Wednesday, April 22, 2026

2026 Western Route 66 - Day 4

 Needles CA

Today’s ride is the longest of the tour at 107 miles. The forecast is for gusting tailwinds for most of the day, and while there is 2700 feet of climbing its mostly on long gentle railroad grades. All packed up and I had 10 minutes until the trailer was open to load, so I was able to relax and enjoy the sunrise.
Most of Ludlow is in ruins today. But even with water shipped into the community by rail from Newberry Springs, until 1902, Ludlow flourished during the late 19th century. It was an important railroad junction linking booming mining towns in Nevada to the south. With the National Trails Highway coming through in 1910, the economic base expanded. Unfortunately the rail lines were closed as the silver rush died out and then the town was dependent solely on Route 66. With the bypass in 1973, it went into an intense downward spiral. All that’s left is pretty much the I-40 off-ramp truckstop, cafe and motel.
Route 66 follows many rail lines and today we encountered many trains and a few required stops at level crossings.
Mike and I were enjoying the long downhill with a strong tailwind this morning. He was my assigned roommate last night, gonna kinda miss him tonight as we are now in hotels that have enough room to handle single occupancy for some in our group!
The Amboy Crater is 250 feet tall and 1500 feet in diameter. It sits in one of the youngest volcanic fields in the United States. The field was created in at least 4 different periods of eruptions, resulting in a nested group of volcanic cinder cones, the most recent eruption was approximately 10,000 years ago.
The entrance to the landmark was the first van stop of the day. If the rear wheel looks like it’s digging in, it is. It sank in the sand and they had to unhitch the trailer to dig it out!
With the job under control I took a slight detour to the viewing platform before heading back out on the course.
The next stop was the town of Amboy. The community initially supported salt mining activity in 1858 and grew larger with the arrival of the railroad in the early 1880’s. With the post war surge in travel it became a boom town. 
Shoes tied to an old stump, a Carmen Gia painted with Route 66, and freestanding gate with locks; maybe someday this Amboy roadside attraction will make the books.
Up until 1973 when the town was by-passed by the I-40; the cafe, motel, cabins, service stations and garages operated 24 hours a day. The owner of the town, Buster Burris began bulldozing structures to avoid tax penalties. Today only the cafe/gift shop are in operation.
The next 30 miles were along a closed section of Route 66. Closed because floods have damaged or destroyed dozens of bridges. Lon says that they have been closed for at least 15 years. Some of the delay is the transportation department and Route 66 historical societies are at odds on how they should be rebuilt.
The Roadrunner Retreat Restaurant was one of many that served Route 66. It was a relative newcomer, opening in 1962. Like many others bypassed by I-40; it served thousands of travelers and then closed shortly after I-40 opened. The building burned down in 2020, and now the site awaits restoration.
Don and Barb at the top of Cadiz summit. There are ruins here of an old gas station and a planned van stop. Apparently the van was still stuck so we rolled on.
Partial bridge collapse 
Nearly total collapse
Bridge out!
The good news is this section of road is closed because of nearly a dozen damaged or washed out bridges. Don, Barb, and I rolled through, sometimes being able to cross, but other times having to ride the gravel road section that bypassed the bridge. 
The town of Essex. A self-serve post office, but mostly a ghost town!
Lunch was on our own at the truck stop at Fenner on the I-40. I had been craving a hot dog lunch all morning and luckily I got the last one! It was nice and cool in the store and quiet, until a bus load of German tourists rolled in. Their guide was telling them in German, I think, that they should buy something if they like it, but the selection will be much larger in Seligman!
Ten miles of gentle climbing to the town of Goff were next up. Constant train traffic on the right and beautiful lush desert to the left. 
I arrived at Goff and stopped to take a picture of the Goff Mohave Desert Heritage and Cultural Museum. A volunteer told me the museum was open and I should stop in. 
So I did and went to the school house museum and the door was locked. Oh well, decided to look around the facility and took a photo of this truck.
At that moment another volunteer drove up in a golf cart and apologized that her associate was new and didn’t realize the museum was only open weekends. I told her about our ride, and she offered to open the museum for us, for a small donation to the Museum. I told her I was at the back of the pack and no one else was coming. So she gave me a private tour!
I asked her if I could play the old piano and she said yes, I asked her to take a picture that I could send to my piano teacher and she also shot a video.
It was a great museum and Shannon was a wonderful tour guide and yes I made a donation!
Leaving the museum I saw this sign which looks like it comes from the road to Oatman, which we will ride the day after tomorrow.
I arrived at the van stop just past the museum and confirmed that I was in fact the last rider of the group on the road. Don was there and got up to leave as I sat down. From here it’s 25 miles of downhill tailwind to Needles. After a few miles I caught Don and offered my wheel on the downhill. We made great time together and soon we were nearing the last challenge of the day.
We had 6 miles of I-40 interstate into Needles. The pavement was fresh and the shoulder was wide and nearly debris-free. Not much of a challenge at all. We continued and exited at River Road just three miles from the motel.
There was a short uphill to again cross I-40, but the motel came into view and the ride was complete! 
The motel is very nice, and best of all, a ground floor room (we store our bikes in the room overnight). Most these Route 66 motels do not have elevators, and not having to lug the bike and luggage up the stairs after a long day is a treat!
Dinner tonight and breakfast tomorrow are at the Wagon Wheel Restaurant across from the motel. Tonight’s chicken fried steak was delicious and the breakfast menu looks good too. They open at 6:30 am and we plan to eat there at 6:35am. Don’t go early, you’ll have to wait outside!

Load and roll to Kingman Arizona tomorrow at 8:00am, see you then!

Steve


Tuesday, April 21, 2026

2026 Western Route 66 - Day 3



 Ludlow CA

After a nice breakfast at Denny’s, we packed up and headed east. Rolling through town I picked up this train and we rode together for the first 20 miles of the ride. With the strong tailwinds I was happy to set the pace and did! We hopped on the Interstate for a couple of miles, the pavement was fresh and we had a strong tailwind. Soon we exited and rejoined Route 66.
Today’s destination is the Chevron/Cafe/Motel in Ludlow about 50 miles away. We will make a stop in Newberry Springs for the highlight of today’s tour; the Baghdad Cafe!
The town of Daggett, not much here except a sign trying to entice us to visit the Calico Ghose Town, 6 miles away. That would be a 12 mile detour so a relatively easy decision to press on. Besides the strong tailwinds were predicted to become headwinds soon after arriving at the Bagdad Cafe. You know what they say; ‘never waste a good tailwind!’
The motel sign next to the Bagdad cafe, no rooms in sight. This site was the location for the movie and it was certainly recognizable after our viewing last night.
Not sure if this is the same unit, but a Slipstream Trailer like this one was home to one of the characters in the movie, Rudy Cox. He was played by Jack Palance in the movie.
It’s no longer a cafe, but is a busy Route 66 roadside attraction. I picked up some nifty Route 66 socks inside. Several monitors were playing loops from the movie. 
English version movie poster
German version movie poster
Generally the movie starts out with a German couple getting into an argument in their rental car. She decides to leave him and walks to the Bagdad Cafe and checks into the motel. A classic ‘buddy’ movie where the antagonists (Tourist and Cafe Owner) start out at odds and become besties by the end of the movie. Apparently it became somewhat of a cult classic and some say was a major driver that influenced Germans to tour in the western United States. I don’t know about that, but today we did run into a good size group of French Tourists on rental Harleys!
Welcome to the Mohave Desert!
These Black Lava flows were prominent as we neared Ludlow. Tomorrow we will roll by Amboy Crater, a volcanic ring which was one of the sources of these flows.
And in the middle of nowhere, the PacTour vans form the last SAG at the top of the 7 mile downhill run to Ludlow. No need to rush, our rooms won’t be ready until 2 pm. I push out at about noon, and planned to have lunch at the cafe.
Lots of wide open spaces, some sand dunes could be seen in the distance, and drifting around the peaks in the distance.
The ‘World Famous’ Ludlow Motel. Only 10 units and we are occupying them all. Not enough rooms for single occupancy, so we have roommates for the evening. Mike from NJ and I are sharing a room. We were both on the Eastern Route 66 tour 2 years ago and he is a great guy. Our guide book noted that the ‘bare bones motel consistently receives favorable reviews for cleanliness.’ I don’t know about that. Mike saw that there were no soaps in the bathroom so he went to the office to get some. They told him they don’t have soaps for the bathroom. Luckily the PacTour guys keep a stash in the trailer and we got some there. Maybe they use those little soaps to keep the rest of the place clean.

Oh, one more thing, don’t drink the water here. It’s contaminated with arsenic and uranium. According to the heath notices at the restaurant, the levels are considered ‘safe’ but long term exposure is not recommended. There are gallon water jugs at the trailer to fill water bottles and drinking needs!
PacTour water supply
You might wonder why on earth are we staying here. Tomorrow we ride 107 miles to Needles. Today was just over 50 miles from Barstow. This on the only motel large enough to handle our group between the two towns. So lunch today, dinner tonight, and breakfast tomorrow are here at the ‘World Famous’ Ludlow Cafe!
Note the wind!
Speaking of breakfast, 5:30 in the cafe, then load and depart at 7am.  More huge tailwinds are predicted tomorrow, and they should last the whole day! Good thing, we need to get to mile 43 by 11am or get shuttled past a construction section at mile 65. Get some rest and find that spinnaker sail to deploy in the morning! 


Click here for GPS data 



Monday, April 20, 2026

2026 Western Route 66 - Day 2



 Barstow CA


After another great PacTour parking lot breakfast we rolled out of the Wigwam Motel into a wonderful sunrise. It was a few miles of downhill through town before we turned north and started the climb to Cajon Pass.
We rode on Cajon Boulevard out of town which became the frontage road for Interstate 15 and eventually became the old 4 lane alignment of Route 66. The old northbound lanes are closed and we had a two lane bike path!
Yours truly rolling into the van SAG stop at 17 miles. From here you made your route choice. I decided to take the dirt option and soon rolled out.
We had one mile of I-15 shoulder riding to get to the National Trails Highway for 2 more miles before finding the hidden entrance to the old wagon route.
Initially there was a bit of pavement, but soon it gave way to beach-like sand that required us to dismount and walk the bikes. Note the footprints along the bike tracks.
We crossed over and under several rail lines. As the trail steepened, the hard pack was exposed and we could remount and ride to the next ‘beach’ section, then repeat.
The views were great from the top and most of the rest of the way was ridable to SAG stop at an old closed gas station. 
From the SAG it was downhill with a huge tailwind all the way to Victorville. I was rolling along at about 30 mph here and was able to catch a photo from this stand of Joshua trees (I took a burst of photos and got one good one)!
The Victorville Route 66 Museum was great. Outside a great mural and spare caboose, and inside several detailed exhibits. The jukebox was pounding out great period tunes
This Model T in a service station was in great shape. Notice the spare water bag blocking a good portion of the radiator! Lunch was just up the road so I headed back out.
This restored Ford Woody was parked out from of an auto repair shop, it was in perfect condition.
The Famous Holland Burger is closed on Mondays so we continued up the road.
Several riders found the Cross Eyed Cow Pizza spot and I rolled in. Most of the rest of the group filed in as well. I had a 6” Sub that was nearly a foot long and it was great,
A retired welder from the nearby cement plant decided to weld trees to display bottles collected by his father. It became a roadside attraction and contains over 200 bottle trees and tons of Route 66 artifacts.
Hard to believe that yesterday we had 80 miles of city riding and could not find the edge of town. 50 miles into today’s ride and there is nothing in sight!
Ruins of the Dunes Motel outside of Barstow
Rolling into Barstow, there was an optional side trip to the Harvey House and Western American Train Museum. I was ahead of schedule and headed over to the Museum.
The Museum was closing but the staff gave us some time to check out the train exhibits. Here a Harvey Girl mannequin was on display. 
The Harvey House hotel museum was closed, but since its a working train station I was able to go inside and check it out.

Back outside there were dozens of engines, cars, and cabooses to check out. Even with the limited amount of time we could spend in the museum it was well worth the stop.

Back to the hotel for the regular end of day chores, then Mexican food next door, then finish which a screening of the Bagdad Cafe movie. A 1987 cult classic that takes place at the Bagdad Cafe in Newberry Springs which we will see tomorrow.

It’s only 52 miles tomorrow, so breakfast at Dennys 7-8 am then pack and load at 830 for the run to Ludlow!

Steve