Day 8 - 4/30/2003

TOM:

Day 8 – Kingman to Ash Fork 97 miles. This route starts at 3450 feet elevation and end at an elevation of 5100 feet with two peaks at 5800 feet.
All plans have been changed to add the extra stop in Amboy. Today the trip was from Needles, CA to Kingman,AZ (yes we are in a new state-the land of the zona's). The trip was 67.93 miles long. The elevation at the start was about 500 feet. The ending elevation was about 3300 feet for a total climb of 2800 feet. Our riding time was 5:06:23 and the total time with stops was 6:45.
Yesterday we had a rest day with a great side trip to Boulder City and a tour of the Hoover Dam. On the way back from Hoover Dam we took Highway 93 to Kingman and Route 66 to Oatman, an old western town. We stopped at Golden Shores to do the laundry. Next door was a great hardware store that Eric and I explored and found some great items. For less than $10 we got a power strip (to charge all the electronic batteries), a 15 foot phone line and an in-line phone jack to make it easy to extend the phone line to the laptop in the motel room.
Today's trip was very nice. It was relatively short, only 68 miles. It did have a 2800 feet elevation increase but the slope was gradual. Our average speed was 13.3 mph. The first 8 miles was on Route 66. We then entered Highway 40 and crossed the Colorado River into Arizona. Arizona, unlike California, allows bikes on the shoulders of the freeways. The first 20 miles we climbed about 300 feet . The next 40 miles we climbed 2100 feet and the last 8 miles we climbed 400 more feet. At a little more than the half way point there was a nice rest stop where we had lunch. When we sat down to eat it was 12:11 and I thought I could be playing bridge if I was not on this trip. For the last 8 miles we got off Highway 40 back onto Route 66. After arriving in Kingman I took the car a half mile down the street to get an oil change. Steve and Mike at the 66 Service Center both recommended that we take Route 66 to Seligman. This was also the recommendation of the man at the haredware store in Golden Shores. There is an old car parade between Seligman and Golden Shores that starts on Saturday. I hope to see some of the cars along our trip. We saw some more great desert scenery today. Another great day!

Lucille:

April 30 - Wednesday - It was great being able to spend the day with Tom and Eric yesterday. It is really fun having Eric on this trip. His sense of humor adds a lot of sparkle to our days. Yesterday we drove to Hoover Dam and took a very informative tour. I can't imagine how a huge project like that ever gets started. We also visited the historic old mining town of Oatman. The road there was steep and curvy and the scenery spectacular. The geologic formations in Arizona are amazing. Oatman reminded me just a tiny bit of Columbia, CA but Columbia is larger and has more places of interest to me. Oatman mainly had little shops with touristy stuff for sale. There were a few burros roaming freely through the main street. As we were heading back to Needles we passed a laundromat so stopped to wash our clothes. I had to smile when Tom and Eric brought the laptop computer into the laundromat and pulled up their DeLorme Topo Map program and used the laundry time to plan today's route. They are so efficient. Today on my way to Kingman I took a side trip to Lake Havasu to see the London Bridge. There is a resort there attempting to resemble an English village. I took a one-hour boat ride on the Dixie Belle. It was a beautiful ride and I met some nice people to talk to. I passed Tom and Eric on the road twice today - - once shortly after we left Needles and again after the Lake Havasu trip. They look so cute pedaling down the road with their bright yellow and orange reflective vests. I was happy to see them pull into the motel at 3:30.

Crossing Colorado River into Arizona

Tom and Lucille on Highway 93 after crossing Hoover Dam with Colorado River in background

ERIC:

Day 8 - (4/30/03) Did you miss us yesterday?? Yesterday was a great relaxing day. We drove in a big circle and saw parts of California, Nevada, and Arizona. It was nice seeing parts that we didn't see on our bikes. My favorite part of yesterday was going to Hoover Dam. What a structure. Unfortunately we had to pay to park in the Dam parking lot. We went through Dam metal detectors before paying the Dam entry fee. We saw a Dam slide show and presentation by a Dam guide. Went down the Dam elevator into the Dam tunnel to see the Dam Generators. All very big. We then went on top and took some more Dam pictures and walked across the Dam. I even took a Dam movie on my camera. OK I think I got Dam out of my system. I have been taking little 30-60 second movies while riding. I really want to upload them for everyone to see, but the files are too big. It would take about 30 minutes to upload on the phone lines. I miss my DSL. Today we went from Needles, CA to Kingman, AZ. It was a nice shorter day. It was great passing into another state. Almost the whole day was uphill, but it wasn't too bad. I did get my second flat today. I had a staple in my tire. Since we rode on Highway 40 there was a Rest Stop. It was a great place for us to have lunch. Mom must have driven really fast today because she said she went to London to see a bridge. She passed us about 10 miles before Kingman. It was great since she stopped and I was able to give her the rack on my bike that holds extra water and snacks. This lightened my load by 4-5 pounds. The funniest thing that happened today was when we arrived in Kingman Dad stopped at a Chevron station to ask the service station if they had time for an oil change today. I guess since he rode up on a bike the man seemed a little confused. It was pretty funny, but I think it is one of those things where you need to be there to really enjoy.

Day Eight - 4/30/2003