Blythe to Brawley CA – 88 Miles


At the end of each of the B&B route that trips’ assigned program director goes to the end to help wrap things up, drive the van to the last day or so and in general to make sure the trip ends well and everything is clean and ready to be used the following year. Since one of my good friends from my trip (NUS06 represent) is a leader and my schedule allowed, I came out to CA a few days early to ride with the group and to stay in touch with life on the road. For the full B&B effect I also volunteered to write today’s journal. I am Brendan, and this my story.


Following a rather tiring and pretty much sub-excellent Planes, Trains & Automobile type journey I met up with the NC2SD riders in scenic Blythe CA, a scant 30 hours after leaving my apartment in Brooklyn. Upon getting in to the Greyhound station I was soon met by Dan and Travis in the van. Noting how tired I was they told me to not fall asleep on the 15-20 minute drive back to the church. Well, I had barely had the chance to buckle my seatbelt when we were pulling up in the Assembly of God Church parking lot– directly across the street from the bus station. Oh, what pranksters!


As a director, it is often times slightly awkward to step back into a group that has been together non stop for almost two months and essentially forgotten that we existed. Luckily for me NC was not like that at all, and I was happy to receive a warm welcome. In fact, I was so well re-integrated that the leaders had instructed the riders to direct ALL questions regarding the next days route (weather, mileage, wake-up, lunch stop, etc) to me. Additionally, they had convince everyone that it would be much more fun for all parties to just address me as Brandon rather than Brendan, because… well, just because. Hardee har har, those pranksters!


Anyway, I had arrived just in time to see live performances of NC2SD’s very own custom B&B songs, as performed by Scott Wilkins and Dave Getchel. I do need to say, I’ve heard quite a few B&B trip songs in my time and these were by far some of the funniest and best written of any. The trip was in stitches, everybody even sang along with the chorus! It was quite the sight to see. A quick meeting followed detailing the next days ride and wake up time (uh oh, 80 miles and 4:00AM… what had I gotten into?) and everybody soon scattered. I went outside with Dan Oates who to put my bike together, then we caught up over some delicious Taco Del Mar. When we got back to the church I went up to the air-conditioned room I had been lucky enough to have reserved for me, sharing it with Angela, Ben & Scott. Just after I got in my sleeping back Ben threw me over a set of earplugs, telling me I’d definitely want them. Thinking nothing of it I waved them off at first (“Hey, I slept on the floor of San Diego International last night and I was fine.”), but twenty minutes later I realized the error of my ways and soon fell was fast asleep with my anti-Scott-snoring devices firmly in place.


The beauty of being newly arrived on the West coast was that the 4:00AM wakeup was not actually that bad. Following a delicious breakfast of sausage, eggs and toast provided by some members of the Assembly of God we soon circled up for route meeting, preparing for what promised to be a challenging ride across the desert. A few minutes later I soon hit the road with Sweatband Ben, Dan O, David and Travis, none of us having any idea of the epic journey we were embarking upon.


The first 30 miles were rather uneventful, save the near 12 rider pileup caused by a certain underage leader (cough… Dan) trying to catch a butterfly and knocking into Travis, all while we were passing another large group. Things looked shaky for a hot second, but both Travis and Dan managed to stay up and avoid potential disaster. Our stop at first lunch was a welcome break, refueling us with much needed peanut butter and jelly as well as letting us reapply the sunscreen. It was also then that we noticed the temperature was rapidly rising, and decided to make haste towards Brawley.


Except for a string of unfortunate flats for David, the next 20 miles were nothing of note. As the heat climbed so did the terrain, we soon found ourselves on a rather challenging ride. Pushing onwards and upwards we valiantly battled every ill the road threw at us, from flats to sand to trucks to a downright naughty heat. I mean seriously, it was getting hotter out here than in the B&B office (no, really!). As we slowly lost momentum and started to get beaten down, we rolled upon the “town” of Glamis, which is apparently some sort of mecca for ATVers and dune buggies in the fall months, when the town’s “population” swells to 250,000. Unfortunately for us the town’s population is only 7 (s-e-v-e-n) at this point in the year (most likely because it is hotter than hell and far away from civilization) and there wasn’t much to see short of a ton of sand and the Glamis Beach Store.


Now, being from the Central Jersey shore when I hear “beach” I not only think sand (check), but also water (no check). Not only was there no body of water (obviously, it is the desert), but the store did not have any free water for weary cyclists, and the price of a gallon was $4.50! Additionally, the food selection was limited and overpriced, as was the Gatorade. Fortunately the service made up for it (NOT!). Actually, while trying to make small talk with the shopkeep we asked him if he gets many cyclists in these parts, to which he replied “Yeah, I do get some _____ing idiots in here.” Suffice to say, I did not put my quarter in the tip jar.


While we were in the store I gave my tube to David to change yet another flat, but as soon as we hit the road I realized that my tire had also gone soft, in response to which I may have said a few words that are not fit to print here. I was in luck though, because right then Claire came by and gave me a tube she had patched at lunch. A few minutes later and we were back on the road, traversing the final 4 miles to second lunch. As we climbed the massive sand dune of death and heat, we noted that the van and trailer seemed parked in a peculiar area at the top. Thinking nothing of it, we pushed on with thoughts of peanut butter and warm Gatorade dancing through our minds.


It turns out we were right about the van being parked awkwardly, as when we got there it seems that the van had actually gotten stuck in the rather treacherous sand. As Ben, Dan, Scott and I sat around in our spandex (sweaty from the day’s ride) we wondered what in the world the unnamed van driver had done. B&B was in luck as a passing truck managed to stop and get the vangela out of the sand, as well as the trailer. 45 minutes after arriving, we departed around 12:30 to finish the final 20 or so miles. Unkown to us at the time, this was the beginning of the end.


Ben decided it would be a great idea to take off in his normal insane style, pretty much spinning out his highest gear. Dan followed, and Travis and I struggled to keep pace. As the hill got steeper and the day got hotter, we fell behind to the point that it was just the two of us. As the minutes slowly ticked away, the heat got worse and the miles longer. After an unsuccessful shade stop (drainage ditch in the way) we finally managed to find a house about 7 miles outside of Brawley with both a tree and a sprinkler. We lounged in the shade for a bit, and were soon caught by Suz and Dan Thomas on sweep. We all took turns in the sprinkler, and we soon left with a renewed energy that would carry us to our final destination.


As we rolled into Brawley we past a thermometer, noting the temperature was a balmy 104. Shortly thereafter we rendezvoused with Dan and Becky in a gas station. I joined them for a lovely lunch at a café down the street, and was told that this was easily one of the hardest days of their trip, but I was still a slow noob. Oh well, so much for respecting your elders.


Tonight we had an amazing dinner at Pizza Hut, provided in part by Pedro the manager as well as Ben’s parents. We’re staying in the amazingly wonderful air-conditioned United Methodist Church. Thanks for hosting Pastor Nelson!!!


Tomorrow we have a 4000+ foot climb into Julian, which will be the last hard day of the summer. I’m really excited to ride, and I’ve had a great time with the trip so far, they are an amazing group of people! I’m envious that they’ve been able to do this all summer, and happy they’ve been so welcoming to me. I almost feel like I’ve been with them the entire time.


The people, places and events in this story are entirely true. I am Brendan, and that was my story.


PS- Shoutout to Amelia & Kristian back in the office.
PS#2- Shoutout to Libby, mi amor.