Hasta luego

So where did I leave off... Southern California.




















20Jul08 - Wenden, AZ to Blythe, CA - 66 miles
We started early to beat the heat, and surprisingly enough, it was raining all morning (in the desert!) It felt wonderful, and we arrived at "lunch" at 8:30am. We rode on I-10 (speed limit 75mph!) for 35 miles which was fine, except for all the flat tires. :-/ Once we crossed our final state line we stopped to swim in the Colorado River. Glorious. Then proceeded to Denny's where I consumed 2 pancakes, scrambled eggs, hash browns, toast, and a large chocolate shake. Also glorious.

















21Jul08 - Blythe to Brawley - 90 miles
It was HOT. Lots of hills and I decided that in the last few days I don't care so much about doing life-long damage to my knees. So I push it. Luckily stayed in front of sweep (Suz and Dan Thomas) who were having a miserably hot day. Before 2nd lunch we were completely out of water and stopped at the only gas station for miles where a gallon of water cost $4.25 and the owner called us something very not nice for being stupid enough to bike through the desert. I'm pretty sure he's just grumpy for being 1 of 7 people to inhabit that God-forsaken place. Anyway, the water was delicious. At second lunch we grabbed a quick bite and booked it; the van was stuck in a sand dune and as I didn't have much energy left I decided I wouldn't be very helpful in trying to unbury it. For the last 15 miles I managed to grab on (and stay on) a paceline that was going about 22mph. Though I thought I would die, I made it, and treated myself to two Slurpees, a Gatorade, a bag of chips and two candy bars from the 7/11 that was so conveniently located next door to our church.

















22Jul08 - Brawley to Julian - 74 miles
The first part of the ride was flat desert. Then we started going uphill. We climbed about 4500 feet, the largest climb without a break we've done, though it was for the most part not that steep. However, it was ridiculously hot. Ben met us with the van and gave us ice and informed us that the church was actually 6 miles further than indicated on the cue sheet. More climbing. Finally made it into town and drank a strawberry milkshake and ate a pizza. The church was 1 mile downhill after that.

23Jul08 - Julian to El Cajon - 52 miles
People claimed that the last two days would be easy. I claim that they are liars. We started off on absolutely gorgeous roads, climbing through mountains. I felt awesome, climbing alone and kind of pushing it on our 1000-foot climb. Unfortunately the rest of the day was not downhill, but was made up of nice descents interrupted by torturous little climbs. I felt awful, but still made it to the church before noon. Hannah's amazing former boss allowed her to make us all enormous yogurt things at The Yogurt Pump. We had a meeting about the last day and the festivities to follow.


















24Jul08 - El Cajon to San Diego (La Jolla) - 28 miles + 4 miles to church
Last day. No one really wanted to leave the church, but Suz and I took the plunge. It ended up being a very strange ride through town with stop-and-go traffic. We hit pretty much every red light, which may have been an indication that someone did not actually want the day to end. The 30 of us met up a couple miles from the beach so we could all ride in together. We came to the top of a hill and saw the Pacific Ocean. Surreal. Riding onto the beach people were cheering for us, and I think the cutest moment was when Daven spotted his family, immediately dropped his bike and began hugging all his siblings. We then dropped our shoes and Camelbaks and charged to the ocean to dip our wheels and take numerous photos. Celebration followed with champagne (thanks Ana's family) and delicious food arranged by Dan Carmody's dad. Continued on to the church to clean out the van and trailer, and partied hard at Todd San Diego's (a Bike and Build alum) that night.


























25Jul08 - post-B&B day 1 - 0 miles :-(
Actually, I did ride my bike that morning. For some reason, could not sleep past 6:30am and so got up to go to an ATM to pay off all my debts, a bagel shop, and Starbucks. Talked for 2 hours with a guy who was really interested in Bike & Build. He was from Beverly Hills, teaches wealthy Jewish kids how to play tennis in Connecticut, and rides a foldable bike. Went back to the church to find most people still sleeping, some beginning to leave. Spent several hours trying to ship my bike. Finally succeeded, went out for dinner with some of the B&B crowd for the last time, and got prepared for my cab to pick me up and take me to the airport at 4am.


The trip is over. NC2SD08 is now only a thing of memories, of greatness, of 30 people gone back to their "real lives" ... who will always know that they were part of something amazing. After overcoming "the sickness" which claimed me over the last 5 days (luckily, AFTER reaching the Pacific Ocean) I was able to eat two Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches today in memoriam.

Until my next Bike & Build adventure...