The CashCall Mortgage Cycling Team was invited to attend the 15th Annual Palm Springs Century. KHS Bicycles is the official bike sponsor for the event. They have a booth in the expo area and they also provide neutral mechanical support at all the stops along the century route. Team members Devan Dunn, Fabrizio Von Nacher, Wes Holloway, Brian McCulloch, Chris Barton, Michael Weicht and Cole House made the trip out to the desert for the event. Newcomer Chris Barton recounted his experience on his first Palm Springs Century. Thank you Chris!
“Our weekend trip to the hottest place in California started out with a near-freezing evening in downtown Palm Springs. Despite the cold, the wonderful folks at the KHS tent were hard at work giving test rides and sharing information about their bicycle models and company with anyone who was interested.
When it came time for dinner, we were treated to a delicious meal just a few blocks away at the restaurant Azul which we were able to enjoy with multiple KHS staff. The walls were covered with signed photos of famous drag queens and while we ate a woman sang classic songs and show tunes, making for a really enjoyable and entertaining experience. Once we had eaten our fill, we retired to our hotel rooms to get some rest before our 7am start of the Tour de Palm Springs.
The morning started out windy and 38 degrees, but we soon forgot about the adverse conditions, when we were struck by the beauty of the windmill-strewn desert landscape surrounded by snowy mountains. After an hour, I managed to have our only mishap of the day, somehow double-flatting on one of the smoothest roads I’ve ridden. With a little help from my teammates, I made it to one of 5 KHS-sponsored aid stations along the route and the helpful KHS mechanics made sure I was good to go. We loaded up on complementary food and water and hit the road.
The remaining 75 miles or so were enjoyably balanced with some hard riding and chatting with many of our 9,600 fellow century riders. The sun was warm, the wind had stopped, and we rolled back into downtown Palm Springs to be greeted by music, good food, and a swarm of cycling enthusiasts high-fiving and checking out all the cool tents in the expo area, the coolest of which being the one with all the sleek KHS bicycles and friendly people mingling under it.”
