Blythe, California to Brawley, California
I am stuck in Glamis, CA. Dune Capital of the World. Got up extra early only to go 62 miles through the desert to a semi-oasis hell. But let me backtrack to what started out as one fine morning. I left the hotel and got a quick breakfast and was on my way at 6:02 AM. Riding through wide, flat, lush farmlands with brushstroke clouds above the mountains to the east. The sun won’t rise over those mountains for another 45 minutes but the early light of day is working wonders on the sky and some mountains off to my west. For a minute, maybe 3, they take on a pinkish red glow and I see some palm trees up ahead to be the foreground for a picture but by the time I reach the palms, the mountains have returned to their dark brown color. The light magic doesn’t last.
The fertile farms are fed by irrigation ditches which tap the nearby Colorado River. I marvel at the thought that the mountains I rode past nearly two weeks ago, are the source of success for the crops grown in this region.
The smell of hay is everywhere, sort of like fresh cut grass, only stronger. The hay blocks are stacked everywhere in amazing quantities. Huge stacks the size of buildings line the sides of the road. Then I pass something different that I haven’t seen yet - a large grove of trees. Can’t tell what fruit it is but they remind me of orange or grapefruit trees like I’ve seen in Florida. Curiosity gets the better of me and I stop and see if there’s any fruit. Well, what do you know - limes. They’re lime trees and the green fruit blended in so well with the leaves, I couldn’t tell from the road. I picked a couple off the tree and at a later stop, I cut one open and added the juice to my water supply. Wow - lime right off the tree. Very fresh, very tart and tangy. Powerful even!
Then I passed a field with an army of men and women wielding hoes - cultivating lettuce, I guessed. I called to a couple close to the road, “Hello. Se habla ingles?” No response in either language, but I think I startled them.
A bit further I rode past a cotton field! Stopped and picked a big ball of cotton complete with seeds! Wondered if that was what those people may have been cultivating! Anyway, it occurred to me that in all my journey across the country, this was the first crop that was a non-food item and I thought about all those shirts and jeans that grow out here.
21 miles to Palo Verde and a last stop at 46 miles. The next 46 miles was mostly dips in the desert. This would have been a fun drive in a car if you like the feeling of your stomach rising up to your throat. It was pretty hot but there were enough breezes to keep fairly comfortable. The Chocolate Mountain ran along the right for about 35 miles. It was an interesting stretch to ride but glad I left early. This would not have been fun in the afternoon heat. Passed a lot of border patrol police vehicles on this stretch and noticed a border patrol helicopter overhead at one point. There was checkpoint on the opposite side of the road about halfway to Glamis, AZ. I passed a monument marking the road as a Pre-Columbian Indian Trail, linking the Colorado River and the Imperial Valley. Couldn't help placing my helmet on top.
After that, the dips ended and the road flattened out for the last 10 miles into Glamis, AZ. Razor wire fencing crept up on the right side of the road for a few miles. I thought prison, but then realized it was a protected area for endangered desert tortoises. The sign said to not harass the tortoises. What kind of sick bastard would harass a tortoise?
Off in the distance I could see some blinding sand dunes. A massive ridge across the horizon. They are the Algodones Dunes or otherwise known as the Imperial Dunes. Starting to feel like Douglas of Arabia...
Finally, I reach Glamis and all that is there is one store with a giant overhang outside, covering about 40 picnic tables. The place seemed like a ghost town to me but apparently on the weekends 60,000 to 100,000 people come out here to ride the dunes. The people inside the store couldn’t have been any more unfriendly or nasty. The prices of things were double what you’d pay anywhere else, no public toilets, and no inside tables in the AC. The lady behind the counter responded to my telling her that I have almost completed a bike ride across the country with, “I don’t have any pity for you, I’ve seen billions of people ride through here over the years - even a five year-old. I said, “I don’t want your pity... and a five year-old riding across the county... I don’t think so.” I think living out here in Glamis has hardened this woman a bit. Just an irritable, nasty, old woman.
My dilemma now is should I stay in the shaded heat and wait until 4 or 5 and ride 27 more miles to Brawley... or just go for it now. I don’t like this place but I’m not sure what is worse... pedaling through the heat or wasting away here?
I stare at a dune buggy and a sign that says, “Brawley 27.” Then I stare at the “put your dark sunglasses on” dunes and it looks hot out there. Well, at least I have food and water. Five miles to the top of the dunes and then it’s downhill into the Imperial Valley. OK at 4:00 I go.
Get me the hell out of Glamis!!! Now! OK, 3:30 and I can’t stand another minute. 3:21 and the “closed” sign went up on the only store in town. I set off up through the dunes - about 5 miles to the top. A bunch of dune buggies and 3 motorcycles went by on the left. The motorcycles were airborne as they jumped some of the dunes. Can’t imagine what the dunes look like on the weekends. On the far side of the dunes, those dreaded headwinds returned with a vengeance. I guess that’s how the dunes formed - winds blowing dirt and dust out of the Imperial Valley. Well, I didn’t count on the headwinds and it took me till sundown to reach Brawley, CA.
Along the way, I stopped for a 5 minute rest and leaned my bike up against a guardrail over a canal. That water looked very inviting. Surveying the scene on the opposite side of the road was a sluice gate and the water was running very fast through it. On my side, where the bike was, the current looked mild close to the underside of the bridge and there was a clean place to get in. Just a quick look for snakes. None found but a frog jumped in to show me the way. Stripped off my clothes, put a rock on them so the wind wouldn’t blow them in the water, and in I went. I jumped in against the current and it quickly returned me to where I started. I did this two more times and the water felt cool, but not cold.
Then I heard a voice say, “Are you all right?”
I looked up and saw a California Highway police officer. I told him I was okay and he said that he just wanted to make sure I wasn’t swept away by the current. I ASSured him I was OK and he left. OOPS - caught! Back on the road and the endless headwinds. Still 15 miles to go - what a struggle! Just the sound of the wind past your ears is enough to make you insane, not to mention the gritty dirt in the eyes and lungs. Photo along the last few struggling miles into Brawley, California
Chinese buffet - Coor’s Light - Get me off this bike!!
Brawley, CA at last! Long day. No tent. Slept in a nice quiet part of town under palm trees and stars.
Totals for the day: 94.51 miles, 8 hrs. 26 min., 3295.1 Ughhh.