Some final thoughts!

Well, I have shuttled everyone to their respective planes and trains and the trip is now officially over.  A few final thoughts!

It was a great adventure and, in my mind, an unqualified success.  I set out to learn about long distance bicycle touring and I certainly did that.  I will have no qualms at all about taking another trip either with a group or by myself.  It was a great learning experience.  I saw some neat things and parts of the country that I had never experienced.  I made some great friends and I had a lot of fun – most days!  I survived the heavily trafficed roads in Chicago, St. Louis, Oklahoma City and LA.  I survived the roller coaster roads of the Ozarks in Missouri where we sometimes hit grades up to 12%.  I survived the long climbs up the mountains in New Mexico peaking at over 7,000 feet.  And, all of this riding a bike with 45 to 50 pounds of gear on it!  Some days were better than other days but taken as a whole it was a great experience.

I have no regrets about leaving the trip when I did.  And, as it turned out, had I not been able to go back out to the Mojave to play ‘road angel’ the rest of the group would have been in a world of hurt on the trek from Needles, CA to Fenner, Amboy and finally Newberry Springs, CA.  Dave, the tour leader, told me that he would have never attempted the run from Needles all the way to Amboy had I not been available for ‘Plan B’ – which we implemented in spades because of the high winds.  That little adventure was far more rewarding to me than simply grinding along everyday on my bike.  And, everyone was very happy I was there with a truck load of food, water, Gatorade, etc – not to mention hauling people into camp off the windy highway!

Reuniting with the gang for the final 50 mile ride in to Santa Monica from Glendora on the last day was great fun.  So, for me, the trip could not have worked out better.

There was much discussion at dinner the last night and in the day or two afterward.  The consensus was pretty much that no one would recommend this particular trip to anyone.  That was even true of the experienced tourers who had been on several long distant tours before.  The Route 66 route is really better done on a motorcycle or a car – bicycles, not so much.  As I stated in an earlier post, the eastern part of the trip was interesting and fun because there was a lot to see, i.e. little cafes, museums, Rte 66 landmarks, etc.  Once we got into western Oklahoma, support services, interesting things to see, etc just got farther and farther apart until we got to New Mexico.   The mountains in New Mexico were pretty and provided some nice riding – even in spite of the 6,000 to 7,000 foot elevation.  However, once past Flagstaff, AZ  it just turned into grinding out mile after mile through country with sparce support services and often high winds. I don’t think anyone has fond memories of trying to get across the Mojave.

So, no regrets about anything.  I am already thinking about where the next trip might be.  Seeing the country on a bicycle is pretty cool.  You see a lot that you would easily miss in a car.  I suspect there is another trip in my future.  If it’s a group trip, I think it will be a month or less.  If it’s on my own, it will be shorter days, more motels and on my own schedule.  Now I have all the gear – I just need to figure out the next destination!!  So, until the next bicycle trip – I’m out!  Thanks for reading.