Los Angeles to Washington DC 1998 - by bicycle.

California, Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri,Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, Maryland & Virginia.

Trip report from James Morris and Neil Douglas.

We flew into Los Angles international Airport on the first of September and were met by a friend of Neil's', a Mr Paul Slocombe. We headed along the Santa Monica coastal highway past Malibu beach to end up in Agoura Hills. We met Paul's wife Wendy and sons Peter & Andrew. That evening we turned the bikes from parcels into functioning transport, Neil's large chain wheel had to be straightened, as it had been bent during the flight.

We enjoyed a first class meal prepared by Mrs Slocombe. Later we were driven into LA along the route we proposed to take the following day. The start of our ride was from the home of the Slocombe family in Agoura hills (L A) on the second of September. Initial progress was slow due to the grid system traffic lights in LA. Once out of LA in an attempt to avoid the interstate roads we had our first major choice of direction when we came to the area where the water feed to LA meets the earthquake area, where there was a large section of road destroyed by an earthquake in 1997. The road signs were not obvious, so we turned left before a bridge but now think we should have gone over before turning left. Several large roads were carrying many large trucks up the side of the mountain close to us adding to the confusion as to where we were.

After riding over a steep hill and descending to a flat section of road, we questioned a pickup driver as to where we were. Just our luck we had gone wrong, looking at the map we decided to carry on avoiding a ride back up the hill, but committing ourselves to two sides of a triangle rather than a straight road. We soon came to a built up area and decided to have food and try to keep in the shade for the hottest part of the day. The midday temperature at the time was 110'F.We had been advised to keep out of the sun between 11.00 Hrs and 15.00 Hrs. Pasta and bagels for lunch and a chat with a guy from Alaska, and a German woman who ran clothes shop next to where we sat.

After a good rest we continued mainly up hill through the Soledad Canyon, we passed a film crew who were filming in a remote area about 1/4 of a mile off the road we were on, completing the first day at Peachville. We stopped at a gas station on route 18, run by a Slavic man who allowed us to pitch our tent behind a rest area he had. At daybreak we continued towards Victorville, where we started on old route 66 towards Barstow, later we found a disused gas station and took cover from the sun. Midway through the afternoon we headed on. As we approached Barstow Neil was having problems with the heat. We had a meal at a truck stop and purchased some provisions. Then a short ride on Interstate 40 and back onto route 66, the road at this point was in a very poor state of repair, we reached the outskirts of Newbury Springs and set up camp as a storm was just starting. It was very windy and putting up the tent was challenging. It rained very hard in the night and we started the following day in the rain.

Old route 66 leaves a lot to be desired as the road surface is in a very poor state of repair, I am surprised we didn't do more damage to the bike wheels at this early stage of the ride. Continuing on route 66 through desert & lava areas the road was still in bad condition and we had to constantly manoeuvre, at times riding on the wrong side of the road to avoid damaging the bike wheels. This morning was our first encounter with a few domestic dogs we learnt that the best way to stop them chasing us was to shout commands at them, "Stay" seemed to stop most of them so fortunately we didn't have to use our bike pumps to hit any of them. We encountered few other road users but there were several places where the rain had washed the sand onto the road, we had a break at Ludlow where routes 66, 40 and the railway line were very close to each other.

When we left Ludlow the rain had stopped and we felt we were very much out in the desert as we saw several huge trains. These were often the only sign of human life for long periods .We rode to Amboy, here we found the first sun shelter for 40 miles it was called Roy's Cafe and we spent several hours here avoiding the hottest part of the day. Several lots of tourists came while we were there and some road repairs were being done with the police guiding the traffic round the section of road where the earlier rain had made a hole the size of a large van. While waiting for the day to cool a little we asked the café owner for drinking water, his reply was that the next town up the road had a bore hole and the water would be better than his that was delivered by train. Midway through the afternoon we rode to Chambless, which was a bit of a ghost town. We were just about to think we would not be able to get any water when a large coloured lady with several white Chinese geese in her garden enquired as to what we were after. She then fed a hose-pipe out of her tall garden fence and kindly filled our bottles.

A short distance later we started to climb, Neil was having a bad time with the heat. We stopped next to a derelict building using a wall to avoid direct sunlight, after resting we continued to the small town of Essex arriving in the dark, no food and no people, at this point Neil laid down in the road exhausted. A flat area to the side of the road was chosen for the tent after drinking and eating our own supplies we slept.

Rising early we headed towards Interstate 40 where we hoped to do the most direct route to Needles, unfortunately cyclists were not allowed on the Interstate at this point so we went via Goffs. Here we met a 65-year-old gentleman who spent a lot of his spare time riding a 600cc Honda dirt bike in the desert. He was very friendly and gave us advice about a route to take once we had crossed into Arizona.

On routes 19 and interstate 40 there was plenty of traffic due to the Labour Day weekend. We crossed into Arizona at Needles on the Labour Day weekend Sunday, and many people were using jet skis and motor boats on the Colorado River. As it became dark we rode through the wild west town of Oatman where there are wild donkeys (burros to Americans) running about, this was quite strange as we met several groups of them running on the road during the ride over the mountain pass in the dark. As the road levelled out we could see lights and hills in the distance and decided to put up the tent just off the old gold route.

We woke to the sound of coyotes barking and howling at each other across the valley. Feeling the vast open spaces we headed towards Route 40. The first ride was hot, uphill & into the wind (hard work), to get to a service area for a second breakfast we carried our bikes over a railway bridge that crossed over route 40. After eating we replenished our water bottles.

Some of the roads in Arizona seemed to go on forever, 15 or 20 miles in a straight line was quite common. We rode via Kingman and while resting under a couple of trees met another cyclist, he was out for a long training ride and was the first cyclist we had seen out on the open road since the start of our journey. Riding on through the Music & Peacock Mountains we had a meal in Peach Springs, Mexican food served by native Indians. Another evening spent getting in some miles before we spent the night in the tent by the side of the road next to a herd of cattle. The following morning we had breakfast in Seligman amongst many reminders of the history of route 66 "The mother road".

We rode past a dead skunk aware of the strong smell before seeing the flat form at the edge of the road. Lunch stop was in Williams followed by a hard effort towards the Grand Canyon, arriving in Grand Canyon village in the dark.

This is very much a tourist trap (very busy). After a big pizza we paid $17.00 to put up our tent, showers are extra. The next morning we rode into the Grand Canyon national park having paid $10 each for the pleasure, a timber wolf crossed the road in front of us as we rode towards the Canyon for the first time. The road following the eastern rim of the canyon has many vantage/viewing areas and is very spectacular; the views have to be seen, to be believed. Like an inverted mountain range and layered with a multitude of colours. Leaving the national park we started to descend, there were several areas with a lot of native Indian shops selling jewellery, silver beads and turquoise being offered. Lunchtime was at Cameron where we had a meal in a tourist trap that had many Indian artefacts, pottery, paintings, clothes and much more. Once the day had started to cool a little we rode over the little Colorado river and 16 miles north up route 89 and headed through the Painted Desert to Tuba City, as we stopped at a fuel station to get a drink we encountered the first drunken Indian trying to scrounge money. In Tuba City we had another Mexican meal served by Indians and rode towards Red Lake. As we did we witnessed a sandstorm but were lucky to be on the edge of it rather than in the middle.

It was dark by the time we came to Redlake and there was not a great deal of flat area to put a tent up. We headed up a side road and met a young guy walking towards us; he enquired what we were up to. Once we had informed him of our intentions he said he could show us where to put up our tent. His name was Keith and he is a Navajo. He proceeded to lead us into what appeared to be some ones property, it was tough going walking through sand and boulders and having ridden over a hundred miles it was not what we needed. We decided as we had been past a flat area earlier in our trek so went back. It transpired Keith had missed his transport back to Tuba City, so we put up just the outer flysheet of the tent so all of us could sleep in it. There was a strong wind during the night and had to pile stones round the tent to prevent it being blown away. At first light Keith left for college in Tuba city and we realised we were camped in a horse paddock. We were well and truly in Indian country as we continued along route 160 through wind carved backdrops of sandstone, before lunch at Kayenta. At the time we decided not to head up monument valley, this would have meant deviating North so we carried on West completing the day next to 2 large pillars of weather blasted sand near Teec Nos Pos. Having arrived in the dark we were cautious as to where we put the tent being wary of rattlesnakes, scorpions & tarantulas. After our now routine breakfast of dried milk, porridge & water we rode through 4 corners where Utah, Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado meet. In Arizona Neil had hurt his leg and had needed to strap it in order to ride. For several days it was tough for him at the end of the ride each day. Heading towards the Rocky Mountains we expected to see big mountains on the horizon. These gradually crept up on us. Following lunch and a visit to a laundrette in Cortez we rode in the rain for 20 minutes. Then our first big climb and descent into Durango. Where we spent the night in a campsite designed for Recreational Vehicles (RVs to the locals).

The scenery in Colorado was interesting, being mountainous, green and with plenty of trees. Horses in huge paddocks ran along the side of the road kept us company. When we stopped at a small post office to buy postcards and stamps, the owner showed us a photograph of cyclists in the snow who had stopped there the previous spring. Lunch at Pagosa Springs and plenty of rest before undertaking the longest uphill section of our trip. It was late the following afternoon we ascended Wolfs Creek Pass the East West Watershed point at 10,85 feet. This was the highest point we reached in the journey; we finished the day riding through roadwork in the dark into Southfork. This was the first time we used a motel and enjoyed the facilities not found when camping. Another day riding fairly flat terrain brought us to Fort Garland where we pitched our tent in a small campsite amongst the RVs. Several children took an interest in the tent and quizzed us until we went for some food.

The last climb in Colorado was between Fort Garland and Walsenburgh the North La Vetta Pass at 9500 feet; it was much easier than the previous day. We then had 25 miles downhill and the start of the flatlands. The Eastern end of Colorado and the West of Kansas is very flat and the roads & countryside were quite unchanging. Towns being the greatest points of interest, this said we did meet interesting people as we stopped for food and drink.

On route 10 beyond Walsenburgh we travelled for 44 miles on a straight road between junctions. We spent a night at the Ordway Hotel one of many hostels on the Bike Centennial route, a ride founded to celebrate how the west was won. It is a ride that has been undertaken West /East and East/West by many people over the years. At the hostel we met a guy from Connecticut who was touring on a carbon fibre-racing bike with a 1-wheel trailer. He was travelling East to West and had been unfortunate to have 7 punctures that day. His choice of tyres was most likely his problem. We lent him some glue so he could fix his punctures .The next morning after 1306 miles Jim had a puncture in his rear tyre (a small fragment of glass was the culprit) this was the one and only during the trip. As we started our rides for a few days the air was warm and the sun was strong , larks sang and grasshoppers chirped . The wind was quartering from the North East making the going tough. For several evenings we camped in town parks, Sheridan Lake, Dighton, Ellinwood and Strong City. It was very hot sleeping in the tent, so much so we often stayed out of the sleeping bags until the early hours of the morning; the tent was very hot because it was kept closed to keep insects out.

As we progressed Eastward trees started to be seen more. They gave a break to the head wind we were riding into and a welcome change of scenery. Our last evening in Kansas we stopped to buy some food south of Kansas City and were invited to stay at a couple's home for the night. Pat and Paul lived 20 miles away so we put the bikes and luggage in the back of their 4x4 and stayed in the plush basement of their home a hot shower and comfortable seats made a fine end to the day, while they went out for a couple (yes 2) parties we slept soundly. The following morning they took us back to the place they picked us up the night before.

We had begun to get our average distance covered each day to over 100 miles and felt in control. Early that morning we crossed into Missouri. The terrain in Missouri was varied with some sections of very flat roads and some short sharp hills that broke the momentum of a steady ride. The third time it rained was in Missouri as we neared the Mississippi River (2 half days & 20 minutes in 29 days was pretty good). We planned our route to avoid big cities and keep away from too many trucks if we were able to, our route towards crossing the big river near Louisiana was also used by a lot of trucks and had very little in the way of useful hard shoulder so the trucks and rain made the morning a little worrying. Once we had crossed the river into Illinois, near Louisiana we took the more scenic route south next to the river and enjoyed the very different terrain, big muddy lagoons and plenty of trees. That afternoon we took a ferryboat over the Illinois River and travelled through open flat countryside and wooded areas, just before dark we stopped to buy food in a large mall on the edge of Carlinville. Amongst the tortilla chips and popcorn we met an elderly gentleman a Mr Settgas and his son in-law Randall Duncan. Mr Settgas is a keen cyclist from St Louis who had cycled in Europe. While we ate our food outside the mall Mr Duncan kindly asked if we would like to spend the evening at his house. As our tent had been more like a sauna for several nights we welcomed the offer. We followed his Chrysler Voyager to their farmhouse about 4 miles out of town. We were introduced to Mrs Joy Duncan and children Devin and Cara. It was good to speak to local people to find out about their lifestyles, we spent a couple of hours talking before going to sleep. The following morning we were given a first class very wholesome breakfast that set us up for the day. Randall escorted us on his mountain bike to the road that took us in the direction we were heading. We spent most of that day on route 16 and completed the ride in Charleston, being a town with a large college it had a well-equipped bike shop. As our rear tyres were showing signs of wear we had been keeping an eye out for quality touring tyres but were unable to find any. As the rear tyres took most of the weight of the heavily-laden bikes, the tyres were swapped from front to back on both bikes.

Travelling on through mainly agricultural areas, we crossed into Indiana the following afternoon amongst several school buses, the usual procedure when the buses stop to let off the children is strictly no overtaking (the fact being advertised as state law on many road signs). Another diversion caused by a truck crash found us riding into the town of Brazil not knowing which end of town we were. As it was nearly dark we decided on our now fairly standard routine of finding a shopping mall for our evening meal. Employees of the shops on their rest breaks seemed ever curious as to who we were and what we were doing. Once fed the other requirements were somewhere to wash our clothes and somewhere to sleep. We rode past a college football game on our way to a laundrette. While our clothes were washing we talked to a couple of lads who were just loitering. They both seemed to be into hunting, shooting & fishing and when quizzed as to what most teenagers normally did in the evenings in Brazil were informed that those who had cars would cruise round town to keep amused. The yo-yo craze was clearly evident both at the food store and in the launderette. Several youngsters seemed keen to throw them around and show off the latest tricks. Clothes washed and in need of a good nights sleep we opted for a motel . Jim was keen to get some ice on his achilles tendon as it was starting to give him some problems. Most motels have ice machines.

The following day to avoid Indianapolis we used route 44 riding through Martinsville, Franklin, Shelbyville ending up riding into Rushville in the dark. Another motel stop. In the morning we headed on towards Ohio still on route 44. We stopped for a drink in Cornersville and started talking to a policeman who had been stationed at Greenham Common when he was in the forces. As we talked another guy came into pay for his fuel and saw Jim's Ipswich Bicycle club jacket . He had been stationed at RAF Woodbridge in the UK. It seemed strange to be talking to people about places so close to home. As we continued through what had become very familiar terrain we passed some Amish people with their wide brimmed hats and long beards not with horses and carts but in a pickup truck. Lunch at Gratis where Neil confused the restaurant owner with a travellers cheque which she ran up to the nearest bank to cash .Then on to the town of Washington Court House for the night. A scenic route was chosen for the next day. This took us through Circleville, Leistville, Laurelville, Haynes, South Bloominville, New Plymouth, New Marshfield to end up in Athens . On the edge of town there was an agricultural show taking place. As we rode past we could see rows of new and old tractors and other farming equipment. We purchased some food at a small supermarket and found a piece of grass to sit and eat. Close to where we sat a couple of muskrats chewed at the edge of the grass. We found a motel nearby but had to wait quite a long time for a guest to check out, it was about 22.00 hrs before we had somewhere to relax that was cool. The free paper for Athens had an article about bike racing that had been going on in the town that day. It was a shame we didn't get a chance to see it. Looking at the map beyond Athens we thought we might have a section of no go for cyclists this was the case and caused us to take a parallel route that in turn had a diversion due to a broken bridge. We ended up getting onto very small back roads. These were small enough not to be on our map and Jim ended up knocking on a door to ask directions.

Once back on our original route we had lunch before crossing the Ohio river into West Virginia near Parkersburgh. The river is very wide at this point and the bridge we used to cross was quite tall. This gave us a good view of the surrounding area. Having read about cycling through the Appalachians we knew to expect some steep hills. Route 50 was to be our main road for the rest of the journey. At times it was multiple lanes and had a good hard shoulder that we used. In the more mountainous areas it was a single carriageway and had no hard shoulder. This meant we needed to be wary of large vehicles. We stayed at West Union, Mount Storm and close to Paris for the last three nights. The undulating terrain was hard work and the fast down hill sections went too quickly. The wooded areas we rode through were full of colour and protected from the wind. Chipmunks and blue jays filled the air with strange noises, the chipmunks sounded like a taught wire fence being twanged and the jays sounded like they said "me me me ".

Many of the small towns we rode through were very quaint with picket fences and wooden churches. In the warm autumn sun the journey was very enjoyable. Deciding not to go into the centre of Washington DC left us the choice of where to complete the journey. We looked at the map and found a town on the Potomac river called Woodbridge . As Jim lives in Woodbridge in the UK it seemed a good place to finish. We rode the last 50 miles along route 50 past dry stone walls and many well maintained properties. We had lunch at Fairfax where the traffic density increased dramatically. Heading towards the Potomac river we passed several places selling pumpkins in anticipation of Halloween . By late afternoon we arrived in Woodbridge and spent a little time finding the best price on a motel. That evening we impressed an "all you can eat " pizza restaurant with how much we could eat. When we left we let them know that it was fortunate we had only ridden fifty miles that day and not a hundred. We spent the next few days resting and preparing the bikes for the return journey. By hiring a small car we were able to have a look round the area. We hired a canoe near a town called Front Royal and paddled on the Shenandoah river for an afternoon. This was the first time Neil had canoed on moving water. On the last day in the USA we returned the hire car to the company's depot at Dulles airport and took a shuttle bus to the international terminal. We witnessed our bikes being thrown onto a conveyor ramp as we were about to board the small turbo propeller Saab aircraft that flew us to JFK airport in New York. The flight was up the coast and in the late afternoon sun the views were spectacular. A change of plane at JFK followed by an overnight flight back to London. Back to a dreary overcast October day, quite a contrast to the previous month. Total mileage from Agoura Hills to Woodbridge Virginia was 2947 miles.

Each time we stopped in towns or deviated to find food or somewhere to sleep we switched off the trip computers on the bikes. 100 miles or more per day worked well and we averaged over 15 miles per hour. The choice of equipment was good for the job. The clothing we took for cold conditions was more than we required. This said most of it was used when we rode over the climbs in Colorado. We both suffered from saddle sores despite taking several precautions. The method used to relieve the pain was to stand up this in turn must have helped to aggravate Jims' achilles tendon problem. We carried up to 7 litres of water on our bikes and found the large drinks bottles made the water taste foul when the air temperature was high. Gatorade powder was used to take the taste away. We purchased filtered water or ice (the water stayed cold for about an hour) and we often had strange looks as we crammed it into our bottles. The decision to avoid large cities was good for avoiding too much traffic congestion but left us unable to find much in the way of cycling equipment. This said had we been in desperate need then a flick through the Yellow Pages and a diversion into the bigger towns would have sorted us out for replacement equipment. We were self contained with tools, a spare folding tyre & inner-tubes plus a small first aid kit.

Back