At last, a goodnight sleep. Absolute silence for once, not even noisy neighbours. No locomotives, no cars, no trucks… nothing. The bed could have been softer, but compared to a 2cm thick self-inflating mattress it was good enough.
The free breakfast was as bad as they come, but cereal is cereal and pancakes are pancakes… and carbs are carbs, so we took in all there was on offer.
Checked out we headed west on a route we hoped was light on both traffic and hills, and our ageing legs. We would have loved to have spent more time exploring Oklahoma City, but with two monster bikes cramping our style the city tour would need to wait until another day.
Most of our route was not on Route 66, as the original road appears to be buried under I-40, a road that we wouldn’t wish to venture on to even if we were allowed.
Followed conflicting instruction from both Google Maps and our Garmin cycle computers we muddled our we through relatively quiet streets until we broke clear off the city as we passed through Bethany and the Willy Post Airport. We clipped the northern edge of Lake Overholser, peddled over an old bridge that looked like it should be on Route 66, now dedicated the bipeds and bikes, before finally joining Route 66.
Before long we arrived at our first town of the day Yukon, although it would have been much faster if it hadn’t been for the strong headwind, restricting our speed along the flats to an average of 9 mph and requiring us to cycle on the downhill sections, which is just a little frustrating. No, actually it is very very frustrating!
A party was in full swing when we arrived in Yukon, with the main road through the town closed. We assumed that was for motor vehicles only as there was a cycle sized gap between the blocking ‘Road Closed’ gates.
We had gatecrashed the annual Czech Festival, which I can only guess is held due to large Czech community in the area, but I’ll leave that one for a little more research when I get home.
After El Reno, the next town, my Garmin clearly got bored as it took us off Route 66 and out on to more rural roads, maybe to save us from getting squashed on the increasingly busy road. Just as we thought that the Garmin’s had done well the solid surface of the road stopped, replaced with a loose gravel track.
To retrace our steps was not an option, at least for us it wasn’t, so forward we went. The going was quite tough on us and the bikes, especially the tyres. I am becoming a little concerned about the state of my rear tyre to the degree I bought a folding backup tyre this morning after stumbling across a cycle shop in Bethany. I also have a cunning plan to mitigate some of the risks of it exploding at an inconvenient moment, which I may execute tonight.
I’m definitely regretting not splashing out on four Schwalbe Marathon Tour Plus tyres for the bikes before. The tyres looked fine before we started, but I guess the 2000 miles that they already had on them, and the punishing 1000 that we have just put on them, is starting to take their toll and I certainly wouldn’t want to be in the middle of the desert when one goes pop.
The gravel road lasted about 5 miles, which took about an hour to navigate, landing us on an original and quiet stretch of Route 66. This section was constructed of concrete, with expansion gaps approximately every ten metres, although I am sure there is a US imperial spacing measurement, so maybe every thirty feet.
Over time these gaps have widened, become misaligned with one another or the edges have crumbled, making for a rather uncomfortable ride. The worst sections were those that had likely disintegrated altogether, patched very poorly with tarmac. I can imagine sections would be uncomfortable in a car never mind what it felt like on a bike with dodgy tyres.
The wind was still in our face, so progress continues to be decidedly slow, but at least now we were cycling on the original Route 66. Apart from the odd speeding car, we also came across another road user, a road user even slower than us… a tortoise. Assuming it hadn’t retracted into its shell in the middle of the road as that’s where it was planning to chill for the night, Deborah picked it up and placed it on an area of grass that it appeared to be heading for before the jokers on the bikes turned up.
Cycling on we finally made it to the El Reno West service area, where conveniently for us there is also a KOA campground.
Checked in and $25 poorer we set up camp in our own plot with our own table and benches, electricity point and water tap.
As it was only 6 pm, before heading to find food I decided now was the time to execute my cunning plan to make my tyres last a little longer, by switching the front and back tyres. Doing so allowed me to inspect the tyres a little closer and was quite shocked by the state of the rear tyre, to the degree I applied a tyre patch on one area of the rear tyre before switching it to the front.
With the risk of an exploding rear tyre temporarily mitigated we headed to the shower, before going to the Cherokee Restaurant in search of sustenance and redeem our 10% off voucher from the campground…
Me: (holding the menu in one hand) Is there anything vegetarian on the menu?
Waitress: No
Me: Can you make any if the vegetarian side dishes a main dish?
Waitress: No
Me: Couldn’t you make the Mac & Cheese a main, but without the bacon on the top?
Waitress: No
Me: So there is absolutely nothing that you can do for a vegetarian?
Waitness: No. Sorry.
Me: Subway it is then.
Two Subway Veggie Delights and two large hot chocolates later and we are back at the tent. I’m sitting at the aforementioned table and benches with long trousers and a down jacket on and am still cold. It seems the weather, at least at night, is changing. Maybe we will be able to justify all those cold-weather clothes we are carrying after all!
Hi Bob and Deborah,
Just checking up on your adventures. Looks as you are having fun. I got poured on coming into Amarillo a few days ago. It killed both my phone charging cord on my bike, as well as my the backup. So, I’m now relegated to using my charging brick as I ride. A bit inconvenient. But, then I think of what you two are dealing with and then I realize how spoiled I am in comparison. Every time I see a bicyclist struggling up a major hill I think about what troopers you are. I spent a couple of nights in Gallup so I could ride up to 4 corners and stand in New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado
and Utah at the same time and then spent a couple of hours riding around Utah and Colorado before returning to Gallup. If you are up to it, you might consider this side trip. It is 125 miles away from Gallup. This morning I’m off to see the Grand Canyon and then back to Williams to continue on my way.
Take care, have fun and be safe,
Charles
Hello from you home stats Charles,
Lovely to hear from you and great to hear your adventure is continuing. Sorry to hear about you charging problems, but I’m sure you will cope. Apart from 15 minutes in Chicago, we still haven’t had any rain, although we are being told it’s going to drop below freezing overnight on Thursday, so it seems our luck with the weather may be running out.
We would love to do the detour to Four Corners, but it’s a 4-5 day detour for us, so may just stick with the Grand Canyon detour we are planning, so long as we don’t have any problems before then. We need to get to San Franciso after LA, so would hate to run out of time. We are taking a day off in Shamrock today and should be in Amarillo by Thursday, then Adrian on Friday… half way!!
My only concern at the moment is the state of one of my tyres. While I have bought a folding spare I may try to find a replacement in Amarillo as there will be little chance of picking anything up until Albuquerque after that.
Safe travels, enjoy the ride and keep in touch.
Cheers
Bob