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.
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| Partial bridge collapse |
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| Nearly total collapse |
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| 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
