How come I have a story written by someone else.
Well Chris and Jeff booked their California Sunriders Route 66 with me as I am the agent for California Sunriders in Australia and New Zealand.
So here is Chris' story;
Santa Monica Pier, Los
Angeles, California and the end of a very long journey. Over 4000 kilometres, 8 states and 3 time
zones, from Chicago to LA, riding through some of the most spectacular scenery
America has to offer along the famous Route 66, or as it is often known: The
Mother Road.
We had arrived in
Chicago a fortnight earlier to begin a ride conceived in 2011. That evening we met Gary and Mark from ‘California
Sunriders’, our tour leader and backup truck driver. Another seven fellow travellers trickled in,
all from the UK including two with their wives.
Jeff and I knew the group dynamic would be crucial. We were going to be together for the duration;
riding, eating, drinking and it could be a nightmare if we didn’t get on. We needn’t have worried. From the very beginning we hit it off. Jenks and Chris from West Wales and Robin a London
taxi driver, were into each other from the outset and had the rest of us in
stitches. It broke the ice and everyone
knew our motley crew was going to click.
The first day dawned
grey, wet and 8C, in stark contrast to the 28C of the previous day. A bus took us to the Chicago Harley-Davidson
dealership where our brand new bikes were waiting. We had a quick spin around the enormous
carpark, as much to give Gary a quick look at our skills in addition to getting
a feel for the bikes. Everyone in the
group were experienced riders, especially the two Welsh lads who had a done a
fair bit of trackwork and Rob who had some racing experience. Then a quick briefing from Gary, particularly
on the nuances of riding the busy Interstates and we were off.
 |
| Australians travel a long way to get to the start point of this special journey. |
Sadly, not all Route
66 still exists. When the Interstates
were built, it was often over the old highway and riding the original road
means using these super highways too. It
can be daunting, as there is no lane discipline and the big 18 wheelers pay
little heed to a gaggle of bikes trying their best to stay together. We also discovered Route 66 runs parallel to
the interstate for many miles and one occasion we had the unusual experience of
barrelling along the old road with the interstate to our left and a railroad on
our right, the 18 wheelers gave us a blast as did the monster Amtrak train
coming in the opposite direction pulling a mile of freight, a noisy but welcome
greeting to America.
We rode just 300 kms
that first day but it took its toll, we were tired from jetlag, the stress of unfamiliar
conditions, intermittent rain and the pace.
We were happy to make our first destination, Springfield, Illinois and
we had started to gel as a group. It’s
worth mentioning a bit about American drivers.
By and large we found them to be much better than expected. The speed limit on the interstates is usually
120 KPH. We rarely saw anyone exceeding
this and even though there is no lane discipline, lane changing is usually done
sensibly. We also discovered the US does not seem obsessed with OH &
S. Roadworks do not slow traffic to a
crawl with reduced speeds or traffic lights.
For the most part they get on with the job and traffic hurtles by undeterred. But and it’s a BIG BUT, numerous signs that
warn: ‘Hit worker - $20,000 fine and 14 years in gaol’. Now that gets your attention.
From Springfield we left
Illinois and crossed into the state of Missouri. ‘California Sunriders’ have a key to the
Chain of Rocks Bridge, so we were able to ride across this massive old relic
and stare down at the mighty Mississippi in full flood. Next stop was the Miramec Caverns, hideout of
Jesse James and his gang, before reaching Rolla in the heart of the
Ozarks. This is serious duelling banjos
country, so Jenks, who looked like Attilla the Hun, had strict instructions to
watch our backs.
It was foggy when we
left Rolla, bound for Tulsa and the road crossed briefly into Kansas before reaching
the state line of Oklahoma. By now we
started to notice the many derelict gas stations and budget motels that had
closed down following the introduction of the interstates. Oklahoma has done it tough over the years. The dustbowl of the thirties forced thousands
of ‘Okies’ and their families to load up their creaking jalopies and head west in
search of work in the orchards of California.
Today they have to contend with annual tornados of increasing
ferocity. Oddly enough Oklahoma has more
of the original old road and in better condition than the other seven states it
crosses.
We overnight in
Weatherford and are up early next day bound for Texas. We ride through the oil town of Shamrock,
filling up at one of the original service stations of the old road before passing
through McLean and onto our final destination, Amarillo. We stayed at the Big Texan Steak House and
Motel where the courtesy limos sported longhorns on their bonnets as wide as
the car itself. Over the road we went
for dinner where the menu offers a 72 oz steak.
Eat that and get one free!
Next day dawned bright
and clear. New Mexico beckoned and the
high country toward Santa Fe. Everywhere
we looked there were towering mesas, sweeping plains and soaring escarpments off
in the distance. It all looked strangely
familiar, then it occurred to me I had been watching this scenery for years on
TV and in movies. This was real Cowboy
and Indian Territory. Riding into the lovely
city of Santa Fe was a revelation, not a skyscraper in sight. We had a lay day in Santa Fe and spent it
wandering around the central plaza and later a trolley car ride around the
city. The Cathedral Basilica of Saint
Francis of Assisi was the highlight. At
some point in the Santa Fe’s history the city elders decreed no other building
was to exceed the height of the cathedral, hence the three story limit. Santa Fe is reputed to have the cleanest air
of any city in the USA and actors such as Shirley McLean, Julia Roberts and
Gene Hackman have a home there. Tommy
Lee Jones has his ranch nearby where much of the movie ‘No Country for Old Men’
was shot. Route 66 it seems is a natural
magnet for the movie industry as we were to learn in days to come.
It was cool on the
morning we left Santa Fe, not unexpected at such altitude, but it soon warmed
up as we headed for Gallup, New Mexico. Approaching
Gallup I had my only really bad riding moment.
It wasn’t raining, but scattered high altitude storms had left the
roadway wet. We were doing about 80 kph
on a straight road when I found myself on a strip of slick black bitumen about
2 metres wide. The bike started to
squirm disconcertingly all by itself, almost as if the back tyre had suddenly
blown. It lasted about 60 or 70 metres
as I gently eased the Harley over to a rougher surface for grip, careful not to
touch the brakes or throttle. It was so
bad I remember thinking: ‘Do I go down with bike and hope the crash bars will
protect me’, or ‘Do I step off and kick away from the 350 kg machine and hope
it doesn’t crush me’. It didn’t come to
that of course and eventually my heart returned to its normal rate. Jenks, riding about 50 metres behind me
experienced exactly the same drama. We
compared notes at our next stop and agreed it wasn’t aquaplaning, not enough
water. Route 66 is constantly being
repaired due to its age and we figured it may have been tar rising to the
surface in the hot sun, then solidifying later to form this skidpan like
surface.
Our hotel in Gallup
was called the El Rancho. I loved this place,
decorated very much in the style of the old Wild West, complete with a working Pianola
in the huge lobby and a surrounding first floor balcony completing the
look. Every room was named after the
movie star who stayed there with a name plate above the door and portrait on a
wall inside. As fate would have it, Jeff
and I scored the Lucille Ball room. My
wife Christine loves Lucy and one her favourite movies; ‘The Long Long Trailer’
was filmed nearby with husband Desi.
Next day we rode
through more magnificent country with wide open spaces and still at high
altitude, our first destination being Winslow, Arizona. Yes, you guessed right, we just had to stand
on that corner made famous by ‘The Eagles’.
And that corner is now a major tourist attraction, complete with a
lifesize bronze statue of the dude ‘standing on the corner’. Leaving Winslow we rode through the strange
and alien landscape of the Petrified Forest for about 30 kilometres. Our destination was the town of Williams,
gateway to the Grand Canyon and we had the next day off to take it all in.
Yet another beautiful morning
for our 100 kilometre ride to see this stunning natural wonder. I don’t intend to try and describe the Grand
Canyon, I don’t have the literary skill.
Suffice to say it is enormous and breathtaking. The scale is so immense that no photograph
ever taken comes close to doing it justice.
My one regret: not taking the helicopter ride, at $290, a steal.
Next day we knew we
were in for a scorcher. Gary had briefed
us on just how hot the Mojave desert
could be, but none of us realized just how
hot. Mark hosed us down with cold water
from the truck before we left the little town of Oatman, where had stopped to
mingle with the tame Arizona burros wandering the street. As we climbed into the hills it got steadily
hotter. By the time we reached Sitgreave’s
Pass it had reached furnace like intensity and my air temperature gauge on the
bike was showing 120F! There was now a
real concern about losing concentration through dehydration. We pulled over at Dead Man’s bend, so named
because the Okies, heading west back in the 30’s, would stop there and make the
journey at night to escape the searing heat.
Dozens perished when their heavily loaded trucks toppled over the edge
and down into the unforgiving ravine below.
There are still wooden crosses dotting the steep slope paying tribute to
those desperate souls who died so many decades ago.
Yet another big drink,
another hosing and we were ready for the long ride into Needles, California. After
an hour we stopped once more for yet another hosing, even more electrolyte and
were greatly relieved to finally make the last 120 kms into the Best Western
and a welcoming pool. By now it had
become routine for Mark to open the back of the truck and dole out frosty cans to
his thirsty charges. This time we helped
him enthusiastically and the roller door damn near came off its runners. It was abnormally hot for early May and Gary,
who has a well researched scale of ‘Hot’, ‘Very Hot’, and ‘F**king Hot’, put it
well and truly in the latter category.
Over the evening meal,
relaxed and much cooler, we learned from Gary about some of the movies filmed
along this particular stretch. The
obvious one of course was ‘Easy Rider’, where a number of locations were used,
including some of the old buildings. The
quaint little town of Madrid was where much of ‘Wild Hogs’ was made and Stephen
Spielberg’s first film ‘Duel’ was filmed nearby. I remember one long desolate and very straight
piece of Route 66 looking particularly familiar and Gary said it was where many
of the scenes from Denzel Washington’s post-apocalyptic film ‘The Book of Eli’
was made. No wonder he looked so hot
most of the time!
It was cooler the next
day, but still around 30C for our penultimate leg into Victorville. We crossed the Devil’s Playground and still
more of the Mojave Desert. We stopped in
the strange little town of Amboy, virtually abandoned years earlier before some
chap bought the entire place on e-bay for $425,000, petrol station, cafe,
motel, the lot.
The less said about the
manic 120 freeway kilometres from Victorville to LA the better, suffice to say,
imagine being the ball in a pinball machine and you get the picture. But we finally made it to the Santa Monica
Pier, the official end to Route 66. It
was a euphoric moment with lots of unseemly behavior, high fives and man hugs. Not only had we completed one of the world’s great
rides, we had made friends that may well last a lifetime. Facing a common foe united - that kind of
thing. Route 66 is not the enemy, but a challenging
ride on many levels and extremely satisfying when finished.
It would be remiss of
me not to pass comment on our bikes. They were brand new and had no
modifications to allow for better breathing or performance. Everyone agreed they were supremely
comfortable, although a bit down on power.
They had the 1690cc motor and even with heat deflectors, ran incredibly hot, especially in
traffic. But they did the job well,
eating up the miles with the engine ticking over between 2000 and 3000 rpm,
totally unstressed and relaxing for the rider.
Harleys are often criticised for their lack of handling, poor brakes and
a variety of other perceived faults. People
sometimes forget Harleys are made largely for the American market. Their design brief: a bike capable of
crossing great distances of mostly flat country with maximum comfort AND
looking good at the same time. To the
best of my recollection the XR1200 is the only bike ever made by The Motor
Company designed to suit European tastes.
America is the new Rome, they do it their way, like it or lump it.
The Americans I met
were warm friendly and courteous people.
The USA is a proud nation and the stars and stripes are flown
everywhere. I never quite understood
Americans before, even though we are saturated with their culture, but I now
have a far better idea about where they are coming from.
Our journey ended at
the ‘Bubba Gump’ restaurant on Santa Monica Pier, yet another movie connection
and no prizes for guessing which one. It
had been a great adventure and one I may well repeat one day, although
‘California Sunriders’ also do a Wild West tour and a Rockies tour – tempting. If you decide to give it go, do some research,
pack all the kit you have, pray for a great bunch of fellow travellers and you
will return home richer for the experience.
 |
| You can now collect a certificate from the Information Centre at Santa Monica. |
 | ||
| The Mother Road. |
You can view A California clip for Travelling Route 66 on the Oatman Road, click on the link below the Route 66 picture.
 |
www.youtube.com/watch?v=36Yqn05K_6Y |
When you are ready to go like Chis and Jeff, just contact me and you have started the journey.
Pictures, Map and Video are used with permission of California Sunriders California USA.
Comments
Post a Comment