Well it’s finally here. Day one of my cross country odyssey.Twenty-eight brave souls have signed on to trek across America on a bike. After arriving in Costa Mesa, CA yesterday (and securing my bike after some tense moments in the airport) we had a three hour orientation and get to know you session. Then it was off to bed as our 0500 wake up cal was coming way to early and I was still on central time! We started the ride by going about 2 miles west to the Pacific and dipping our wheels in the ocean. Then it was on to the Santa Ana bike path for about 30 miles to get out of town. Once out of city center we did 2 medium climbs (with some flat in between) up to about 2700’. Then it was downhill almost all the way to Thousand Palms. On the run into Palm Springs we had a nice tailwind and were zipping along at 35-38 mph. All told we covered 122 miles and had about 4000’ of climbing. Food and support are great and so far everybody is getting along. Tomorrow we cover 118 miles to Blythe, CA. Thanks for reading and I’ll check back in a few days time. Jeff Unruh