chapter 442

8/6/2016

Bob and Terry's Excellent Adventure 

they called him Gladys

So I went on a bike trip with old DOT survey bud Bob Stircos, 69. Was proud to complete 16 miles down the Colonie Bike path when he told me he had completed a month long 1881 mile trip earlier this spring from California to Missouri. From his hippie phase back in our 1971 DOT days I never thought of him as being athletic or doing extraordinary physical events, but that is not the case. It's amazing. Excerpts from his FB timeline follows: (his cell phone pics - my edits)

Mar  17, 2016 (day 1)

Bob and other friend Terry (Navy Chief & marathoner) flew to Santa Monica the prior morning, reassembled their bikes and had dinner at the pier. They thus began their Route 66 trek! The turtles took off this morning and rode 57 miles to Pamona. Lots of stop and go but excellent bicycle facilities. Saw many homeless people this morning in the land of plenty.

Mar 18, 2016 (day 2) Victoriaville, CA

The turtles rode over the Cajon Pass today and stopped for the night in Victorville. We are beat after the 4000 foot climb.

Mar 23, 2016 (day 7) Grand Canyon Caverns, AZ

62 miles Total for trip - 474 miles. We rode from Kingman AZ to Grand Canyon Caverns today. We climbed another 2000 feet with a strong headwind. The weather is getting colder every day.

Mar 25, 2016 (day 9) Winslow, AZ 

Williams, AZ to Winslow, AZ - 96 miles. Total trip - 601. We climbed up to the Arizona devide then rode down over 2300 feet over the next 65 miles. We take what the road gives us. Well I'm standing on the corner in Winslow Arizona and such a fine sight to see. It's a girl, my Lord, in a flat bed Ford (reflection). Taking it easy. They gave a toast to Glenn Frey and the Eagles.

Mar 26, 2016 (day 10) Petrified Forest National Park, AZ

 56 miles Total trip 657 miles. Very windy day. Had to stop early as there are no services the next 50 miles. We met up with another bicyclist Jim who is traveling to Virginia and shared a teepee. There were no restaurants available so I had a granola bar for dinner.  [Grandma brought me back a piece of the petrified wood in the 60's].

April 7, 2016 (day 20) Shamrock, TX to Elk City, OK - 59 miles. Total trip - 1392 miles. 

This morning we crossed into Oklahoma and stopped at Erick for breakfast. The diner didn't open till 11 so we thought we were out of luck. Suddenly a man came out of the diner and invited us in. A local man, Sam Hagen stopped by and started talking to us. He then ran home and gave us each a copy of his book of photographs. When we left strong headwinds picked up and we spent six hours going only 35 miles to Elk City. The headwinds are relentless and are taking a toll on us.

April 9, 2016 (day 22) El Reno, OK to Chandler, OK - 78 miles. Total trip - 1557 miles.

Today we passed through Oklahoma City and stopped at a bike shop to replace the one I left in a diner several days ago. The last 40 miles were up and down hills dealing with crazy drivers and poor shoulders.

Apr 14, 2016 (day 27)  Springfield, MO to Lebanon, MO - 51 miles. Total trip 1881 miles. 

Today we rode to our meeting spot in the morning and met our friend Stu who drove out to meet us from Albany. This marked the end of our bike trip and the beginning of our long drive home. Looking back it seems like a long time but it was only less than a month.

Gotta get into outer space to see the magnitude of this little bike trip. It's almost 10% the way around the world. He says it wasn't bad.

For some a drive to Walmart is an adventure.

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