June 7, 2015
- Early start with 4 young riders that was tough!! Just getting them
out of bed was a miracle! However we rode out of our secret training
facility and found Route sixty six just where we expected to find it
right on Cajun Boulevard out of San Bernadino. Oh given our secret
training location away!. So we were on our way, but boy it was tough
from the start through the foothills of the Southern Rockies. Plenty of
ups and not enough downs!! Everyone was out and on the road, except
Cristian who was sharing a bike with Jeremy – we just couldn’t take any
more bikes – but he was to get his chance to ride.
Got to tell you that the scenery is way different from the Bronx, very
hilly and steep, with narrow roads to begin with which got even
narrower! Houses were different and lots of room between them, very
parched landscape and gardens. I guess with the drought it’s been
tough.
Outside of the city boundary of San Berandino we rode down a very steep
hill to turn right to continue on Route 66. Bit of a dilapidated and
broken up road I have to say, but Harleys galore going the other way
past us We rode on along this iconic route alongside interstate
15 on one side a the transcontinental railway with three engines
pulling along the huge containers stacked two on top of each other.
Then the van arrived with bad news! Up ahead Route 66 literally was no
more. It has fallen into such bad repair that no vehicles including
bike could carry on! Literally within3 hours Route 66 was no
more. Disappointment was not the word, what were we going to do. We had
to find Route 66 again.
Apparently Route 66 was over the mountains and about 8 miles away. We
took the bikes in the van in two waves along Interstate 15 and tried to
find Route 66. Man this was tough so we did some riding literally
through desert! Brush, small plants, plenty of sand occasionally some
sort of house, really nothing else! Boom two tires are punctured mine
and Karina’s actually Giselle’s. So we vanned it to the nearest bike
shop in Hesperia to get them repaired, while the other group took off
to find Route 66.
James Karina Jeremy and myself waited for the punctures to be repaired
and once sorted set off again to catch up with the other group. This
was tough as they had taken a wrong turn and ended up on a sand weather
beaten track out in the desert! We spent some time trying to
co-ordinate a meeting place but this is difficult when there are no
road signs. Finally after much conversation and some driving along
unknown routes we spotted them. Water was what they wanted most – yes
this was a very hot day and water is crucial! We all believe the theory
behind this adventure was that James had deliberately given them a
tough route so that he could heroically come to the rescue find the
group. As he was the one who talked them in from the desert. Having
said that Cristian said that this had been the most exciting day of his
life getting lost in the desert! Siddharth was just relieved to get his
hand on some water and literally bathed himself in it.
We had spent a considerable amount of time in finding the group and it
was getting very late and we still were in the middle of what can only
be described as desert. So the decision was made to pack all the bikes
and bodies into the van and get to our camp site at Yermo. Some
wonderful old farm machinery and old , but very broken buggies right
next to our camp. Must have been wonderful in the old days to have used
these to trek along Route 66.
We were all relieved to get there and set up camp. Showers were taken and food eaten and then to sleep.
My thoughts on this day 1 are that it’s very difficult to actually find
and stay on Route 66. It’s an old road and has not been maintained,
which is sad given the historic nature of the route. It was a very
frustrating day too with punctures and just plain not finding the
route. Being thrown off by unnamed roads and directions and finally
really only biking North and not making any headway to the East. Very
frustrating However tomorrow is another day as they say!!
