Wednesday 8th May - Have Done it!

As I write this I really am quite excited. I’m sitting in a “coffee Bean” on Santa Monica Boulevard Beverley Hills and have about 5 miles to do to get to the end of Route 66 – yes will have done all of it.  BUT I hear you say “Why not get on and finish it then?”  Well, the traffic won’t let me. It’s now 4.40 pm and it’s at a standstill. |I can filter a bit but the temperature has now gone right up and the bike is so hot it isn’t worth it – so a regular Americano and a Lemon and Poppy Seed Muffin won out.

I didn’t intend to get this far today and the day didn’t start well. I was quite tired last night, did nearly 300 miles and missed calling in at Victorville where the California Route 66 Museum is. So as it was only 7 miles back I decided to drop back and see that. Lovely drive back but the museum was closed – oh hum!

So turn round and go west young man again – to San Bernardino some  35 miles on through the Cajon Pass. I know the Rustyplough list of superlatives is the biggest – another one – but I hadn’t expected that drive through/over the pass – WOW!  Talk about shouting into your crash helmet. It’s a slow pull up but when you crest at the pass at 4000ft the world drops away,  Two majestic sweeps of  tarmac, concrete whatever – the  east and west carriageways take different routes –the San Bernardino and San Gabriel mountains all around and so many  rail lines that it looked like a model railway set. It was cloudy and at that elevation, cold – about 12°C but at last the bike was on roads it was made for and enjoy it I did!  

The road followed the valley side until San Bernardino and although I needed to swing west from there directly to the coast I wanted to call in and see the 1928 California Theatre where a lot of old movie stars started.

 

I had studied the route across LA from San Bernardino to the end of 66 at the coast many times in many different books and it all seemed terrible complicated – one even saying that the ride could take a day so I had resigned myself to staying somewhere on the way.  However once I got onto the Old Route it was really easy with great signs both on the side and on elaborate brick surfaces on the road. Each town, although blurring into one another seemed to want to acknowledge and celebrate its place on the route.

 

 

The wasn't all main road like that though, sometimes it closed in and went past old individual homes...

 

I stopped at some of the sights I had read about but some were a bit difficult to get to or traffic/positioning made it a bit dicey so into the memory bank they went.

My first main stop was at the Wigwam Motel where I spent a good 20 minutes talking to the part owner.

 

I was tempted to stay there the night and finish in the morning but he was good enough to suggest it was a hit far out and that I should get much nearer before calling it a day.  So on I went and right along Foothills Boulevard towards Santa Monica.

The ride was magical and as the clouds cleared and the sun shone through I kinda got the urge to see the sunset on the Pacific and metaphorically therefore on my 66 Odyssey.

When I wasn’t rolling or filtering there was always someone willing to chat through their window. Talked to a young couple in a 1969 Beetle that hadn’t so much been restored as lovingly maintained and then by contrast the driver of this transporter which I managed to snap from the bike

 

                                        yes, it’s a Lamborghini – what else would it be -  it was Beverley Hills.

As I drove along the Hollywood sign came into view on the hills to my right

 

 

            and then I was in Beverly Hills proper.  A bit of a place of contrasts at that moment. As I stopped to take a photo of the sign

 

 

 

this guy was on the grass where I parked. 

 

 I don’t know if he was content or not, he certainly did not want any money but I can bet he didn’t have much.

Contrast that with this piece of “art” near him , which you were asked not to limb on!

 

 

 How much had the good burgers of Beverley Hills paid for that?  Who was it said the definition of Art is what you can get away with! (No it wasn’t Andy Warhol – he pinched it!)

Parked in Beverley Hills - just because I could ...

Anyway, as the miles clicked away to Santa Monica Beach and Route 66’s end the traffic got heavier and heavier and the temperature climbed so, here I am.  One coffee and a muffin later I’m thinking of going out and finishing.

Got back into the traffic flow and it was moving a little faster, saw why a little later when I stopped by one of the traffic officers controlling a major junction. Amazing how she could manage the chaos, totally ignoring the lights and still find time to chat with me.

Then, I crested a rise and saw the Pacific Ocean! I could have – ok, I did – cried!

I had done it, ridden my dream! Looking at the clock tower it was almost dead on 6pm.

 

3265 Miles on the Route, nearly 4000 in all.

Parked in the street and went looking for the “End of Route 66” sign which appeared to be missing.  I wandered down on to the pier

 and there it was – so off to pick up the bike for the obligatory photos. Ian, the guy from the kiosk obliged.

. 

 

 

 

Then left the hurly burly of the pier and went down to the beach for some quiet reflection – soaked it all up for a couple of hours watching the sun go down.  Won’t go on.

Was getting dark and colder by the time I decided I’d better get on the road and find somewhere to sleep. Hit Highway 1 South to San Diego. Pulled off the highway an hour later, didn’t honestly know where I was, found a hotel with a guy that not only had a room but said he had a great place to park my bike. Was too tired to take that in so just put it where he said and went to bed. Wow, what a place I woke up to.