Planning 'the next big trip' Route 66
Updated: Aug 18, 2019
I'm sat in a cafe, in Honor Oak Park, London enjoying a bottled beer and thinking about the next big bike trip. No I'm not thinking about it, I'm planning it.
It's been a couple of years since my last major outing, three to be precise, it feels like too long. That feeling is compounded by the fact that I've not had a decent break this year and its nearly the end of August.
The reason I'm in the planning stage is that this trip, this 'every couple of years' adventure, is not actually that far away now. For the last few weeks I've been thinking about it, buying kit for it, reading guides and books about, pouring over maps of it or digging around on the Internet to find out more about it.
This adventure is not a journey into the unknown, or into the wilds, for the most part. It's not even an original idea, but I expect no less of it as an adventure...and I'm confident that it will be everything I need to last me for the next year or two until I'm able to afford the 'next big trip'.
Route 66 is the road I'll soon be travelling. Two and a half thousand miles of well trodden asphalt, linking Chicago, Illinois via the Mid West, just past the back of beyond and middle of nowhere, to Los Angeles, California.
Alisa and I are renting two Triumph Sprint GTs for the trip via a dealership which is linked to the Eagle Rider franchise in Chicago. We'll stay two nights in Chicago to get on the time zone and then head West. No fixed plans are made from there on in, though we've got lots of ideas for places to visit and the many kitsch things that we can see on route. We might not discover America, but we are sure to discover Americana. It's amazing what kitschness you can find if you type "route 66" and "world's largest" into google.
The trip will see us doing low and mid mileage days. It's by no means the long distance slogs I've done in the past. Time has been set aside for smelling the roses, or rather, stopping for coffee, doughnuts and burgers at the many diners along the way.
What little plans I have for the trip are listed below:
Don't fall off the bike
Keep hydrated - it's going to be hot in the desert
Don't gain to much burger and steak induced weight
See some cool stuff and take pictures of it
Blog each day along the way
More to follow when the trip is under way.
