Day 18 Amarillo, TX to Tucumcari, NM - 126.3 miles

The halfway point of Route 66 in Adrian, TX

The weather was looking threatening so I was thinking about staying in Adrian, the halfway mark of Route 66 but the guy who ran the only motel in town passed away last month. The next town with accommodation was Tucumcari in New Mexico; another 70 miles away...

this storm front has been threatening me all day. It's been good in a way though as it's been cooler (80 deg) and the wind has dropped.

Texas/New Mexico border

I'm in New Mexico! Had to work hard for it though; 126 miles, 8 hours cycling. Crossed the State line and entered a different time zone; Mountain Time, -7 GMT. I'm now seven hours behind the UK. I'm also now in the desert.

Day 17 Shamrock, TX to Amarillo, TX - 91.3 miles

Real struggle today but covered a fair bit of mileage. It's very flat in north Texas but the road to Amarillo is also very boring; certainly not worth writing a song about. Amarillo itself was the usual mixture of abject poverty and middle class luxury that I've found in all the cities. Not a particularly inspiring place; there's not much there.

Rusted 1930's car, Groom, TX

There's a scavenger culture here, most peoples yards on the roadside have cars and
car parts up for sale. It's very different from Illinois and Missouri where people drove round in shiny new Dodge trucks. There's also fewer McDonald's and Burger Kings.

Truckers temple, Jericho, TX (click on the pic to make it bigger)

I still haven't found out what this place is. There's something sinister about it. That large doorway with the Star of Texas above it leads underground. Another Area 51 perhaps?

Grain Silos, Conway, TX

These buildings are the only notable landmarks round here.

Off road, Jericho, TX

Took an off road detour for a couple of miles to avoid the interstate.

Day 16 Clinton, OK to Shamrock, TX 84.6 miles

Slow day today; busted spoke and buckled front wheel plus a punture at the back. Strong SW wind kept me down to about 10-11 mph on the flat. 95 degree heat didn't bother too much as there's only 25% humidity, apart from the wind, which died down by 3pm, it's really good cycling weather. I'm getting worried about the amount of lose dogs there are running out from front yards to chase me. Most of the time they are only little dogs, still pretty fierce though, but as I came down the hill into Shamrock, two Dobermens came out. They didn't persue me that far but did bark and were loose on the street. They ran a story on CNN tonight on an increase of dog attacks and people breeding pitbulls for fighting. That's all I f*cking need.



Saw my first cactus and tumbleweed today as pedalled towards the Oklahoma - Texas border. The roads are very quiet round here and cycled some very old sections of 66 through some fantastic ghost towns; Texola has too be seen to be believed. The architecture's getting more and more wild west (Tex-Mex) and people have that Texan accent the GWB fakes so badly.

Erick, OK near the Texas border

Very old alignment of 66, Sayre, OK

Busted windmill, Clinton, OK


The Churches of Hydro, OK - This town only had a population of 2,000 people

Day 15 Edmund, OK to Clinton, OK 101.1 miles

Looking forward to today as Sunday is always quiet on traffic. I needn't have worried, once I was clear of the Oklahoma City I followed a pre-1933 alignment of Route 66 through farmland, barely saw a car/truck/pick-up all afternoon.


Bumped into another British biker, Anthony; he was heading the other way and was cycling coast to coast from LA to NY, it was quite surreal bumping into him considering I've bearly seen another cyclist for over a thousand miles. Anthony had a very flashy carbon Trek racing he'd picked up in California and was travelling very light. he'd been averaging 120 miles a day. I can't top that, good luck to him!


The old 66 path took me back onto the paries and though a massive wind farm between there must have been about 40 turbines placed either side of 66 and Interstate 44. I'd never seen
one before and was quite impressed. One of the locals told me that the farmer who owns the land gets a thousand dollars per acre anually. Must beat what he gets for corn from Walmart (Asda's).

Yukon Beauty College

Road side signage on Interstate 40

Day 14 Sapulpa, OK to Edmund, OK 90.1 miles

Had a very fast ride through some very beautiful country, tainted only by some extremely bad driving. The landscapes changing again: no more praries but lots of trees, tough looking desert plants, bright red soil and lots of dragonflies and birds of prey hovering above. Don't ask me what they are. A few cowboy hats are appearing in the passing pick-ups as I get closer to Oklahoma City and the Texas border.
There seems to be a phenomon in the US, I've seen it in all the states I've passed through; the weekend Harley rider. They're absolutely hilarious, especially the ones in gangs who wear mirror shades, black bandana and a fake bad attitude. There's hundreds of them. Their stocks and shares must have done really well to afford bikes like those. The only exception I've encountered so far was this guy who had a ZZ top beard and had been riding the same Harley for 25 years. He maintained the bike himself and kept his own stock of spares. A true biker.

Day 13 Chelsea, OK to Sapulpa, OK 63.1 miles

There's no place like home, there's no place like home..

I had to navigate my way through Tulsa today. I hate getting through the cities. It's not the city centres themselves, they are usually okay; well signposted, grid layout, nice buildings... It's the sprawling suburbs that get me. Bad neighbourhoods, practically shanty towns and white flight style driving on the highways passing through. Nobody wants to wait too long at a stop light round here. Had to take a 5 mile detour and enter Tulsa on a different road as the traffic was too bad on 66.

Cycled til the storm that had been threatening all day broke around 4.30. Luckily my GPS found a hotel a mile and a half away, on route. Had a fantastic Mexican meal in the restaurant next door and my first alcoholic drink(s) in 2 weeks.

Tulsa

Day 12 Baxter Springs, KS to Chelsea, OK 63.5 miles

Chelsea Motor Inn by day...

and by night

Progress was slower today, have been cycling into a 45mph headwind for most of the journey. Oklahoma is very beautiful but also feels more desolate than Missouri or Illinois. Most of the towns I have passed through are very old and run down, a lot of boarded up shops and restaurants. There's also a lot of churches and roadside banners with religious messages, wrath of God stuff. There's something very sinister about cycling 20 miles on an empty road, no buildings or signs of civilization, then coming across a lone placard with a bible quote on it. The lady in the gas station asked me "did I know that Christ was my lord and saviour?" No, but please don't put a hex on me, I'm quite keen on seeing the Pacific in this lifetime. It's all very scary but also kind of exhilarating.

God's country, OK

Derelict hotel, Afton, OK


Tractor Rally, Brighton race course, 1983

The going has been really slow today; cycling into a 45mph headwind. Staying in a nice little motel in Chelsea tonight owned by a guy called Frank. He has a pet buffalo called Bessie. Got lucky as this is only motel for a 40 mile stretch along 66. Frank told me that Robert Plant ate in the diner down the road a couple of weeks back so I'm in good company. I'd just like to add that I'm only 24 hours from Tulsa. Thank you.

Classic 4 lane Route 66 heading towards Chelsea, OK.
There's something very 1950s about this section of the road.

Chelsea, OK

Frank & Bessie


Garden Ornament, Chelsea, OK

Day 11 Springfield MO to Baxter Springs KS 92.8 miles

Made it across the state line and into Kansas today. Route 66 only goes 13 miles in the state, it clips the South-East corner, and I'm staying in a cheap motel right on the Kansas - Oklahoma border in Baxter Springs . The Western side of Missouri has been much nicer the East, people seem friendlier and the landscape's more interesting. Flatter too, which is a bonus. I'm going to have to brave the smell and take a picture of a roadkill armadillo for you, they really are quite spectacular.

Abandoned church, Albatross, MO

The dashboard of my eighteen wheeled roadkill maker.

I can't remember where this was but I know it was taken on day 11
It's typical of the small towns I pass through; very, very quiet.

Route 66 between Albatross and Rescue, Missouri.

Wake me up when I reach Joplin.



Me, Rescue, MO

Route 66 through Galena and 13 miles of Kansas.

August 21st / Day 10 Devil's Elbow, MO to Springfield, MO - 99.3 miles

Hi Y'all, found a better way of keeping you updated with my journey across the United States by using Blogger. The writing and photography is a bit ropey at the moment as I'm new to both Blogging and Canon digital cameras so please bear with me.

Finally made some proper progress today after being held out in Rolla and Devil's Elbow, Missouri waiting for the thunderstorms to pass. The storms broke the back of the hot weather though, max temperatures are back in the low 90s which makes for easier cycling, plus the time I had off the road gave me a chance to score a digital camera and made me realise my love of root beer.

We had some heavy rainfall overnight, so much in fact that there's been some land slides and flooding. A landslide took out a section of Route 66.




I took this shot of 66 whilst cycling along the shoulder of the Interstate, the only road west out of the area. I don't like cycling on the Interstates but it can save time and mileage on massive detours.

This part of Missouri has been a lot nicer than St. Louis County, the landscape is nicer and the driving is better. There's some strange roadkill out here though, the highways are littered with Armadillo carcases. I'd have taken pictures but the smell is unbearable.





There's some beautiful countryside in West Missouri, including the Mark Twain National Forest. There's also very strange little towns and signs of borderline poverty. It's very different from Illinois which was flat and Agricultural, pretty little towns and nice housing. It's very 'country' down here, thick accents and every car is a pickup truck with a tool chest in the back. Heard a quote on CNN last night, "Real America lies off the Interstate" I guess the people round here are who the Republicans target. There's Stars n' Stripes flags outside most houses (even the really run-down ones) and it's well over a month since the 4th of July. True patriots. Only seen one exception so far:-




I mostly get overtaken by people driving these:-




A lot of people live in these things, I'm not sure what they are called, Cabins maybe? This is a brand new one parked on a Cabin dealership on the side of Interstate 44.