Rte 66, East to West, beginning June 1...

[etsisk]

Good idea? Bad idea? How freaking hot will it BE?? A friend is planning that ride and I'm thinking about joining him, if I can get in enough training to start with 60 mile days... and if it's not going to cook my brain into a hockey puck-like cinder.

Comments welcome!

[richschurter]

Temperature will be fine in early June, nothing like July or August. Last summer four of us road from Dwight, IL to Lincoln, IL on the Rt. 66 bike route, I would avoid riding map segments 5-6 on the weekend. There is almost no shoulder, traffic is heavy, fast and very unfriendly. I have ridden all over Illinois and many other states and never encountered anything like this. I contacted both Adventure Cycling and the Illinois Department of Transportation. IDOT was not part of the discussion about bikes on this stretch of road and agree that weekends should be avoided at all costs. You can bounce through the ditch and ride some of the old highway but it hasn't been maintained. We didn't care, after miles of honking cars, being flipped off, and nearly hit head on we stayed on the unmaintained road as far as possible. Once we got north of Bloomington there were no other issues.

[John Nettles]

It is doable BUT:  Expect 95+ degree days everyday after OKC (85-90 before then).  Easily can top 100.  Start at dawn (not 7:00am), quit by 1:00pm and you will be fine.  Plan on lots of hotels unless you like to sleep in upper 70s to low 80s temps.  When a cool day does occur, it is almost always because a cold front is bringing rain.

It goes get cooler further west but at higher elevation.  Obviously, drink a TON of water, i.e. your pee should not be yellow but clear.  Eat potato chips or other salty items to keep your electrolytes up.  You will have some headwinds until you get to OKC as the wind is frequently out of the SSW to SW.

Worst case?  Move to Canada and rent your brain out to the hockey leagues.  If you come through Tulsa (and I am not touring myself up north), I can give you a night inside as we are about 1 mile or so off Route 66.

Best, John