Had a rather lame free breakfast before the off, free, except you have to pay for one drink. $2 for an OJ! Meal and service not nearly as good as we had the night before at the same joint.
We set off at our usual time, 8:30 and fuelled up. Then we hit the open road. This is more a riding day than sightseeing day, though we had plans for a photo shoot when we got into the Mojave. We rode for only a little while to get acclimatised to the heat, then stopped for a short break and to sort out our camel backs. Gary assured us we would need them in 100+ temps. We were all wearing long sleeved white shirts, to ease the effects of the blazing sun. Jackets were discarded, definitely not needed on today’s journey.
Whilst we were stopped the eagle rider mob cruised past. They hadn't stayed at the same hotel as us this time round, so this was the first sight of them since sometime yesterday. We continued our journey.
A little way up the road we came across the Eagleriders, stopped in the road, having their photos taken with the Route 66 shield emblazoned on the road. We motored on for a few miles until we came to the spot where Gary had said was the best spot to get the pictures of the shield on the road. Just at the crest of the hill. We pulled over and took some individual photos. Then we re-enacted the poses from the poster for the Wild Hogs film. This involved the 4 single guys lining up behind Bill's Harley, which had been carefully laid on its side. It made a great pic.
We were soon alerted by the sound of Harleys approaching. Gary is good mates with the Eaglerider support truck driver, Mark and they are always having little pranks between them. So Gary decides it would be a great idea if we mooned Mark as he drives by. Some of the guys preferred to retain their dignity and take photos, so it was left to Gary, myself and Bill to do the honours. Imagine the scene. You're in the middle of the Mojave desert, it's over 100 degrees, there is absolutely nothing for miles except this ribbon of tarmac, when you happen upon a few bikes parked at the side of the road. Suddenly, 3 guys, 2 the wrong side of fifty, drop their trousers and flash their bare white arses at you! Absolutely unbelievable! What a crack. We couldn't stop laughing. Bill, love him, was a little too keen and instead of just mooning the van, gave a virtuoso performance a couple of extra times for the preceding bikers! We've since watched it back on video and it is even funnier than when we did it.
Trousers buttoned, we made our way a few miles further down the road. to Roy's cafe. Gary cut us loose again for this section. It's incredibly straight and being downhill, with no worries about visibility, I wound the RK up. Luckily for me there were no CHPs about, I doubled the legal limit! It's an amazing stretch of road. At one point you crest a hill and can see Roy's cafe in the distance. The road then slopes gently down, true as an arrow for 5 miles to the cafe. There's nothing like that in the UK to my knowledge. A brief stop ensues and we take some photos. Gary hoses us all down with cold water and we continue in the searing heat.
Our next stop is a lunch stop in Barstow. An unremarkable diner, where the service, it has to be said, was chronically slow. This is probably the worst place Gary has taken us too. I did notice when he was telling us where we would stop, he didn't talk about how good the food was. Unusual for Gary. We were soon on our way again.
Barstow to Victorville is only a short ride, 25 miles or so, away. We still had one more stop to make though. This was at Elmer's Bottle Ranch. Elmer, another friend of Gary's (aren't they all), makes steel 'trees' on which he then sets a load of bottles, usually topped off by something metal, maybe an old wheel, sign or windmill made from hubcaps. Take the name and the nature of the 'art' and you'd be forgiven for thinking Elmer is a redneck nutcase. Well maybe he is but he comes across as quite an intelligent guy, despite his ZZ Top style beard and dungarees. Just another one of the astonishing experiences we have had on this tour. Never a dull moment on Route 66, especially when following the bear!
We soon mount up again and take the short ride into Victorville and the hotel.
Tonight it's end of tour night in Gary's room. After freshening up, we meet up for beers from Gary's cooler, chat, watch some video and order in takeaway pizza. As Pat has a birthday after the tour ends, we have got him a card and Gary has bought AND decorated a cake. It's a nice way to end the evening, our last with the bikes. This time tomorrow we will have completed our journey and be in our hotel at LA airport. But before that we have a shortish ride into LA and Santa Monica Boulevard, with a 10 lane highway to negotiate, in anticipated 90+ temps. What joy. Another memorable experience though, I'm sure.
Neill
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