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Adventure on Route 66 You Don’t Have To Be Rich And Famous To Have Adventures 12/8/2016 5:21:51 PM
In the summer of 2014, at age 64, I took a motorcyle road trip(my first ever) with my son. We travelled over 4500 miles for 2 weeks over Historic Route 66. This is the first of two blogs about that trip. A couple of years ago at age 64 I challenged myself to do something that was not on my radar even ten years ago. My son, Richard, and I made a father/son road trip to the West coast. I live in Southern Illinois and he lives in Southwest Tennessee. The idea for the trip actually began a few years earlier when my wife and I visited his family in Germany. That road trip was to be done in Germany on two wheels. We were unable to make it happen.
When he returned to the States, the road trip idea resurfaced. We both suggested possibilities. Finally we decided a two week motorcycle trip along the Historic Route 66 would be the most fun. My son insisted that we ride the original route avoiding the interstates as much as possible. He wanted to eat mostly in home owned restaurants and sleep in mom and pop motels like those resembling the ones originally seen on the initial route.
I had never ridden on two wheels more than four hundred miles on any trip before and certainly never overnight. This trip was calculated to be around four thousand five hundred miles and take nearly two weeks to ride.
For me there were many things to consider. Could I ride on two wheels four hundred miles a day for ten to twelve straight days? Could my sixty four year old body stand to be exposed to the elements every day for two weeks eight hours each day? I had not spent that long away from my wife in nearly thirty years. I am high maintenance. She would not be there to take care of me. Could I survive that?
I do not like big cities. There would be many to negotiate through. I would not have the safety of a cage around me in the event of an accident. We were to ride through portions of Los Angeles. SCARY! SCARY! SCARY! I almost decided not to go for that reason. I had to keep talking myself into going even up to the actual moment we left. Don’t tell my son, but I was still considering two days into the trip turning around and heading back home because we had to ride through LA. We completed the trip together so obviously I worked through that anxiety.
My son secured a copy of “The EZ66 Guide for Travelers” by Jerry McClanahan for each of us. Richard gave me direct orders to study it and map out the stops I wanted to make during the trip. He was disappointed with the way I carried out his orders. There were only two or three places I really wanted to include on the trip. The result was that I did not have much mapped out.
To me, it did not matter where we stopped. Every stop would be a new experience and adventure. This was the first time in our lives my son and I had ever done anything together alone. Togetherness, that was what really mattered.
Before the trip I had a Honda Silverwing motor scooter. With a 600cc engine it would have been no problem to make the trip with it. But I am into comfort so I traded it in for a new 2013 Suzuki Burgman 650 scooter. It had all the bells and whistle available for that model. It was important that my ride be as comfortable as possible.
Richard, on the other hand, rode his Honda CBR 600 racing bike. That’s right, I said racing. He had recently converted this bike from a race bike to a street bike. He left his racing colors (zebra stripes) on it. My son told me it still had a bit of a shimmy in it. I questioned his sanity to sit on it for forty five hundred miles. But he insisted. So I dropped it.
As far as I am concerned, I rode in much more comfort than my son. But then again he is twenty eight years younger than I am. A little shimmy and leaning over a gas tank for hours would not have the same effect on his much younger body.
We enjoyed the scenery and tourist attractions during the trip. Our bikes though, often provided the locals with something to talk about. I do not believe a zebra stripped racing bike and a rather large motor scooter parked side by side is an attraction often seen by many.
I expected the zebra bike to attract the bulk of attention. There were times, though, that my scooter grabbed the interest of the locals. When it did, mostly it was of the WTF variety.
“You Don’t Have To Be Rich And Famous To Have Adventures” is in the title of this blog post. As it suggest, this road trip was quite an adventure. My son and I had a great time. We did not travel the entire Route 66. Historic Route 66 extends from Chicago, IL to Santa Monica, Ca. We began our trip at St. Louis. Plans are underway to complete the route from St. Louis to Chicago on another trip.
I will be blogging more about our Route 66 adventures in the future. I have been asked by friends if I will be writing a book about it. I am not sure. Perhaps someday.
By The Way I highly recommend planning a trip over the Historic Route 66. Two weeks though, will not nearly be enough time.
Here are some links to check out if planning to travel this wonderful American highway:
http://www.mcjerry66.com/ http://www.historic66.com/ http://route66chamberofcommerce.homestead.com/ Check out the adventure on You-tube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnyX3P2XatE
