RT66 Day 2: Getting my saddle legs, butt, and kitty kat…
Less wind, less services, more elevation. Today's about grinding it out through Tornado Alley and the BEST cinnamon roll's on the entire route!
Day 2: Adrian > Tucumcari; 65 miles, 1,857 feet elevation gain (actual)
Day 2: Planned on Ride with GPS
Intraday service stops: Russell’s Travel Stop (26 miles), San Jose, NM (15 miles), Conoco Tucumcari (22 miles), La Quinta Santa Rosa, NM
What a difference a day makes! After a full night’s sleep, I woke up refreshed and ready to hit the pedals. (That sounds better, right?)
I ran into an adorable motorcycle tour group riding from Chicago to Santa Monica, taking two weeks to complete the whole route. The tour operators looked like they were having an absolute blast — one of them even showed me his cowboy boots… which were actually Crocs.
They also gave me a pro tip: the Midpoint Cafe has the best cinnamon rolls on the entire Route 66 journey!
This tour group was led by an affable tour operator who showed me his amazing cowboy boot CROCs! If you are ever inclined to visit Route 66 on a motorcycle, look up Eagle Rider Tours!
This part of the ride is all about getting used to being in the saddle for long periods of time — 5–6+ hours a day — while building toward 7–8-hour days. It’s also about dialing in my water and food intake so that when conditions like wind, elevation, and heat get more intense, I’ll be ready to handle them.
My adorable father, waiting for me at a park in San Jose, New Mexico.
I crossed quickly into New Mexico, where my dad had set up camp in a little park complete with food, shade, and music. We had a picnic, took a break, and then I got back in the saddle.
I’m also starting to regret not wearing underwear because my hoo-ha is getting rubbed raw. I’m hoping either I’ll get used to it or eventually break down and just wear underwear.
Conoco Tucumcari
The scenery has been a mixed bag. Some of it is genuinely interesting — there are even museums tucked inside gas stations like this one. But then there’s the utter decrepitude.
What’s different about this stretch compared to the first half is that there are far fewer places to stop and rest without being fully exposed to the sun. Earlier on, there were beautiful tree-lined spots and little water-filled areas where you could pull over and recover for a few minutes. Let’s hope it gets better, because this was the setting for one of my pee stops…
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