Time to burn rubber, and it was steady little run down the mountain, round some tight turns and long straights where those who wanted to have a play, could.
Interestingly, Cliff was seen hanging off the seat of the Road King giving it some like it was a fireblade, which led to Tony calling him 'Blademan' Tony couldn't play as Di was experiencing some form of motion and equilibrium malfunction. I suppose that what happens when you bolt your food and spend 45 + minutes sitting on something that resembles a spin dryer witrh a load of bricks inside on speed. Dennis was also seen giving it some big licks on the straight. Graham spent a lot of time with his bike collecting road rash on the pipes and pegs.
Arrived at hotel and some of us then popped out to get our photos posing with the route 66 sign.
Interestingly, Cliff was seen hanging off the seat of the Road King giving it some like it was a fireblade, which led to Tony calling him 'Blademan' Tony couldn't play as Di was experiencing some form of motion and equilibrium malfunction. I suppose that what happens when you bolt your food and spend 45 + minutes sitting on something that resembles a spin dryer witrh a load of bricks inside on speed. Dennis was also seen giving it some big licks on the straight. Graham spent a lot of time with his bike collecting road rash on the pipes and pegs.
Arrived at hotel and some of us then popped out to get our photos posing with the route 66 sign.
A blast through the desert to Oatman, home to wild burro's where they are armed with sharp teeth and short of patience if you dont feed them. This place was straaight out of the western movie's with real wonky boardwalks and character buildings to match. We didn't arrive in time for the western shoot out but never the less, this town was full of character and the locals were really nice, wanting to talk to us all.
Another great stop was on the road going west from Kingman where we found Hackberry's general store. This place looked just like it did in the good ol' days when Route 66 was a busy highway.
At Seligman we learnt about Angel, the founding father of the route 66 preservation society, and he was still working today shaving customers. This town was another little route 66 gem. Full of old memories and preserved bits of the past mingled with the modern tourism industry that fights to preserve whats left of the old route 66. Here the $ in our pockets was shown the light, and much was purchased, from brown leather chaps (nice!) to key rings and cards. The timed stop passed swiftly and all too soon it was back on the bikes and on to Mr D's diner where we had probably the best burgers so far.
The day dawns, and I remember last night. A spaghetti western restaurant and 2 x 14" pizzas. One for Steve, one for graham. By the time Steve had eaten two slices, all that was left of Graham's was one bit of red pepper! On the table in the room were 4 bits of Steve leftover pizza. Yum! cold pizza & coffee for brekkie!
As we set off early in the morning we experienced the same strong winds that we had the previous day. It made the first part of our journey very hard work and seemed relentless until our first stop at Williams. Along the way one of our group had been 'blown off course' along with our guru, and ended up at Seligman, some 39 miles away from us! (Apparently wind plays havoc with pratnav's) They were supping coffee some 40 mins before we arrived!
Williams had some great Route 66 sites and several gift shops to browse. I took this opportunity to buy a long sleeved top to wear straight away as I was cold from the winds earlier. An old railway town, it still retained the charm and some splendour of its former glories, with many of the old shopfronts and garages still visible. A quick walk around the town then it was off to Seligman.
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