Day 8: Las vegas, NM to Albuquerque

First of all, a picture or two from last night. This is Nancy trying out my bike for size. She is desperately seeking a mid-life crisis of her own - we suggested a tattoo. Thanks for these Kevin.

Today has been a great motorcycling day, and I have experience all four seasons over the course of it! The wind had abated a little since yesterday, and I left Las Vegas bound for Santa Fe. The riding was great as I travelled along the Santa Fe  trail, through the Pecos national park. The roads had a mixture of long sweeping fast bends, and more technical twisty sections. The bike, despite its size, was up to the job, and once moving is well balanced, most of the weight being low down. Manoeuvring at low speed can be hard work though.

 The old Route 66 running parallel to the interstate in the distance

A gate to nowhere!

The road undulated, but overall climbed to Santa Fe, which is over 7000ft above sea level, making it the highest state capitol in the US. This would explain why it was getting colder, and by the time I got there it was snowing.

When Route 66 was first built in the late 1920s this was the route that it took - through Santa Fe. In the 30s, the Governor of New Mexico fell out with the Mayor of Santa Fe, and ordered that the route be realigned to run directly from Santa Rosa to Albuquerque, thus cutting out the Santa Fe loop, and denying the town of its passing trade. Many people travelling the route today take this more direct later alignment, but I wanted to do this loop as I'd heard (rightly, as it turns out) that the roads and scenery were very good.

Snow in Santa Fe in April.

The architecture in the town is Adobe style, and very attractive. The centre is full of art galleries and little expensive looking boutiques. I reckon that it must have the most Art Galleries per capita than any other town I've been to. There were also more homeless people begging in the street than I'd seen since Chicago - obviously there are extremes of wealth here.

I decided to wait and see if the snow would stop so had a cup of coffee and slice of the most delicious chocolate cream pie! It did stop after a while, and I was assured that Albuquerque would be a good deal warmer as it wasn't so high, so I continued my journey along the Santa Fe trail, to Madrid.

I wanted to go to Madrid as it had been featured in a number of movies, most recently Paul, but probably the biggest selling was Wild Hogs. The film takes place during the Madrid chilli festival. Up until then Madrid didn't have a chilli festival. It does now!

Talking to a few people around town there are obviously mixed feelings about this film. Some people did very well out of it - Disney built a diner movie set for the film, pictured above, and the current owner makes plenty selling Wild Hogs memorabilia and t-shirts. Others went out of business because Disney shut the town down for 3 months over the tourist season whilst making the film.
I think my favourite film that was made here though is The Man Who Fell to Earth, staring David Bowie. I must re-watch that when I get home.

Now it was more fantastic riding to Albuquerque, where I am staying tonight. I pulled over at one point to take some photos, and who should come past in the other direction - yes, the Aussies. I'm at the same hotel as them again, so I expect some more revelry in the bar tonight. In the mean time, I can't resist one more shot of the New Mexico landscape:

Today's route and more photos are here:


Today's Mileage: 149
Total Trip Mileage:1663

Day 7: Amarillo - Las Vegas, NM

After a good drink and chin-wag with Croc and the Aussies last night, I had to set my alarm nice and early in order to make sure I was up in time for the 8 o'clock start - yes, I'm back on a timetable! It was chilly when we left, but I knew that as soon as the sun rose higher it would get soon heat up, so decided to go with the warm weather gear from the outset this morning. Most of the Aussies were travelling in cars, but there were 8 bikes, and I was going with them.

Our first stop was after a short ride to the Cadillac Ranch. Here, there are about 8 or ten half buried Cadillacs, nose down, and aerosol spray cans are left lying around so that visitors can decorate them. So the display is constantly changing:

A little further on and another photo op at Magnolia Filling Station. This place actually pre-dates Route 66 by a couple of years, and once again has been restored to how it used to be.

It was nice to be riding with a group for a change, and I appreciated being invited to tag along. I was great to have some company at the various stops along the way, and to have someone else take my picture for a change! It also reminded me of the downside of being in a group - the extra time it takes to do anything, for example at fuel stops you can't fill up and leave - you have to wait for all 8 bikes to refuel. Same with photo stops or when stopping for lunch - you can't continue your journey until everyone is ready to go.

Spot the English bike!

Moving along we came to Adrian Texas. This is officially the mid-point of the route - it's the same distance to Chicago as it is to Los Angeles. Time for a photo at the sign marking this point, and coffee and pie at Fran's MidPoint Cafe. Fran was the inspiration behind the Flo character in Disney's movie Cars. She's a sweetheart!
Here I am at the middle of the Route - but not yet the middle of my trip. Not sure why I'm standing like that?

And the obligatory group shot with all the Aussies, one American, one Zimbabwean and one Brit. I'm  front right.

Just before we left Texas we visited Glenco, a ghost town, and just one of many examples of how the new Interstates affected towns along the old Route 66.

And then we were entering New Mexico, and suddenly gained an extra hour as we moved to Mountain Time. This is the sixth state of the nine I'll be visiting this trip.

Yes that really is me behind the mask!

Lunch was in Tucumcari (Two-come-care-ee). A first for me - I had salad! I really could not face any more fried food, and getting my five a day has been proving challenging. There are some nice murals on the walls of the buildings around town, and also a Route 66 sculpture:

And so it was that we eventually arrived at Santa Rosa, the Ausies' stop for the night. Having said my goodbyes and thanking them for allowing a pom to join them, I set off, once again on my own. A brief visit to Bozo's Auto Museum, and then to drive the 60 or so miles to Las Vegas, New Mexico (the little town with a big name!).

All the time we'd been driving west into a head wind, and this combined with the long, long climb out of Santa Rosa meant the bike wasn't able to maintain 70mph in top (6th) gear. I started to worry that there might be something wrong, but when I turned off north for Las Vegas the head wind became a side wind, and only then did I realise just how strong it was. I drove the remaining 40 miles canted over 45 degrees to the left, just to go straight!. No wonder the bike was struggling riding into it!

Las Vegas NM is the complete opposite of its namesake further west. It is a quiet, old fashioned little western town. The hotel I am staying at tonight is the Plaza, built in 1882,and has a very Victorian feel to it. I rather like it after some of the impersonal hotel rooms I've slept in recently. Also, it was used in the Coen Brothers movie No Country for Old Men (what am I doing here then?) for the hotel scenes (even though the film was set in Texas).

Having unpacked I made my way to the hotel bar, as you do, and was chatting to a couple (Joseph and Chtistine) who had a nice little Harley Sportster parked outside. As we chatted a guy walked in and ordered a beer, and then announced that he would buy everyone in the bar a round. We happily accepted, upon which he paid, finished his drink and left. I don't think he'd said a word to anyone other than the barman, who later said he'd never seen him before! How peculiar. Anyway thank you, who every you are!

After that I got talking to a group of business colleagues (Amy, Leah, Lisa, Kevin and Nancy - Hi y'all). They are museum specialists, and were in town looking at how a local state park could improve its displays and exhibits at their visitor centre. After a couple of drinks with them they invited me to join them for dinner which was very kind, and very entertaining, especially when we found all the local restaurants seem to be closed on a Monday. Needless to say, we ended up back in the bar, but my pizza was very good. As well as everything else, I also learned something about American history today!

And now it's time for bed, and tomorrow I head for Albuquerque, where I may run into the Aussies once more.

Today's route and more pictures can be found here:

Today's Mileage: 251
Total Trip Mileage:1514

Day 6: Clinton - Amarillo

I was awoken at about 4 this morning by a thunderstorm passing overhead, but luckily it had passed by the time I woke properly at 7. I opened the curtains only  to be greeted by a dank miserable drizzly day.

They say that Elvis used to stay here when passing through - then again lots of places say that!

I packed up, had breakfast and then wandered over to the Route 66 Museum for it's opening time of 9. There was no sign of life. Then it dawned on me; it is Sunday today, and the museum doesn't open until 1 on a Sunday. Well I couldn't hang around for 4 hours, so I reluctantly had to give it a miss.

The weather did not look like getting any better, but I set off taking the old Route 66 roads. I soon decided that this was not the best idea today, the worn out concrete surface was slick and slippery, and a couple of times the back wheel started to slide out on bends. Discretion got the better of me - I could do without any more buttock-clenching moments - and I decided that I should take the interstate for a bit until the weather dried up.

This was disappointing, but it did mean that I made good time. Once on the Interstate I set the cruise control (that's right, this thing has cruise control!) to 70, and slabbed it through the remainder of Oklahoma, and into Texas.

Through this last part of Oklahoma the land had been flat for as far as the eye could see in all directions, but entering Texas, things started to change to a more rugged terrain, which was much more interesting to look at. I had hoped that the weather would also improve on entering Texas, but that wouldn't happen for a while yet.

Texas landscape

A reminder that if you get caught short out here, don't just nip behind a bush!

I did make a couple of detours off the Interstate though when I spotted this old, but restored gas station in McLean:

And also this deliberately leaning water tower in Grants:

By now, things had started to improve weatherwise, and by the time I was 30 miles from Amarillo the clouds started to lift, then break up, and eventually disappear, leaving a nice sunny day with temperatures in the high 70s.

As I'd been on the freeway  for most of today, I had made good time and arrived in Amarillo soon after lunchtime. Now, I've got to say that I had no problem finding Amarillo at all. It's pretty well sign posted, and I didn't have to stop to ask for directions once, so why Tony Christie had so much trouble getting here I just don't know.

I went straight to the hotel and was lucky that my room was ready. I'm staying at the Ambassador a rather nice hotel that Bob 'Croc' Lile booked for me at the special Route 66 rate of, yes, $66. As it was still early, and the weather was now good, I took a little side trip to Palo Duro Canyon, around 20 miles south. It was quite spectacular, but I suspect only a taster of what is to come later on the trip.

Riding the winding roads along the edge of the Canyon, and the down almost to the bottom is one of the great biking experiences, with the sun on my back and the wind in my hair, this is what it's all about!

Also staying at the hotel tonight is a group of over 50 Aussies who are doing the trip, mostly in cars but also about 8 bikes. Croc had a reception for them this evening at his art gallery, and was kind enough to invite me along:: they seem like a good bunch, and we had a laugh over beers and nibbles that he'd layed on. Tomorrow I will ride with them for a bit, out the other side of Texas into New Mexico. But first, I've a feeling that they've lined up a couple of beers with my name on in the bar downstairs - gotta go!

Today's route and more photos:



Today's Mileage: 242
Total Trip Mileage: 1264

Day 5: Tulsa to Clinton

So, fist of all, Happy St George's Day! I guess all of you back home will be out celebrating?

I survived my visit to the Blue Rose Bar last night. Friday night is bike night, so it was pretty lively, but as promised, all very friendly. The bar is built on the side of the Arkansas River, and has an outdoor terrace/bar where you can sit and eat whilst looking over the river. Myself and a few others put the world to rights over a few beers and a burger.

It was Good Friday, but Easter doesn't seem to be recognised here as much as it is at home. The kids were at school, and will be again on Easter Monday. Strange, given that I'm in the middle of the Bible belt.

I overslept this morning, probably due to the activities the night before, so was not away from the hotel until after 10. Today was about riding, and I didn't have too many stops planned en route. The weather was perfect: dry, warm (low 70s), and not too sunny. I made good progress, covering almost 100 miles before my first scheduled stop in Arcadia. This is home to the Round Barn, quite unique, and there were some pretty interesting exhibits inside.

Across from the barn was the Biker Shak (sic), advertising bikers' apparel and leathers. I wanted to get some lighter gloves, so paid them a visit to see if they had anything suitable. They did, they fitted OK, so I bought them, but not before a long chat about my trip and the Royal Wedding with the owner!

Speaking of which, the wedding is everywhere here. On the front of papers, on the TV, and everyone is talking about it. And to think I would be able to get away from it. No chance.

Here's some more from Arcadia:

It's nice to have confirmation that I'm on the right track!

A little further down the road, the other side of Arcadia was my lunch stop, Pops Soda Ranch. This is a newly built gas station and diner, is very distinctive, and offers around 500 different types of soda. Did you know there were that many? I didn't! Some Route 66 purists may not like the idea of this place as it's not traditional, but I think one has to move with the times, and it's good to see new ventures succeeding along the route. The locals seem to agree,as it was very busy; this is the first time I've had to wait for a table to become available.

Now it was time to push on. I mentioned that this the Bible belt - in fact one book describes it as the buckle of the belt. Throughout the day I was told that I would spend eternity in hell unless I mended my ways, and reminded that I had to pray today, by placards on the roadside. I guess they're put there by the many churches that line the way. I did pray that I would get safely to Clinton tonight, but not to a God that they would probably approve of!

Shortly later, I entered Oklahoma City, and and I have to agree with the song that, it's "mighty pretty" coming in through the State Capitol Park with the Capitol building right ahead, as I did. What is noticeable is that there are no skyscrapers; it's a very 'low' city, with no real skyline.

Eventually I did make it to Clinton safely, and sought out the Route 66 museum. Unfortunately, it had closed 5 minutes earlier, maybe God isn't happy with me after all? Not having booked a room for the night, I had been hoping for a recommendation at the museum, however I spotted the Trade Winds Inn over the road so I went to take a look. First impressions were not great, but the owner, Mr Patel, did have a room for me, and at $50 I thought I'd chance it. As it turns out, the room is pretty nice - certainly not the worst I've stayed in this trip by a long way. I guess somebody up there likes me.

Tomorrow I head for Texas, and meet up with Bob and a bunch of Ausies in Amarillo who have been travelling the route a day ahead of me in Mustangs. Should be fun!

More pictures and today's route (including many missed turns!):


Today's Mileage: 226
Total Trip Mileage: 1022
Funniest sign seen today: "Oklahama! The shopping cart was invented in this wonderful state". Hmmm

Day 4: Springfield to Tulsa

The thunder storms rumbled on for most of the night, but had cleared up by the morning, and it was dry again. The hotel I was at is an original Route 66 style motor court motel, where the rooms open out on to the car park, and you can park right outside your room. As it was so wet when I arrived last night I went straight in to get dry. This morning I had a better chance to look around. The hotel has been refurbished to a good standard and was fine for a nights stay.

 My room is the one on the right hand end

My riding gear had dried out overnight and so I got myself ready and headed out of Springfield. Once out of town the riding was, once again, very good. The landscape is very similar to home, lots of greenery and trees, and quite undulating. I could have been riding through Northumberland, except it was warm!

Along the way I came across another disused gas station, in the middle of nowhere. Someone must maintain these, as this is in good condition, although no longer dispensing gas.

After a while I reached Carthage, and stopped for breakfast at a little roadside cafe. It was now very warm, and I knew I shouldn't have bothered with layers today. I made use of the restroom to remove my base layer. I had a quick walk around town, taking some pictures, and ran across this building in the centre of town. They sure do like their fancy courthouses in Missouri!

I also came across this:

This tow truck is apparently the inspiration behind Mator, the tow trunk in the Cars movie. In fact it was called Mator, until Disney made them change the name once the film was released. What a cheek!
Carthage is clearly past its prime, like many towns along the Route, which were bypassed when the Interstate system was built. But it does still have a nice courthouse!
One thing that has been revived is the Drive-In movie theatre, still showing movies 3 days per week.

A little further on down the road after passing through Joplin I entered Kansas. Route 66 just clips its corner, and there's actually only a dozen or so miles until you leave and enter Oklahoma. However, there is a very active Route 66 Association of Kansas. Here are its headquarters:

 ... complete with pink flamingos out front, also available for sale inside!

The old fella in the shop chatted for a long time about his time in the war, and how he was on Omaha Beach during the Allied invasions. Quite a hero in his time.

By now the temperature had soared, and the gauge on my bike was showing almost 90F. The 'all-season' gloves I was wearing clearly weren't designed for all seasons in this part of the world, and I decided that I would leave them off for a while, as I was starting to overheat.

Pretty soon I crossed the state line into Oklahoma. I had taken a lot of time over the numerous stops I'd made, and so it was looking like I'd be in Tulsa just in time for the rush hour. None the less, I had to stop and take a picture of this, Chelsea, Oklahoma, population 2136. I wonder how often they update those signs?

Very different from West London!

It was now unbearably hot riding in my gore-tex jacket, that had protected me from the cold and wet in Chicago, but was too much for the improving weather, even with all the vents unzipped, and so at my next fuel stop I changed into my Airtex jacket to try too get some ventilation going. It did make a big difference over the next part of the journey.

Heading south-west, my next stop was the Galloway Totem Pole Park - home of the largest totem pole in the world:

It took Ed Galloway 11 tears to construct, is 90feet tall, and 54 inches in diameter at the base. It took over 130 tons of sand, rocks, cement and steel to complete.

Standing in the park I could hear rumbles of thunder in the distance, so after buying some postcards in the gift shop, it was time to move on - I didn't want a repeat of yesterday's experience!

However, about 30 miles from Tulsa the black clouds had moved overhead and it looked very murky in the distance. I knew that if it did start to rain again heavily I would be soaked in minutes, as my Airtex jack is anything but waterproof. I pulled over at a huge RV dealership to prepare for the worst. They had a BBQ going though, and invited me in for a drink and a hotdog - an offer I couldn't refuse. Hardy types, these RVers. I have now met a lot of different people over the past few days, but not one of them has been anything but friendly and helpful. It confirms my belief that, basically, people are good.

Today my luck was in, and the storm decided to inflict itself on someone else. My last stop of the day was at the Blue Whale water park, built by a man for his wife who collected whales. Go figure. Due to health and safety reasons, this no longer operates as a water park. I don't think Wet 'n' Wild would have much to worry about if it did though. It is however a Route 66 icon.

I had already booked a room for the night tonight, but driving into Tulsa I passed a the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, and wished I was staying there. I'm sure Gillian would have been envious if I had.

Dinner tonight will be at the Blue Rose Bar by the riverside. A friendly bikers pub, I've been told. Let's hope it doesn't turn out to be a Wild Hogs type experience.

To see the route taken and more pictures click below:


Today's Mileage: 228
Total Trip Mileage: 794
Funniest place name seen today: Spunky Creek, (snigger, will I ever grow up?). Unfortunately I was unable to stop and photograph the sign.

Day 3: St Louis to Springfield

Well, I was right about the Sports Bar being lively last night - too lively in fact as they were holding a line dance, and the place was packed. Not really my scene. I did manage to fit in a couple of beers whilst watching Real Madrid beat Barcelona, 1-0, after extra time. Then I left, and ate elsewhere.

Another early start today, actually earlier than I had planned, as I didn't realise that the clock in my hotel room was an hour fast! Encouraged by the improving weather yesterday I decided that the fleece under my jacket was not required, so just base layer, t-shirt and jacket. It was the right decision as the day warmed up nicely. Maybe tomorrow I can bring out the sunglasses?

As the wi-fi in the hotel had not been working I had not made a hotel reservation for this evening, figuring that I would find somewhere in or around Springfield when I arrived: to quote Steve Tyler, I'm livin' on the edge! 

Te first visit of the day was to the Missouri Route 66 State Park, south west of St Louis. Having left so early I arrived 45 minutes before the visitors centre opened, but was let in by the staff anyway to have a look around. They certainly liked to chat, and I was there for probably an hour before I actually got to look around the museum. Friendly folks! Having bought a t-shirt from the gift shop and made my farewells I was back on the road to my next stop, Meramec Caverns.

The ride was good and the sun was getting up in the sky. I was living the dream. The roads have become more interesting since Illinois, often departing from the Interstate, and winding through small villages and towns. The road surface, for the most part, was good and there was some great scenery too. It all made for good riding.

All along the route, almost from the start, I had seen billboards for the caverns. As they had gone to so much trouble to make me aware of them, I thought it would be rude not to pay them a visit. These caverns are huge! You can only go a short way in on your own, but there are guided tours that take an hour and twenty minutes for goodness sakes! Now I am impressed by the sheer scale of them, but surely there's only so much one can say about stalactites and stalagmites, and I don't think it takes 100 minutes? As the next tour was not starting for another half an hour, I decided to save myself 20 bucks, and two hours, and passed on that opportunity. There are other things to see there though, and a long scary looking zip wire over the Meramec River, if you're so inclined. Worth a visit I think. 

Whist looking around I overheard some other English voices (Welsh actually, as it later transpired). Tony, Chris and Tyler (aged 10) were 3 generations of the same family, who were also doing the Route 66 trip. They had started on Tuesday, and were also heading for Springfield for the night. What a coincidence, and the way these things work out, I wouldn't be surprised if our paths cross again further down the road. What a great way to do some Grandfather/Father/Son bonding. Either that, or they'll not be on speaking terms at the end of 3 weeks together in a car!

So, here's me at the entrance to the Caverns, with Jesse James behind me. Did I mention that he had used the caverns as a hide out  whist on the run? Apparently so, and you're not allowed to forget it whilst you're there!

 Here's a rare picture of me with bike, at the same place.

Now the sun was getting higher, the temperature had climbed to the low 70s, and the roads were getting slightly twistier. Perfect when on a bike. Cuba, MO (to avoid any confusion)  was my next stop, the site of the Wagon Wheel Motel. This establishment has been providing accommodation on Route 66 since the begining. It is one of the original style motels, where the rooms are actually cabins, detached from each other. Later designs joined them up in a terrace of rooms. I found the owner working in the adjacent shop, and she told me of how the motel had gone to rack and ruin, until she bought it 2 years ago and started a renovation program. Now, two years later it is complete, and she is renting rooms there again. They certainly looked in good condition from the outside, and it I hadn't needed to put some more miles on the clock I would have been tempted to stay there for the night.

She also told me that severe weather was moving in from the west, so I made haste to try to get to Springfield before it did. I nearly made it. The clear blue skies you can see in the picture above became cloudy, and the wind picked up. Those clouds steadily got darkern and the wind stronger. About 10 miles before Springfield the heavens opened, with accompanying thunder and lightning. I was glad that I'd decided not to take that tour of the caverns after all.

I pulled into a Supermarket's parking lot (see, I'm learning the lingo!) to take shelter, and see if it would pass. It didn't. I was faced with having to find somewhere to stay pretty sharpish. As luck would have it, I had picked up a leaflet for the Best Western Route 66 Rail Haven along the way, and it looked OK from the pictures. I gave them a ring, and they had rooms. They weren't even going to fleece me for one of them. I located it on the GPS, and braced myself for a nasty last 10 miles. Half an hour later and I was there, and began the task of getting my gear hung up so there was a chance it would be dry in the morning.

Overall, apart from the last half hour, an excellent days riding, interesting people met along the way, and some fascinating things seen - far too many to mention here. And some caverns.

Tomorrow, I briefly pass through Kansas, then into Oklahoma, and now I really am "Only 24 hours from Tulsa", tomorrow night's potential resting place.

As always, here's today's route, along with some more photos, for those who like that sort of thing:



Today's Mileage: 237
Total Trip Mileage:566

Day 2: Bloomington to St Louis, MI

No working Wi-Fi in the hotel last night so two day's worth of updates today, you lucky people!

I woke early, had a light breakfast in the hotel, and loaded up the bike.Still very cold, but dry at least, and my riding gear had dried out from yesterday.

Setting off the first order of the day was fuel. Petrol (gas) here is about $3.80 per gallon. As there's 3.8 litres in a US gallon, that makes it almost exactly $1 (62p) per litre, and still the Americans complain! I'm told that it's cheaper in Missouri as there's less tax, and most expensive in California.

The first stop of the day was a visit to Funks Grove where they make what is supposedly the best Maple Sirup (that's right, 'i' instead of 'y'). On tasting a sample I tend to agree, and had to buy some to take home. So I now have half a pint of sirup to transport for the rest of the ride and then fly home with. I hope the bottle's strong otherwise it could get messy!

A bit further down the road is the Dixie Truckers' Home, so I decided that brunch was in order. It's been a Route 66 establishment since the 20s, although I suspect it's been rebuilt since then.

Not much further, in Atlanta, I came across another Muffler Man, known as Tall Paul. This time his muffler has been replaced with a giant Hot Dog.

Now I had to get a move on. It was 2 hours since I left the hotel, and I'd only covered about 25 miles. However, I did make one more stop when I spotted this Muffler Man - this time he really was advertising an auto repair shop, but someone seems to have removed his muffler. Strange.

Pushing on then, and I came across this rather imposing courthouse in Carlinville. There was a public outcry when this was built as costs went well over it's budget and it ending up costing around 1 million dollars. That was in 1870, when a million was a lot of money. The Mayor who commissioned it was also having his own house built at the same time, and it looks like it's made from the same type of stone. Maybe the residents had reason to be suspicious?

By now the temperature was beginning to rise a little, and the sun even put in an appearance, pushing it up to over 50F. The riding is good and I have not done many miles on the Interstate yet. The old Route 66 alignments often run parallel to them though, and many stretches are badly worn, meaning a bumpy ride. Often there is the Interstate on one side of you and a railway track on the other.

I was now getting close to the Illinois/Missouri state line, and one thing I really wanted to see was the Chain of Rocks bridge, which spans the Mississippi river. Once part of the old Route 66, it is now closed to traffic, and only pedestrians and cyclist can cross it. The outstanding feature of this bridge is that it's one of the few that has a corner; mid way across the river it changes direction! I'm sure there were sound engineering reasons for this at the time.

I did walk all the way across the bridge, and so entered Missouri on foot. Of course I had to retrace my steps back to the bike, so I also left Missouri on foot.

That was the last of my sight-seeing stops today, and it was time to head for tonight's resting place on the outskirts of St Louis. Unfortunately I'm not going to have time to go into the city, as I need to get an early night and prepair for tomorrow, as I've decided to put in a higher milage day and try to reach Springfield, with plenty more things to see on the way.

I noticed that there's a lively looking Sports Bar and Cafe a short walk from the hotel, so that's where I'll get dinner tonight.

So, in summary, a much better day in the saddle: the weather has improved, temperatures on the increase and no rain at all. I'm also getting used to the size and weight of the bike, had fewer wobbly moments, and feel more confident with it now. It does seem the ideal type of bike for this sort of trip.

I did have two minor scares today though.
The first was bike related: I've mounted the Zumo GPS system on the handlebars, but it obscures the view of the fuel gauge. A bit silly you might think, and with hindsight I'd have to agree. However in my defence, there is a "Range" display on the bike, which tells me how much further I can go with the remaining fuel. Needless to say, this is wildly over optimistic, and was still telling me I was good for another 50 miles when I fortuitously happened to catch sight of the fuel gauge, which was reading empty.  I moved into economic riding mode, and passed through many small gas-station-less towns (population of a few hundred) and was mightily releaved to ride into Edwardville and see a Shell gas station!

The second was when I was walking back over the bendy bridge, having seen no one else around, only to spot a group of "youths" having a fight up ahead. To get back to the bike I needed to walk past them on this quite narrow bridge. As it turned out, they were just larking around, and paid no attention to me at all. I did feel a bit vulnerable for a little while though, and it's reminded me that I do need to take care.

For those interested, here's today's route (yes, I remembered to switch on the GPS tracker), and some more pictures :

Today's Mileage: 195
Total Trip Mileage: 398