We woke after an amazing night’s sleep in the most comfortable bed of the trip, that is apart from the 2cm thick self-inflating mattress we use when sleeping in our tent. We also had the longest lie in of the trip to date, even longer than our rest days, as we had a short 30 miles to cycle to our last overnight stop of the trip with Warmshowers hosts in Glendora, giving us a 50-mile final day through the city to the Pacific Ocean.
We had originally chosen Glendora as the evening stop when we were planning to camp near Canjon Junction, making arrangements with our Warmshower hosts months ago when still in Scotland, however, due to our unexpected stay in the Wigwam Motel we found ourselves 20 miles closer to Glendora than originally planned. Rather than replanning our final two days, we decided to go with a lazy penultimate day instead.
Once we were packed up ready for the road I gave Charles a call to thank him for the treat of the night in the Wigwam Motel. We talked about our journeys and experiences for 45 minutes, while Deborah lay flat on the bed snoozing. By the time I hung up the phone it was almost 11 am, the sun was high in the sky and it was shaping up to be a hot day.
We pulled out of the motel car park onto a relatively quiet Route 66. As we didn’t want to arrive at our Warmshowers host’s home a lazy day would involve stopping whenever there was something to stop to look at or even when there was just a piece of grass by the side of the road that looked comfortable.
Over the course of the day, we passed an old Route 66 gas station and a dinner, but apart from that all evidence of the old Route 66 was long gone. That said, Route 66 was certainly not forgotten, with the Route 66 logo becoming more generously splashed around the roadway as we closed on our final destination.
After a very relaxing, but rather uneventful ride, we pulled off the route and headed to our Warmshowers hosts home. We had received a message from them in the early afternoon, while Deborah was holding her head in her hands attempting to warm her brain, that we could drop in anytime. On heading up through the suburban streets we pulled over at a yard sale after the homeowners shouted over an offer to sell us an electric bike. Peter and Janice were keen cyclists years ago, but the family seems to have put a stop to that.
Time was getting on, so once we established they didn’t have an electric bike on sale after all, much to Deborah’s disappointment, we headed on up the road, only to be chased by a guy on an electric fat bike. We were offered food and drink as he cycled alongside us, but as we were only a few minutes away from Ken and Susan’s home at this point we declined as he took off at full speed, shouting ‘This seems like cheating’.with his legs spread out sideways, to which I responded… ‘It is cheating!’.
Ken was in the garden when we pulled up onto the drive. After parking our bikes in the garage and had met Susan, and Neil the Dalmatian, we were offered a cold drink and went out to the back garden next to the pool to rest our legs. Due to the number of bikes hanging up in the garage, including a tandem, it was clear from the outset that they shared one passion. I would also like to share another passion, the one relating to the Triumph TR6 sitting in the garage next to the bikes, but as yet Deborah hasn’t allowed me to buy a classic sports car… one day!
We talked about cycling, politics and family until the sun was starting to set over the mountains of the Angeles National Forest in the background. As we showered Ken and Susan prepared a lovely veggie meal. They had been reading our blog for the past few days and noticed a common theme with us struggling to find veggie calories, so they went out of their way to feed us ready for our last day on the trail.
We continued talking until close to 11 pm, by which time we were finding it hard to keep our eyes open due to it being well after our usual bedtime.
With a comfortable bed in the family room off the main sitting room, miles from any of the things that had kept us awake at night over the past two months, so it wasn’t likely falling to sleep would be a problem.