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Anyone ride the length of Route 66?

That'd be an awesome motorcycle trip for you and Mrs Bob, what an incredible trip!! We have a SH66 here in Idaho that i've riden, but it's just not the same haha... :{P
Idaho SH66.jpg
 
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East coast is well marked and easy to follow. The West coast is very easy to follow because it is in the desert. However, the middle. Oklahoma is a spot to have good maps. Also, at certain times different roads where part of Route 66. You have to watch out for wild life when you get around Springfield, I hit 3 turkeys going and 1 pig coming back.... Do not drive at night when in this section of the road.....
 
I live a couple hundred feet from Historic Rt. 66. Around here they make a big deal of it.
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My in-laws used to live in ABQ. My B.I.L. still lives there. We visit every couple of years. Lots of old retro motor court style motels still in that area, some are actually in decent repair!

I think our main interest would be Rt 66 from Chicago through ABQ and into Arizona.

Not sure how interested I am in driving into LA with its mess of traffic and generally crazy people, not even all that interested in crossing the border into California. We were there last year (by air & rental car) for an international fencing tournament with one daughter. Had been there before on business. I've seen enough of LA to last another lifetime.

Other daughter is a staff lawyer at Cisco Systems and lives in San Jose, that is barely tolerable up there, but mostly the roads are parking lots in the whole of Silicone Valley.
 
Route 66 guide books have arrived in the mail :)

Conversations have begun.

Looking at Joliet (just south of Chicago, and the city claims to be the 'gateway of Rt 66) to Albuquerque, NM as the likely starting-ending points. This could get real interesting. We have family in Albuquerque. Likely ship the bikes home from there and return home by air.
 
Sounds good, like a plan is coming together. Is time a factor, ruling out a return ride north through the Rockies before heading homeward across the plains states?
 
Rode through the Ozarks this summer. We were in Sullivan, MO and rode down a stretch of historic Route 66. I saw the sign and thought that would make a neat trip!

Also rode a section in Oklahoma.


JT
 
Sounds good, like a plan is coming together. Is time a factor, ruling out a return ride north through the Rockies before heading homeward across the plains states?

Not sure if time will be a factor or not. We are both semi-retired with flexible schedules.

Hiking a 280 mile section of Italy (Florence to Assisi to Rome) is high on our list of things to do. My guess is that will take about 28 days. 10 miles a day in mountains seems pretty reasonable. Italy is HOT in the summer. So likely a spring hike.

That said, riding Route 66 is probably a summer or maybe late summer/early fall ride.

I try to be around home from October 1 to February 1 for high school fencing season. I volunteer as a Saber fencing coach at a couple schools. Actual competitive season is pretty much October to July. I have been going to some national events with one of my kids (unofficial "adopted daughter" who is actually a foreign exchange student).

Soooo ... we fit our motorcycle adventures in between other adventures and in between scheduled about a dozen fencing competitions that I attend as a coach.
 
California on Route 66 has no resemblance to L.A. until the last 70 miles. You're only really "in L.A." the last 30.
 
Route 66 in Summer (June through August) is ok (bearable) through IL, MO, KS, partially OK. From OK more to the west probably most of that days triple digits temperatures. 2 years ago I went with my family over the spring break - the weather was great (except light snow in Flagstaff area).
One of the options for my long trip this year is Route 66 from Chicago to Texola (OK-TX border), in July. I doubt I'll be able to ride more to the west...
 
Route 66 in Summer (June through August) is ok (bearable) through IL, MO, KS, partially OK. From OK more to the west probably most of that days triple digits temperatures. 2 years ago I went with my family over the spring break - the weather was great (except light snow in Flagstaff area).
One of the options for my long trip this year is Route 66 from Chicago to Texola (OK-TX border), in July. I doubt I'll be able to ride more to the west...

It's all about hitting the road at dawn. I wish we could go in early May, that would be ideal despite a bit more rain in the east. The high elevation parts of NM and AZ aren't bad at all, but when you drop down it's like walking into an open furnace. It could easily be in the 120's in Needles in late June, so there's just no riding 9:30 am to 5 pm. Even with the cooling vest kept soaked it just gets stupid.
 
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