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.
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| English version movie poster |
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| 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!
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!
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!
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