2026 Western Route 66 - Day 1

 San Bernardino

After a great parking lot breakfast of steel cut oats, danish, and coffee, we rolled out of the hotel and headed 2.5 miles to the Santa Monica pier for the official start of the ride.

The sign says the End of the Trail, but for us it’s the beginning of the ride. 

We rolled out onto the pier to check out the beach and the attractions. Not much open at 6:30 in the morning! 

This was a common site for the day, lots and lots of traffic lights. The cue sheet said there were 250 stop lights, and I think we stopped at most of them!

We rolled through Beverly Hills and downtown LA mostly along Sunset and Santa Monica boulevards.

Our first Muffler Man sighting was after we rolled through Hollywood. He’s empty handed, but it might be tough to put a windshield up there from the Auto Glass Shop.

Rolling though Hollywood we passed the Crossroads of the World. In 1936 it opened as an open air shopping mall. The main structure was designed to resemble an ocean liner. Various shops and businesses surrounded the ‘ship.’ It originally had 57 shops and cafes that were themed from places around the world. Initially it was successful and became a model for other outdoor malls. In the 1950’s the land became more valuable for offices and businesses supporting the entertainment industry.

Steve, Kathy, and David

Next stop was Monrovia. Debby’s sister Kathy lives there, only a mile or so off our route. Based on the mileage and expected pace, I figured I would arrive between 10 and 11 am. After a couple of hours of riding, we narrowed it down to a 10:30 meet at the Starbucks on Route 66 and we all arrived right on time. We enjoyed some coffee and a nice visit while most of the group rolled by! After a 45 minute stop it was time to get moving and catch the group!

Lots of Route 66 shields on the road and on many different businesses.

I caught the group at Brandons Diner and was able to order a grilled ham and cheese with fries and a tall sweet tea and get it finished before the first riders started to head out.

Most of the towns along the way are celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Route 66. Here in Upland there are banners sponsored by various local businesses. Little Miss Sunshine’s VW bus also made an appearance!

Bike wash 

Kit wash

The end of the trail today is the Wigwam Motel. 20 spacious teepees are arranged in a semi-circle on well kept grounds. This is the first of our Historic Motel stays. I must say the rooms are much more spacious than they appear from the outside.

The original alignment of Route 66 is underneath the current I-15 highway. So tomorrow’s route has three options to climb Cajon pass; ride the I-15 shoulder, ride in the van to the top of the pass, or ride/hike an old dirt/sand wagon route that predates Route 66. You can decide tomorrow when we reach the 21 mile mark on the route.

Another PacTour oatmeal breakfast at 0600, we load and roll out at 0630.

Steve 

Click here for RWGPS Data

2026 Western Route 66 - Day 0

Day 0 - Santa Monica CA

Here we go again! For the next three weeks I will be riding the Western half of Historic Route 66. Two years ago I rode the Eastern half from Amarillo to Chicago. Tomorrow we set out from Santa Monica and will complete the ride in Amarillo three weeks from today!

Santa Monica Boulevard is on Historic Route 66

PacTour support van and trailer

There are 16 riders and 3 crew member on this adventure. Actually; several guys from the 2024 Eastern Route 66 are also here to complete full distance of The Mother Road on bicycles.

Assembled and ready to ride

I arrived at LAX and Uber’d to the start hotel in Santa Monica. Several riders were also there and assembling their bikes in the parking lot. My room wasn’t ready, so I took advantage of the time to put the bike together and by the time it was done, my room was ready and I could get ready for rider check-in.

Daily message board

I checked in with Conner and received my Route 66 jersey, cue sheets, and name tags. It was lunch time and I wandered down Santa Monica Boulevard and found a great local Japanese grill for lunch.

Lon gives the rider presentation

Back at the hotel, there was time to sort gear and get ready for the 4:30 rider meeting. Lon described the way PacTours work in general and some specifics for this particular tour. Of the 16 riders only two have not been on a PacTour before, this will be my third!

St. Anne’s Church

The rider meeting wrapped up and I was able to grab an Uber to catch the 5:30 vigil Mass at St. Anne’s Church.

After mass it was a short walk to Sonny McLeans Irish Pub, for dinner. The place was packed but I was able to get a seat at the bar

Pre-ride nourishment!

The Fish and Chips were fantastic. I fought the urge for a second Guinness, breakfast is in the parking lot tomorrow morning at 0615 and we will start tomorrows ride early to try and beat some the of LA traffic. Apparently there are over 350 traffic light on tomorrows route, Lon says that is more than we will see the rest of the way to Amarillo!

Here we go!

Steve Atkins

 

2026 Rouleur Week Dart Populaire 120km: Team Treble

Ride Report

February 13, 2026

Team Treble: Steve, Debby, Marian, Bob

What is a Dart Populaire you ask? Well azrandos.com has the short answer:

The Dart Populaire is an event whereby teams of cyclists all ride to a common destination from various starting points. Dart Populaires are team events of 8 hours duration and 120km (75 mi) minimum distance. Each Dart Populaire team is limited to a maximum of five members and a minimum of three members. Each team is to design its own route of at least 120 km.  The traditional format for a Dart Populaire ride, like a Flèche, Arrow, or Dart event, is point-to-point, similar to an archer's arrow flying toward its target. At least 25 km (15.6 mi) must have been ridden within the last two hours of the event. 

Months ago when Mike Sturgill announced the AZ Rouleur week, I had the crazy idea of getting Debby and my piano teacher Marian Pease to ride their first RUSA event. Both have successfully ridden century rides and when we ride together, we keep a pace that would allow a few stops and still be able to complete the distance in the 8 hour time limit. Much to my surprise; they agreed and we put a training plan in place last fall with increasing distances using much of our planned route. It was a lot of fun getting ready for the ride. Our route would be a point-to-point from my house to the finish at Mike's house. Mark Pease agreed to drive our truck to join the finish party celebration, collect us and our bikes and return us back to Tempe. A few weeks before the event, Bob Fisher asked to join our team and he was a great addition.

Winds starting to build

We gathered at my house at about 0800 and were ready to go at the designated start time of 0900. We took our group photo and sent it to Mike to let him know we were starting and rolled out. We rode the first 20 minutes at a nice warm-up pace. Just a mile or so from our house, one of our cycling friends, Monica Suriano, came out from her neighborhood to wave and cheer us on. I was about to roll to a stop to say hello, but she said, ' the clock is running, keep going!' I only wish I thought to take a photo of her waving grocery bags as we rolled by.

We continued onto the Gila River Indian Community and rolled into a very strong wind and dust storm. The forecast was for light headwinds and crosswinds, but this was anything but light!

Free micro-abrasion treatment!

It took us about 30 minutes to cover 4 miles into this wind. That's 9 mph, and the minimum overall speed for the event is about 9.5 mph! The two positives; this covered the roughest section of road and rough roads are much easier to ride slowly, and we knew once we reached Riggs road, we would turn west, and get a quartering tailwind! 

The team did great and we rolled on through the dust and wind!

Gila River Indian Community

We stopped here to take a natural break, gather our wits, reload some pocket food and adjust layers. 

The wind at our back!

We covered the next 10 miles in 40 minutes with speeds up to 19 mph! We gained back almost all the time we lost in the headwind section.

Bob and Debby at the Komatke Market

At 25 miles we rolled into the Komatke Market to top off bottles and take a break. With the headwind slowing us down, we decided we would skip our next planned stop at the Blackrock Coffee in Laveen and instead make one long push to the next stop at Tempe Town Lake. We took a few extra minutes then set out heading north on 51st Avenue.

Cows were out today

We rolled out of the Gila River Indian Community into the farming town of Laveen. Well at least there are still a few farms that have not given way to housing developments.

Very happy to be on the Rio Salado Trail

From the quiet farm lanes of Laveen, we traveled through busy South Phoenix east to Central, then south to the mighty Salt River and the Rio Salado bike trail. From here we will be on dedicated multiuse bike paths for the next 24 miles!

Rain on the horizon

We had a few sprinkles on our route, and at one point it felt like we are about to get dumped on. We didn't need rain gear, but some of the Dart teams that were on the north side of the Valley got drenched!

A few steep sections

Here are Debby and Marian climbing one of the steep sections to leave the roaring river behind and follow the trail on a flood levee. OK luckily no roaring river today, nearly all the water of the Salt River is diverted through a series of canals that deliver it to various users throughout the valley. The only time this river flows is during the 100 and 200 year floods that seem to happen every 25 years or so!

Crossing Tempe Town Lake

There is a fantastic pedestrian/bike bridge over Tempe Town Lake at the Tempe Performing Arts Center. Its a great venue and Debby has performed there with the Arizona Wind Symphony many times. I usually find my way to the bar!

Tempe Town Lake is the centerpiece of the Rio Salado project in Tempe. A dam at the west end holds back the Salt River to form the lake that fills the riverbed. The water is supplied by the Salt River and Central Arizona Project. 

At the marina

Mark Pease stopped by to check on our progress at the control at Tempe Town Lake. We were slightly ahead of schedule, but he was tracking Marian on her Garmin Connect and was there when we arrived. There are many places to eat and drink around the lake, but as Monica said, the clock is running so we headed out! We rolled out and headed north for our next stop at the 2 hour control in Scottsdale using the Indian Bend Bike Path.

Crossing a golf course on the path

The bike path is part of the Indian Bend Wash Greenbelt project. Until the mid 1960's Scottsdale was prone to severe flooding as seasonal rains filled the wash on the way to the salt river. The US Army Corps of Engineers proposed a massive concrete channel to control flood water through the middle of Scottsdale. Visionary/architect Bill Walton noted that while dirt and mud would wash away during floods, golf courses and parks would remain relatively intact during the flooding. He wrote an article in the Scottsdale Daily Progress newspaper outlining his proposal for a park system designed to replace the wash that ran nearly the length of the city. It triggered an grass-roots movement that over the next 30 years developed this wonderful park that runs from Shea in north Scottsdale nearly 10 miles to Tempe and the Salt River. Click here for more history!

Sure beats a concrete flood channel!

2 hour control at Starbucks

We exited the bike path at Mountain View Road arrived at the 2 hour control 20 minutes early at 2:50pm. According to the rules, we could not leave to ride the last 25km before 3pm. The rule is to encourage riding at a slower pace, and for the teams to all arrive at the finish about the same time. Our original plan was to leave at 3:25pm, so we decided to take an extra break and enjoy our coffee and stretched our planned stop from 15 to 30 minutes. We took this group photo to document stop and set out at 3:20pm to ride the last segment to the finish.

Our analog time schedule and digital navigation 

There was a bit of climbing still to do, but we covered it right on schedule. Once we turned west on Bell road, it was mostly downhill. Plus the forecasted headwind for that section turned into a nice tailwind.

A bit of city riding on Union Hills

Scottsdale traffic was heavy around the Princess Resort and Mayo Clinic, but soon we were on Union Hills Road, only 1.5 miles to the finish.

Team Treble at the finish

We rolled into Mike’s driveway at 4:49 pm; with 11 minutes to spare! Mark took our photo and we grabbed our drop bags with our street clothes and headed around back to the finish celebration in Mike’s back yard. Nearly all the participants were there and the food and camaraderie was a great way to finish the Dart! Yes, we used nearly all the allotted time, we were the last team to roll in, and I dare say we had the most fun!

Thanks to Bob for joining our team. We was willing to ride at our team's pace and help our two new RUSA members complete their first randonneuring event in style. He missed the training rides, but rode the event like a teammate that had been training with us all along.

Hat’s off to Mike Sturgill for putting the first AZ Rouleur Week on the calendar and cooking up some really delicious barbecue!

I couldn't be prouder of Debby and Marian for taking on and completing this challenge. They rode like champions! PBP anybody?

Steve Atkins

Click here for Dart GPS data 

Click here to see a collection of all my Rouleur rides from the week!

2026 Rouleur Week North Valley 125k

Ride Report

February 12, 2026

Another great day to ride!

Welcome back! Mike gathered the group at the other end of the parking lot since we will be exiting north onto 32nd Street to start the ride. But more importantly, there is a section of the route about 6 miles in where the southbound lanes of the Cave Creek road will be re-routed to the northbound side. Mike met with the police officers controlling traffic and warned them of our approach and approved a plan to get us through safely. We would leave as a group and wait at the shoulder until all the riders arrived at the start of construction. Then we would take the one northbound lane and ride as a group with Mike taking up the rear in his truck to block traffic while we passed through. 

At the start

Another chance to lead out the group at an easy pace, yes please! Brian McGuire and I led the way out through the parking lot and covered the first six miles at a nice conversational pace.

All lanes diverted to northbound side

Waiting to form a single group

We arrived mostly as a group and waited only a minute or two for the recumbent and ElliptiGO riders to join the party.

Mike prepares to cover our six

With a break in the traffic, we rolled out as Mike hopped in his truck to escort the rear of the group through the roughly one mile section of construction. We passed through without incident and appreciated the escort! 

Brittlebrush in bloom

We had a tricky left turn onto Sonoran Desert Drive, but were soon rewarded with quiet riding through park reserves and blooming brittlebush everywhere.

Paul tries the inflator

We turn south and back into town after the Sonoran Desert Drive, but Paul's rear tire was going flat. He tried the inflator but the sealant wouldn't hold. He insisted I ride on while he got out his plug kit.

Unofficial stop at Carefree Highway and Lake Pleasant

I continued on mostly alone, but caught a few riders as I made my way toward Lake Pleasant and the Carefree Highway. There is a new convenience store there, and while not an official control, I have stopped there before and decided to stop in and get a hot dog lunch! Teresa rolled through on her ElliptiGO to top off her bottle while I enjoyed this lunch curbside. 

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Great views on New River Road

From the store its about 10 miles on New River Road. The road has a gentle, almost imperceptible 1% grade heading north. The winds were neutral and traffic was light. I stopped here to get a shot of more wild flowers with Daisy Mountain in the background. The route continues north to New River, then south on the other side of Daisy Mountain to return to Phoenix.

Mike, Penny, and Teresa

When I arrived at the control Teresa was ready to head out, but we got this shot with Penny! Still quite stuffed from my earlier stop, I topped off my bottles and visited with Mike before pushing out. I didn't see them go by, but most of the field must have passed me while I stopped near Lake Pleasant.

Photo contest loser!

Next stop was to get a photo of the Shangri La Ranch sign. Notice the outline on the sign. Normally a rock formation would be called a 'butte' around these parts. But since that ranch is of the nudist variety; the proper spelling of that formation is probably just 'butt!' The contest was a drawing and gave one chance for a photo of the sign alone, and two for a selfie. No socks for me, and probably none for the guests at the Shangri La either.

Lush desert on the edge of town

The route continued south on familiar roads through the desert to the northern edge of Phoenix. The return route missed the construction zone on Cave Creek Road and soon I was back at the start.

The Seattle crew finishing their post-ride coffee

When I arrived a huge group of riders were just finishing their post-ride beverages. I decided not to linger and head out before the heavy evening rush hour got underway.

Pack it up and get ready for tomorrow

I finished this one in about 5 hours and 32 minutes. Another great day on the bike. Time to pack up and get ready for tomorrow's Dart team event! We'll be gathering at my house at 0830 for a 0900 start. 

See you there!

Steve Atkins

Click here for GPS data