Route 66 Day 3 by Bryan Patterson June 9, 2015
- Wow! What a day. A great ride and mainly on Route 66 which had
seemed impossible, as each day went by, and yes this is only the third
day! We had befriended a Japanese cyclist Shinsuke, from Tokyo, who was
also doing Route 66, but in his own time. He did say that once he
reached Chicago he would cycle on to New York City and that he might
then fly to Portugal and continue through Europe and back to Japan. We
all made a pact that if he did this we wanted to ride the last mile
with him when he was back in Japan. I guess we all hope that this is
what he did. A wonderful person, great smile, and a terrific
personality. Go Shin!! His blog is http//afoolonthebike.blog.fc2.com
you should follow him.
We were camped at Needles which is aprox 500 feet above sea level. We
all set off hoping that this would be a long ride on 66, and that’s
what it turned out to be. We crossed over the Colorado river and into
Arizona and headed towards the pass. Still hot with the occasional
cloud that was heaven when it passed overhead! The ride was pretty flat
with some slight uphill cycling, but up ahead was the pass - the
Sitgreaves pass 3550 feet above sea level.
I have to say that the kids, Karina Giselle, Cristian and Jeremy were
riding really well taking it in turns to ride, or just riding on. Sidd
was still banned from riding after his heat exhaustion experience. He
was going to take a 2 day rest and then see how he was. Certainly the
three all seemed to have found their cycling legs, or so we thought.
I was cycling at the back with Karina Giselle who was going great. Past
a Jerome sign and wondered if I was back in the Bronx!! A while later
we rode past the ‘kerchief bush with lots of tie ons. We were on the
incline towards the pass when K had a really bad nose bleed. She had to
sit down and take a rest. Thankfully a Volunteer Posse patrol car came
by and helped out. He asked if she needed an ambulance to which she
replied and emphatic NO. James came back with the van and that was it
for Karina, who fortunately got a ride to the top of the pass!
Meanwhile Al and Mark were really riding well up the very curvy road to
the top of the pass. At the back yours truly was steadily making my way
up the twisting road. Before the top of the pass we came upon Oatman, a
town way back in time. Donkeys roaming the streets, old buildings, and
the sheriff who had a shoot out with the bank robber! This had been an
old mining town, very wealthy and prosperous. Now it was a great
destination on Route 66. We hung out there and who should arrive but
Shin our Japanese friend, we just couldn’t shake him off.
Onwards and up to the top of the pass and then a great ride down. Once
again Highway 40 reared its ugly head and there it was again. Into the
van and we drove to Kingman our next pit stop. We signed into the camp
site and then headed off to the Grand Canyon. There was no way that we
came this close and didn’t go and see it. It’s on the Hualapei tribe
reservation and took just over the hour to get there, with signs saying
mind the cattle on the road.
Wow what a sight, unbelievable, spectacular, beautiful, mind blowing
still doesn’t do the Canyon justice. We really couldn’t tear ourselves
away, but after the sunset we were the last visitors to leave.
What a day this had been. Tired and very hungry we made our way back to Kingman and a meal.
