October 14, 2018
Day 53 Kingman,Az. - Needles,Ca
To Burro or not to Burro
It was a great day of riding. Today started out on the interstate for about 10 miles almost all downhill, then I was on Oatman Highway. The scenery was spectacular mountains all around in the distance. It was a slow ride, because the road was bumpy and I was slowly climbing. I was stopping all the time to take pictures. After about an hour of riding I came across a man and a dog, I pulled over to pet the dog. Mike and I talked, he was interested in my trip. He offered water, trail mix, cookies, all of which I accepted gladly. Mike lives in central Coastal California and was returning from a visit with his daughter who lives in Alabama. I continued on my way to Oatman, I still had to go over Sitgreaves Pass. I had been climbing and didn't realize it until I stopped at a road marker and looked back. I knew I was going slowly, I just thought it was the bumpy road. When I reached Cool Springs Store, the real climbing began. It really wasn't a hard climb, at first it went up and down ,then all up. There are few steep pitches but mostly steady.Over-the-top the Descent was a little unnerving, first there were Steep drop offs and it was a bumpy road, the wind would move the bike around also. Did I mention the burros, there are burros all over these mountains. I saw two on the way up the pass. Since I don't know anything about Burro Behavior I tried to give them a wide berth. When I made my way to Oatman, it's a t-shirt touristy place with a western reinactments ,and of course burros. I poked around in a couple of shops nothing really caught my eye. Besides I still had 40 miles to Needles. Needles is 512 ft above sea level, Oatman is 2700 feet I had a fun descent and a Tailwind to boot. When I came through Golden Shores, Oatman Highway was closed due to flooding. The ACA map had given me an alternative route on Highway 1 over to SR 95 then come into Needles from the north. It was time to pay the piper for the Tailwind ,I had a side wind all the way to 95.
I saw Art again they are the people I met in Gallup New Mexico who are riding Route 66. In a truck where two people ride the bikes and one person drives. They are staying at the KOA, I pulled into the River View Motel/Campground just to check the prices not bad $22 put me on a grassy spot down by the river,I did look at the KOA ,all gravel sites at $ 28 I went back to River View, there are no inexpensive hotels here that I'd want to stay at. Camping it is ,besides I haven't camped in while .I miss it. I did some chores, wash clothes,set up camp ,ate,cleaned up and went to bed.
Today's ride: 67 miles (108 km)
Total: 2,970 miles (4,780 km)
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