For the final week of our American adventure, we drove my father and his friend to Palm Desert, California. Now that I am blogging, I am trying to pay more attention to the various forms of cycling going on in these exotic and far away places. I was looking forward to seeing what the cycling scene in the Coachella Valley has to offer. The place is ideal for cyclocross bikes and mountain bikes. The bills are covered in trails that duck through canyons and over desert. Lots of dirt roads and singletrack. For road bikes there are some nice roads, but it seems a little limited for a dedicated roadie. I WOULD love to ride Joshua Tree some day.
The daytime temperatures varied between 106F. and 117F. Still, I saw several people out on city bikes, flat bars, and BMX bikes. It is a dry heat, so I can easily imagine how those temps could be tolerated during the summer months. Still, the majority of the population receives a pension and prefer golf carts to Campy.
I was pleasantly surprised to find an extensive system of marked bike routes and marked shoulder space for cycling. I saw a few men in their 60's riding some expensive road bikes in the heat. The TREK Madone is a big seller.
I thought I would look for something to buy at one of the local bike stores. Velo Bum is one of my favorites as it is run by a diehard and he doesn't carry much. He sells mainly Look, Time and Felt bikes. He had a real nice Calfee in there as well. He just didn't have much of anything. He told me to drive to Laguna on the coast if I wanted more of a selection. 
I then went to Palm Desert Cycles, which is a novice-friendly shop where they assume you don't know much about cycling and charge an arm and a leg. I asked if they had any small jerseys, but they didn't and told me to go to Laguna.
Bikeman was great. I stopped by 15 min. after the posted opening time and it was closed. I stopped by again an hour later, but it was still closed. Finally, I returned again and it was another one-man operation with the owner/wrench busy working on a bike. He gave me a hello, and resumed his work. The owner, Kevin, seems to be an old racer with a great supply of new and used Italian bikes. I looked around, but nothing I could use.
The last place I went to was Tri A Bike. They are the big Giant dealer. There was a sign on the door advertising the "Composite Challenge", a Pepsi Challenge for bikes, and a silly gimmick to get the novice to part with their money on a scam as the "feel and comfort" of a bike can easily be manipulated with a quick adjustment in air pressure or wheel choice. Next time I'll try Laguna.
