New road trip … new blog

About to start another Route 66 road trip,  I have started a new blog to record it – see Route 66 Father and Sons.

At Christmas, my two sons – Conall and Kevin – invited me to join them in a Route 66 road trip and offered to pay for my flights – my Christmas present!

So next Thursday, 15 May 2014, I fly from Cork, ireland, via London Heathrow, to Chicago, where I will join Conall – who will have flown from Sydney, Australia via Los Angeles and Kevin, who flying in direct from Manchester, England. Our road trip will start the next morning and last 9 days. We plan arrive in Santa Monica, California on Saturday, 24 May, in time to catch planes that evening back to our respective homes.

Read about it all at Route 66 Father and Sons and / or follow us on twitter @route66FandS.

Butt Seriously: First Time Out on the Iron Butt Rally: An Irishman’s Story

My Route 66 adventure wouldn’t have happened – or gone so well – without the support of my friend, Richard Keegan. I have known Richard for over 10 years as an author – of books on Benchmarking, World Class Manufacturing and Lean Processes. So when he approached me to publish his account of the Iron Butt Rally as an ebook, I was delighted to do so.

Run every two years by the Iron Butt Association (www.ironbutt.org), the Iron Butt Rally is regarded as the Olympics of long-distance motorcycle-riding. Riders are given a long list of bonus locations and they have to decide which ones they can get to while still making it back to St Louis within a strict time-frame. Points are awarded for each bonus location ‘captured’, with higher points for more difficult / distant locations. Capturing the location usually consists of photographing a personal Rally flag at the location and recording certain details such as odometer reading and time. More points are awarded for keeping detailed fuel logs and taking defined rest-periods. A rider must achieve 190,000 points over the two legs of the Rally to be classified as a finisher. No consideration is given for bad weather or poor road conditions.

Riders in the Rally are selected from thousands of applicants from all over the world. A rider needs to be able to show a record of long-distance riding before being considered for a place on the start-line. On 20 August 2007, Richard Keegan was on the start-line in St Louis, Missouri, a rider from the island of Ireland. Eleven days and 8,906 miles later, with 194,071 points, Richard was placed 58th out of 64 finishers, from 97 starters.

Butt Seriously is Richard’s story of the Iron Butt Rally. It is available as a Kindle ebook here or as an ePub ebook here. It’s full of photos, maps, and advice on long-distance biking. Enjoy!

Thank You!

The final entry in this blog is a sincere “Thank You!” to everyone who helped me to raise the enormous sum of almost €13,000 (actually, €12,981) for Temple Street Children’s University Hospital’s Route 66 2008 Challenge. Many, many thanks to you all!

Day 10, 9 October

I had said that I wouldn’t report on the Gala Dinner held on Thursday – to spare the blushes of the innocent! However, I must mention two things:

First, yours truly was chosen as “Most Improved Irish 66er 2008” – for “going from 50 miles per hour to 90 in 5 days”!

The hat - my prize! (The shirt is our team shirt, kindly provided by Nobby Usher)

Second, and the real reason for this extra blog entry, was that I and two other Irish 66ers who had had small tips (the technical term is that we “laid down” our bikes) were called up at the end of the awards presentations and given a wodge of cash each, a contribution towards the loss of our deposits with EagleRider, raised in a whiparound by the Irish 66ers. Chief RoadCaptain Tony Toner explained to me “You’re an Irish 66er now and we look after each other”. You sure do – guys and gals, I don’t know you all by name, but thank you all most sincerely – I’m truly humbled by your generousity. GO Irish 66ers!!

Day 9, 8 October

The great day dawns! Our planned early start was again delayed by slow breakfast service – 100 hungry bikers at 6.20 am is NOT a pretty sight! But, after a quick talk from Angela McNulty and Tony Toner, our group were first out on the road.

Look at the sparkle from those bikes! Leaving Victorville CA, Wednesday morning

A fast run down the mountain – Victorville is several thousand feet above sea level – to LA in the valley below, on the Interstate – slowing when we hit traffic as we neared the city proper. We were first to the meeting place – another Denny’s, this time on Sunset Boulevard, THE Sunset Boulevard! Other groups, who had elected to travel the original Route 66 into LA, were much delayed by traffic – one arrived more than two hours after us! We had breakfasted well in their absence – and were now sweltering in the sun!

This waiting around is tiring, you know!

At midday, we moved out, with our police escort holding junctions for us – the only way to travel! Along Sunset Boulvelard, past the Beverly Hills Hotel and the entrance to Bel Air – and then disaster struck!

Less than 5 miles and 10 minutes from Santa Monica pier, riding on the inside of a paired formation, my wheels got caught in a rut, straight into a deep pothole, which trapped the front wheel, twisting it out of my hands – I lost control, went heading for the curb, hit it, and the Road Glide and I parted company! I landed on the grass (luckily), the RoadGlide scraped along the curb. The bikers behind me were quick to help – while keeping the convoy moving – Martin, a paramedic, made sure I was OK before I got up on the bike again and rejoined the convoy at the back. Sore shoulder, a skinned knee and injured pride aside, I was fine – the RoadGlide needs repair work, which cost me my deposit – still it was cheaper than a night or two in a hospital! And, since I couldn’t be first man onto the pier – that honour went to Declan Connaughton – I managed to be last – one must take what comfort one can!

I was very grateful for the good wishes of the other 66ers – roadcaptain Gerry Barry came back down the convoy to check on me, as soon as he heard I was down, losing his own place in the line-up onto the pier – and many other bikers came over to check that I was alright.

Rita – with our great LA friends, Bonnie and George – was waiting on the pier at Santa Monica. A great reunion, some words of welcome from Michael O’Leary, city councillor for Culver City, who spoke on behalf of Mayor Katz of Santa Monica who was unable to meet us, group photos – and then off to EagleRider LA to return the bikes. Nobby Usher and I got separated again from our group but met up with another group and arrived at our destination well ahead of our teammates. EagleRider were surprisingly relaxed about the damage to my RoadGlide – the fact that it was insured made a difference, I suppose! And I’m sure they have seen bikes returned in worse condition than mine!

We made it!!

Joe and myself on Santa Monica pier with my crashed bike - you cannot see the damage from this angle!

Then back to meet up again with Rita, Bonnie and George, and off to their home in Orange County, where they made us most welcome.

Rita and I rejoin the 66ers for a Gala Dinner tomorrow night – there will be no reporting on that! And then, as the group makes its way home on Friday, we begin a short hioliday for ourselves, travelling up Highway 1 – the Pacific Coast Highway – eventually meeting up with Bonnie’s sister, Kathy, and her husband, John, in Sacramento, before flying home.

The team on Santa Monica pier - the end of the Challenge!

 

The Challenge is done! I have achieved what I set out to do – I arrived safely, if a little bruised, in Santa Monica – and I have done some good for the children in Temple Street Hospital – thanks to all my generous sponsors! It’s been a tough but enjoyable 10 days, thanks to the great spirit among our team. Go Irish 66er!

Day 8, 7 October

Our usual early start was delayed by a slow breakfast service – several of the hotels we stayed at appeared unable to cope with a rush of bikers at 6.30 am – the best were those that served us buffet-style in a separate banqueting room.

Across the “High Desert” to a gas station for our usual early morning stop after perhaps 60 or so miles biking – for once, our stop was not for coffee to warm us up but for water to cool us down – it was hot! And would get hotter as the day went on!

Just after we crossed into California, we stopped to join another group who were taking photographs of a Route 66 sign painted on the road surface – we saw several of these from here onwards, but this one was on an open stretch of road, with clear visibility for a mile or so in all directions, an ideal place to stop for photos. Siezing the opportunity presented by the presence of another group, Joe McCaul started a “Happy Birthday” for Gerry Barry, which was enthusuiastically joined in by all present!

Gerry Barry, Tom Browne and myself on Route 66

Then on through the high desert – little sand, just scrubland – to Roy’s Cafe at Amboy, which has been serving travelers for 150 years. It’s not much – just a gas station and small shop, with a preserved but now non-functioning diner attached – but it’s a welcome break.

Roy's Cafe, Amboy, CA

Earlier, we had overtaken a young couple on a Harley, she in a bikini (hell of a way to get a suntan!), accompanied by a third guy on another bike and a couple in a people carrier. They pulled into Roy’s a little while later – and the lads formed a queue to present the bikinied young lady with one of our trademark shamrock pjns, provided only that they could pin it on her! Wisely, she resisted the temptation!

Lunch was in Ludlow – a gas station and cafe. across the road from one another. Again, it’s amazing how “towns! that apear on the map turn out to be disappointingly small. In the cafe, we met a couple from Cambridge, England, touring America on a Harley. In conversation, we discovered that she had Irish roots – having spent most of childhood summer holidays outside Tullamore, where Sean Tynan hails from – a small world!

Ludlow to our overnight at Victorville, with a short stop at the Victorville Harley-Davidson shop for the enthusiasts among us. Luckily, the hotel was just around the corner, so some of us headed there early – and yours truly, having spotted a Starbucks across the road, went off to indulge in a cafe latte – only my third on the roadtrip! but the bikes also had to be cleaned for return to EagleRider the next day – my protests that no one would believe that we had travelled 2500 miles across America if we turned up on Santa Monica pier on showroom-condition bikes went unheeded – I was given a cloth and shown where the hose was!

Over dinner that evening, word began to emerge of a police escort into Santa Monica the next day. After a prolonged roadcaptain’s meeting, it was announced that we would make our way in our groups to a meeting place in central LA, where we would be joined by 25 motorcycle police officers, from 12 different police forces in the LA area, who would escort us to the pier – this on their own time!!

To bed then, with mixed emotions – delighted to be nearing the end of the Challenge, only a week earlier, Santa Monica had seemed impossibly far away; but, at the same time, sad that it was all coming swiftly to an end and that we would have to return soon – too soon – to the real world.

Day 7, 6 October

After a Sunday evening spent listening to stories of the day’s ride to the Grand Canyon or Sedona (having nothing to contribute from my day of idleness), we started back on our Route 66 Challenge 2008 on Monday morning. When Tom and I woke at 6 am, having lost several hours sleep due to a party inconsiderately held in the next door bedroom at 3 am, the outside temperature was only 2 degrees. Nonetheless, by the time we were ready to leave, it was warm enough to go around in just a T-shirt, provided you stayed in the sun. Experience told that it would be much colder on the bikes – after all, like Denver, Flagstaff is a mile high at 7200 feet – so we donned our rainsuits despite the cloudless sky.

Sunrise over our bikes in Flagstaff AZ

An hour later, we stopped for coffee and to remove the rainsuits. And then onto Seligman. This small town has become something of a tourist trap – while we were there, there were at least three busloads of of French tourists, all intrigued by the crazy Irish people on their motorcycles.

Seligman – activity on Main Street

On then to Kingman, we were stopped for lunch at another Denny’s – for the first time, we were able to get a table for all the group to sit together – and the lads flirted shamlessly with the waitress, Miranda, who was well able for them! But we got magnificent service – and Miranda got a great tip!

Lunch at Denny

Under a little time pressure, we made our way across a barren desert plain to cross the mountains at the infamous Sitgreaves Pass. Sitgreaves has long since been bypassed but early settlers often used to pay locals to drive their cars through the pass for them, since it was so dangerous. In many cases, the cars had to be reversed up the hill – as reverse was the only gear capable to managing the grade! We avoided the use of reverse gear, and made our way to the pass without mishap.

Irish 66ers making their way up Sitgreaves Pass

There we waited for the other groups to join us – having arrived first. Our purpose at the pass was to place a memorial to brothers Dave Yost and JB Norris, who had planned to join our roadtrip in Chicago. Sadly, both died in June, within 5 days of one another. Their mother had asked Chief Roadcaptain, Tony Toner, to carry their ashes on a final bike journey across America and to place them at Sitgreaves Pass. So we held a brief and moving ceremony – sadly, the occasion was marred by the discovery that a memorial left to mark the passing of John McLaughlin, a 2004 66er, who died before he could take part on the 2006 Challenge, had been removed – it had been there only weeks earlier. Who would do such a thing?

Watching the ashes ceremony at Sitgreaves Pass

Then down the mountain, into Oatman, an old mining town that has maintained the ramshackle facade of yesterday, underneath which lies a slickly-run tourist machine. Burros (donkeys) roam the street (there’s only one!) at will, cadging carrots (available for a dollar a bag at any shop) from visitors. In the absence of carrots, the burros will eat most anything else – one tried to eat the Irish flag flying from the radio aerial of my RoadGlide!

I bet he wouldn't try that with an American flag!

Rested and refreshed, we made our way across more barren territory to the town of Laughlin, in Nevada, departing slightly from Route 66 in the search for accommodation. Our beds for the night were in the Golden Nugget Casino and Hotel in Laughlin, which, being across the state border in Nevada, is a gambling town – at least six casinos, all bigger than the Golden Nugget, itself large – and surprisingly busy for a Monday night. A lovely dinner, served on a deck overlooking the Colorado river, with fish visible in the clear water below, as well as ducks and raccoons on the riverbank, loosened roadcaptain Gerry Barry’s tongue sufficiently for him to reveal that the next day, Tuesday, was his 50th birthday – a fatal mistake!

Day 6, 4 October

We’re getting better and better! On the road this morning at 7.30 am sharp, gassed up from the night before. I discovered first-hand this morning most people travel Route 66 east-to-west – not just because that was the pattern of migration that underlies Route 66 but because the sun in your eyes in the morning is blinding – we had a quarter-mile or so to drive from the hotel onto I-40 to start our day’s journey and that was enough for me.

We had been expecting snow, from the previous night’s forecast, but the day started fine – but bitterly cold.

Our first stop, about 90 minutes on, was at the Contintental Divide, where rainwater falling on the west side of the divide flows to the Pacific, while rainwater falling on the eastern side flows to the Atlantic. We used the sto to warm ourselves with coffee – and put on our rainsuits to keep out the biting wind.

Tom and myself stradding the Contintental Divide

Then through Native Indian territory on Route 66 on into Arizona, where we gained another hour. We used this wisely for an early lunch at the restaurant in the Visitor Centre at the Petrified Forest National Park. We explored the park and had a group photo taken by two American girls from Washington DC.

At the Petrified Forest National Park: (from left to right, back row) Joe, myself, Tom, Sean and Paul); (front row) Declan, Gerry, Siobhan and Nobby

On then, in pouring rain, to Winslow, Arizona – to stand on the corner! I bought an Eagles CD with ‘Takin’ It Easy’ on it and used the CD player on my RoadGlide to blast it out while we took photos.

Standing on the corner in Winslow, Arizona: (from left to right, back row) Joe, myself, Gerry, Tom and Paul; (front row) Declan, Nobby, Sean and Siobhan

Sitting on my bike on a corner in Winslow, Arizona!

The shop across the road from the corner in Winslow, Arizona: note the 'Thank You' to the Eagles!

Excitement over, we made our way to Flagstaff. Across the plain, I-40 doubles as Route 66 so, for 40 miles of so, we fought winds from the south that threatened to blow us, not just off the road, but halfway to Canada. Still for such bad weather forecasts, we escaped with colder temperatures than we were prepared for, some rain, and strong winds – and arrived safe in Flagstaff.

Tomorrow, Sunday, is a day off – much needed! Most of the 66ers are going to the Grand Canyon or Sedona – I’m planning a day of idleness, interspersed with bouts of blogging!

It’s been a hard – but interested – week. We have travelled nearly 2000 miles – not much left to go to reach our destination in Santa Monica. But we’ve seen little of the country – we’ve been travelling fast, with short stops for petrol (gas!), coffee and lunch and only one or two ‘tourist’ stops each day. Shame perhaps, but the Challenge is about covering the distance, not sightseeing.

As a group, our team has come together well – there’s lots of slagging – and we’ve grown to know and to trust one another’s biking abilities. Certainly, I’m a better biker after this week – in six days, I done about 60% of the mileage that I have covered in the past 16 months on my own bike, over a much wider range of conditions and situations. It’s been great! I’m looking forward to the next few days, crossing the rockies and descending through California to the sea – and our end-point!

Day 5, 3 October

Tom Browne, my roommate, and I missed our wake-up call and were rescued only by my iPhone, which beeped on schedule on 6 am. Nonetheless, we managed a quick breakfast before joining the group and hitting the road.

We cleared Amarillo easily, heading for the town of Adrian, which claims to be the midpoint of Route 66, equidistant from Chicago and Santa Monica. We managed to take the necessary individual and group photographs and run across the road and order delicious cinnamon rolls and coffee, before the other groups descended on the town. Again, picking up yesterday’s point, “town” is perhaps too grand a term for Adrian – beyond the “midpoint” sign and the cafe, there’s little else.

Tom and myself at the halfway point!

On to Tucumcari, once known as Six-shooter Siding, now staging something of a comeback, with several new hotels and restaurants. Arriving here, some of the lads contributed mightily to local drought prevention, unable to wait to use the restrooms at the gas station just down the hill, less than half a mile away! Maybe shamrocks will grow in Tucumcari one day – and only the Irish 66ers will know why!

Irish 66ers do their bit for drought prevention, Tucumcari NM

Lunch at a brand new Denny’s, where the other guests were entertained by our obvious enjoyment of a long series of jokes, one better than the last, but (thankfully) spared understanding of them by our foreign accents.

Then to Clines Corner, a large rest-stop on I-40, famous for souvenirs and trinkets. Cowboy hats were the de rigeur purchase here, probably fueled by memories of the Big Texan Steak Ranch in Amarillo, the night before. Although some US states are quite relaxed about whether bikers were helmets, our road captain was not – all hats had to go into the panniers and we had to wear our conventional helmets.

And then into Albuquerque, arriving earlier than usual, helped in part by crossing into a new time zone – which we will do again tomorrow, as we cross into Arizona.

A good day’s biking for me – things came together: good, smooth, straight roads, with plenty of forward vision, allowed me to keep up with the group easily – not the case on Thursday, when the Challenge felt like I had bitten off more than I could chew. But I’m on track, gaining in confidence, more than half-way to Santa Monica. The only problem is that rain and snow are forecast for tomorrow, Saturday. It’ll be interesting!!

Day 4, 2 October

It’s amazing that only a week ago we were all fully occupied with our work and families and now, after only three days on the road, we’re old hands at 6 am wake-up calls and 7.30 am starts.

We left Oklahoma City, revisiting the open prairies. First stop, after an early coffee to warm us up (mornings are surprisingly chilly, especially on the bikes, where the wind lowers temperatures sharply), was the Route 66 Museum in Clinton. There we met a Brazilian, accompanied by a film crew who were recording his trip, who was doing Route 66 in a pristine original Chevrolet Corvette – red and white, it got the small boy in all of us going!

A Chevrolet Corvette at the Route 66 Museum, Clinton OK - Joe on the left

The Route 66 Museum at Clinton OK

Moving on, we crossed into Texas, passing the “towns” of Erick and Texola – the two of them would fit in a handbag! It’s scary to see towns – and we saw more later on that day in Texas and, apparently will see more further along Route 66 – so devoid of any form of activity, closed up and almost tumbledown buildings, and no people on the street.

If I thought Illinois was flat, it’s positively Alpine compared to the Texas Panhandle – vast stretches in all directions, with nothing more than the odd grain silo between where you stand and the horizon.

We stopped for lunch in Shamrock, where the Irish connection was lost on the people we met, despite an annual St Patrick’s Day parade and a Blarney Bar – no, we didn’t visit it, not even in the name of authentic research! Shamrock is a once-thriving, now virtually a ghost, town, struggling to make a comeback.

The restored Conoco Tower in Shamrock TX

Groom is another such town, where religious fervour overcomes such adversities as lack of facilities – an invitation from the town to visit its business district (how could one ignore such an invitation, even when on holidays) leads to three grain solos and the Blessed Mary restaurant! Just outside Groom is the cross – it doesn’t need a name – “the cross at Groom” is sufficient for a structure that stands several hundred feet tall and first can be seen five miles off. The cross also has a well-depicted sculptured layout of The Stations of the Cross.

Irish 66ers arrive in the business district, Groom TX – note the camera crew on left

The Cross at Groom, TX

The Stations of the Cross, Groom TX

A final run into Amarillo was spoilt by having to ask for police guidance – “show me the way to our hotel” doesn’t quite have the same ring as the Tony Christie original. In fairness, it was one of the other teams who, having got lost, looked for directions and then graciously shared their escort – no flashing lights, sirens or roadblocks, just follow me!

So, what would have been an early arrival at the hotel was a little later than planned but time enough to change for dinner (some standards must be preserved, even among bikers) at the Big Texan Steak Ranch, where 72oz steaks (a normal steak is between 8 and 12oz) are free, provided you eat it – with all the trimmings – within an hour. Sensibly, none of the 66ers tried it but, while we were eating, a young man had a go – he topped out at 49oz at the end of the hour – a good try, but no cigar!

And after a good meal, bed – ready for the morrow – Amarillo to Albuquerque.