G.A.S.P.

It should come as no surprise to anyone who read yesterday’s journal entry, but I inspired myself to take Route 66 (in lieu of I-40) from Seligman to Kingman today (11-15) even though it’s about 15 miles longer. It was a very enjoyable ride, but once again I should not have believed a non-bicyclist who said "It’s all downhill from here to Kingman". My post ride estimate – about 25 per cent downhill, 25 per cent level and 50 per cent uphill. This section of Route 66 is in really good shape with a nice shoulder all of the way to Kingman. Couple that with extremely little traffic, and you have the ingredients for a very nice road on which to ride a bicycle. It was interesting to step back in time and see what the highway must have been like in its heyday. In one very small town, Truxton, there are remnants of three gas stations all in a row on the west side of the highway. One is still an operating gas station, one is a bar and the third is part of a junkyard/autobody shop. There are a few places that are trying to capitalize on Route 66 nostalgia. I stopped in one such place in Hackberry. There was a vintage Corvette at the gas pump, 50s music blaring and all kinds of Route 66 signs. I went in the store, but found no one there. I used the restroom and came back out, but found no one there. I wanted to buy a can of pop, but found no one there. I left, but not before taking a photo of the place. I can’t wait to see if anything shows up on the camera disc. If not, I’m going to assume that I was in the Twilight Zone.