05.24, on the road again.

i was nervous about starting out again, worrying about whether the issue with the bike had been truly resolved or not.  

vegas is 220 miles from williams, 3-4 days ride.  a good chunk on the interstate.  much of it downhill with a 1,600 foot drop right outside of williams.  i'm altering my route a little and staying on the interstate till kingman, not taking the rte 66 loop up to the north.  looking at camping arrangements, i will stop in seligman the first night, only 45 mi.  good to ease into riding again.  that will leave me about 75 mi to kingman, before turning nw another 75 to lake mead outside vegas.  i actually need to slow down a bit as it works out, since maurice won't be in till saturday.  i'll reach lake mead on wed evening.  so two additional nights to kill.  probably spend a second night at lake mead, might try to get an extra night at our vegas hotel.

riding was easy today, mostly downhill with a little wind in the afternoon but nothing out of the ordinary.  i did have a bike issue, something rubbing on the tire, but i'm proud of myself: i stopped, unloaded my gear from on top of the rack so i could see and, lo and behold, there it was.  same problem i've been having on an off for 8 years: the screw attaching my rack to the frame was gone again on the one side.  no, greg , not the same screw we fixed in your driveway 8 years ago, the one on the other side.  much easier to access.  so i pulled out the zip ties my dutch friend taught me to use 2 years ago, zipped it together.  it's a temp fix, but it works.  rubbing stopped.

i met two guys, nick and pete, from harrisburgh, pa riding across, heading to virginia beach.  eight miles later i met a woman, rhonda, down from idaho, riding parts of rte 66.  she had a friend driving a sag wagon for support.  talked to both for 10 min or so.  i used to just wave and keep riding, but i enjoy stopping and sharing notes now.

Seligman is a rte 66 tourist stop.  not really much there, but i did meet a familly from cincinnati who asked me to take their photo standing on the middle of the 4 lane rte 66.  the father was all fired up, the kids humored him.  hmm, familiar.

the "outhouse" behind the ice cream shop:

tomorrow i've got 75 miles of interstate to ride, with no water for the first 60.  and not much to look at except semi-arid brush.  i have a motel room waiting at the ramblin' rose, 2 stars, in klingman.  google says there's a brewery a few blocks away.  but tonight i'm at the koa campground in seligman.  not much to talk about, barely a tree for shade.

the full moon is rising, the blood moon.  tonight's supposed to be a special dark sky including an eclipse of the moon.  doubt i'll be awake.