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Route 66 riding

nardowell

Nardowell
Living on route 66 in Bloomigton, IL. you have lots of chances to follow the old route and see some of the old remnants of the road and buildings. (I rode the entire old route from St. Louis to Chicago on my bicycle and was able to see lots of things some of the communities along the way have done to promote it).

This fall the Falling Leaf Rally in Mo. might be a good time to travel parts of route 66 in Mo. before or after the rally. Has anyone done much of route 66 in MO. and can you give me some advice as to what parts might be the most interesting? Since I am a retired layabout, I have time to do this stuff.

This picture was taken in Pontiac IL. at the route 66 museum. There is also a good war museum in the building. The town has a Pontiac car museum if you like GTOs and other Pontiac cars.
 

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Nice picture. I've been at the Rt 66 museum in Pontiac...a hop skip and rut up Rt. 66 from my hometown of Chenoa. Handy for
those who hit the Pontiac campout... Mac
 
Riding route 66 in Missouri is even more fun that IL. MO has hills and trees and lots of old route 66 motels restaurants and places to buy moccasins.
I stayed in two great of old restored motels from the 40s and met groups from Australia, Japan and the Netherlands doing 66 on motorcycles and old cars.
The area I traveled was SW of MO, from Cuba to Lebanon.
 

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Route 66 Bucket List

I hope to ride the complete 66 in about a year from spring. Any ideas, books or don'ts?
 
In IL it's pretty well marked, just find interstate 55 and look to the north or south of it, it's usually within eyesight of the interstate and once your on it there are signs.

Funny, but the only section of 66 I have been on is in IL :laugh



.
 
A few years ago I attempted to ride Route 66 from east to west across Missouri.

There were sections that were very enjoyable with lots of old historic spots of interest.

There were also times when the route was so poorly marked I would wind up in a dead end and have to back track to find where I should have turned...that was frequently a guess. I was using a special historic route 66 map that I picked up at the rest area near St. Louis, but it was a lousy road map.

This was before I had gps to be assist me.

I've also ridden parts of old 66 in New Mexico and Arizona. They are better marked than in Missouri, but not as interesting. In New Mexico I spent the night in an old motel that was a challenge. Giant spiders in the shower, no seat on the toilet, non working bulbs in the lamps and a being awakened in the middle of the night by a crowd of drunks (feared for the bike, but not willing to risk my life by confronting the bunch).

If you are not in a hurry, it can be an enjoyable adventure.
 
A few years ago I attempted to ride Route 66 ...the route was so poorly amarked ...was using a special historic route 66 map ... also ridden parts of old 66 in New Mexico and Arizona ... spent the night in an old motel that was a challenge ... it can be an enjoyable adventure.

I also rode it a couple years ago all the way to the Santa Monica pier. Wonderful trip with great memories. I solved the iffy overnight accommodations by staying the nights in nice places on the interstates, which were never more than a few minutes away from most spots on the old highway. I did try to eat in the original eateries where I could and that was fine, but some of the original (or "restored") motels looked too primitive for me. BTW, I went on the Historic 66 website and ordered a set of excellent maps, much better than what is generally available at tourist stops along the route or in state provided maps.
 
I hope to ride the complete 66 in about a year from spring. Any ideas, books or don'ts?

After buying several guide books, I found the best one to be EZ66 Guide. It has easy to follow maps and places of interest.
It even includes some places to eat and stay.

http://www.historic66.com/books/book-ezguide.html

It's companion book by the same people is the Dining & Lodging Guide.

There are other maps and guides, but these were the ones I found the easiest to follow and had the most useful information.
I could keep the guide inside my jacket and stop and check it without a big hassle. A tank bag would be a handy place for it.
 
If there is a nice restored motel on the route, It can be fun to stay there.
The EZ guide book will give you a good idea as to the condition of the place.

At one motel I met two groups on Harleys (the all American icon) doing the entire route. One group of 30 were from Australia and the other group of 15 were from Japan. They were all staying at the Munger/Moss motel in Lebanon MO.

At a lunch stop there was a group that had brought old 1960s and 1970s Citroen cars from France to drive the route.

This is a picture of the Wagon Wheel motel in Cuba MO. It was completely redone on the inside and out.

Wagon Wheel motel.jpg
 
I rode end to end as a child. More than once.
I do not pine for the 'good old days'. They were not so good.
There were slow moving buses, trucks and cars.
The motels were dirty and over priced.
The restaurants had some bad food at high prices. And some good. But it was always hit and miss.
Today there are good alternatives when one needs merely to get from point a to point b.
For me, any two lane road, anywhere in the usa qualifies as to what I am looking for. And again it is hit and miss with the small hotels and motels, and restaurants.
But there are some gems out there. More friendly and more real than in the big city.
Almost all in the small town rural locations.
dc
 
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