be there

Mansram01

Not sure if I'm going this year. They do have one of the best Sags around though. Last year's was fun.

rdtompki

It's a nice mid-winter ride if you want to call our Northern California weather this time of the year "winter". Course is indeed relatively flat, rest stops as I recall were good. Unlike the El Tour de Tuscon there isn't a great deal of traffic control so the stoplights in the last part of the course can get really tiresome. You do get the same bad behaviors that you'll often see in these sorts of rides: 3-4 riders side-by-side-by-side blocking the whole road on the rolling downhills, coasting and chatting away.

pgjackson

The start is a total goat-rope. It starts in town and you have to go through every stoplight with 800 other people in your group (and the lights are not times). Total mess untill you get to the big windmills. The first SAG is a mess. A lot of us just cut across the desert and avoided the whole traffic jam. After that it was pretty smooth. TONS of food at the SAGs. I think I actually gained weight.

DM5

I'm having the same problem, now trying to figure out how I can prepare for a century in 2.5 weeks.

Since that's a bit of a stretch, I may sign up for the 56 miler though.

pgjackson

There's really nothing to prepare for. It's not a race. I saw lots of old ladies on MTBs out there just casually cruising along. Just do the full century. I have a feeling that when you finish the 56 mile ride you will wish you had done the whole thing. There is a SAG every 20 miles and each one is like a big party. Take your time and have fun. You can do 100.

I treat it like a series of five 20-mile rides in one day instead of one 100-mile ride.