Route 66 and a long trip.

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acpeacemaker

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 8, 2011
Messages
901
Location
Colorado
Well I've been contemplating on doing this for a long time. Yesterday I finally bit the bullet and went and got mostly everything I could think I'd need. I decided to take a bicycle tour solo across quite a few states.

I've talked with a lot of state trooper headquarters to find out laws of riding on the shoulder/same laws as driving a motor vehicle etc. Most states from here west have nothing serious. Oklahoma cant ride turnpikes but no biggie. Starting in MO....

Can't say i'm not excited, but nervous or cautious is definitely there. My biggest concern is the country 2 lane highways with no shoulder.(Which is literally the beginning so I hope it doesnt ruin the whole thing.)

My other fear is getting robbed. I have a custom sig .40 cal and a .38 special. But something keeps eating at me saying dont bring it like if I do, the worst will happen as expected. So I went and bought a nice lightweight quickdraw knife.

The only other fear is I will be going South through Oklahoma into New Mexico. First city I've never been in is Roswell and on a bike...at night....so kinda erie.

I will be taking lots of pics including night with an slr camera. Everyone that knows me, knows i like taking a lot of scenery pics. (From other posts)

If anyone has done anything like this and has any tips or anything cool to see please let me know. :) I'm headed out.

Andrew
 
Well...I'll do this like my Amazonite post. I'm hoping to get some aquamarines and sylvanite ore along the way from known areas I've been in the past. I might even go for some meteorite hunting down the road.

Last night was very cool after the long week of heat with insane humidity that enables migraines. I ended up riding till my legs hardened up and dark out. Thinking maybe should get some creatine to put in my camelbak when i find a city.

Found a a small forest by a pond and threw my swiss bag on the ground and passed out. Woke up right before daylight to a goose with her babies in my face. Animals are always attracted to me for some reason.

Andrew
 

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That's some nice wake-up call. :lol:

Meteorite hunting would be cool. Are you doing it on a dry lake or a known strew field?
When I went to Australia I tried to do some hunting for australites (tectites), meteorites and gold. All I found in the desert were traces of the gold rush like lead bullets and rusty rivets from water distilleries. I had a great week at least and had to be contend with buying my Aussie meteorites on ebay. :mrgreen:

Happy hunting and keep posting!

Göran
 
They wouldn't stop biting my socks! Lol

Theres a dry lake bed I know of in New Mexico I thought about hunting the meteorites. Then I know of a field and a couple dried up lakes in Nevada. I've never hunted in Arizona but maybe. Hopefully if I find something it doesnt weigh 50lb with no way to carry it.

There's a mountain range in New Mexico I believe that is supposedly haunted with a lost treasure story. Supposedly anyone that goes in after dusk wont come back. Of course I'm the kind of person thats up for a challenge...

I would like to get up to Mountain of the Holy Cross in Colorado before the aspen start changing. That treasure story of spaniard gold is true. I've seen the caverns personally.

All in all the ride is fairly comfortable. Only real complaint is i need saddlebags. They werent in any bike shops but online and i obviously wasnt going to be around. My main concern is keeping water on hand in the dryer climates.

Andrew
 
3 am, pouring rain so i figured I'd break for a few in a carwash bay i found open. Not going to lie my butt hurts, but I expected it. I might be 40 but i'm super thankful I didn't forget leg day lol. Cause my legs are still feeling it.

You might wonder why I chose the bike I did, instead of like an expensive highway style bike. I needed the versatility and i'm going to be in offroad mountain terrain at some point. I also didn't want super expensive because if something breaks (I did bring parts) or I decide to take an Uber for 4 hours I can give it away to a homeless person or someone. And pick up another bike somewhere down the road if I want.

Are there any fly tyers on the forum or just any bug experts? I tied flys for almost 20 years and can't think of what this is on the yellow pole. Anyone have an idea? I thought dragonfly at first but no idea now. It was about 1 1/2 inches long.

Then i had another little guy come say hi on my pack while I was eating. (praying mantis)

Top speed so far 31mph

It's been a long day but I'm not done yet to hit my goal.

Andrew
 

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I have ridden a long ways from 4 this morning till now. I have creatine loaded in my camelbak, icyhot slathered on both thighs, and tylenol extra strength going altogether. It rained a lot last night but now sunny and just hit 80°f. I slept on a park bench for 3 hrs under a pavillion lol..yipee

I have not seen many great things through MO for most of it. Maybe its just i'm from here though so its not interesting. 10 miles from Granby, Mo.

*This goose pic is from the other day, but i thought it came out really good is why im posting it.
 

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Got sick today. I might have over done it with the creatine. But then a headache that made me almost go dizzy and black out. The one thing I have noticed is it makes it hard when no one is there to push you. (Even if you are just doing it for yourself.)

15 miles to the Oklahoma border! One state almost down. It has literally been evrery hill working against me today. I had to walk a few. One hill was 3 miles long and felt like it was straight up. Ugh

Andrew
 

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Been a long night...Hitched a ride, but got through a state I was dreading.

Middle of New Mexico, 5 am and this is what i pulled up to. 😆👽👽👽
 

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Welcome to Corona!
A place where you don't know whither to ask for a beer or a mask! :lol: :lol: :lol:
 
Gold said:
Welcome to Corona!
A place where you don't know whither to ask for a beer or a mask! :lol: :lol: :lol:

Haha spot on! I was thinking same thing, but i got coffee and an alien lol.

Andrew
 
Martijn said:
acpeacemaker said:
Middle of nowhere...

My wife wanted that one for her collection... if you don't mind.
Beautiful capture of that cloud. It's been great to follow your journey so far.
Keep us updated!

I don't mind ❤ There's a lot of people out there that are infatuated with clouds. Me included. This pic is for her. It's not mine but I would have loved to been there to see it. I have someone that commissioned a painting from it. This is Moscow.

And most certainly will do! Thank you guys :)
 

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UncleBenBen said:
I'll still say you've missed your calling. You have such a great eye for photography. I still have this one as the background on my phone since 2017. I get a LOT of comments on it.

IMG_2164.JPG

Thank you! That actually means a lot you still have it! ❤ I have so many different ones but that truly was an amazing sight!

Andrew
 
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