Critical

11 Oct 2010

Read the story of one of our engineer's trip along Route 66 in aid of the Afghan Heroes charity.

"
Holidays ... always a difficult choice to make, this year I decided to fulfil one of my lifelong ambitions and do an American road trip taking on some of the historic Route 66.  After looking around for a while I came across a company running a trip with the aim of raising funds for the UK charity, Afghan Heroes, a charity which I whole heartedly endorse ... so two birds with one stone I thought.

The trip commenced by the collection of our motorcycles, the all American icon that is the Harley Davidson.  My personal choice was a Fat Boy !

The trip started in earnest at the Santa Monica Pier in Los Angeles ... we then set off heading north towards Las Vegas.  Not much of Route 66 is actually still in use or usable but we rode a long stretch of road that ran parallel to the interstate.

Las Vegas was pretty much as I expected it to be ... but I did succumb to the temptation of a gamble but managed to break even at the roulette table.  From Vegas we headed on to the trip highlight for me - the Grand Canyon.  Has to be seen to comprehend, words cannot do it justice. On the way we took in the man-made wonder that is the Hoover dam.

Leaving the Grand Canyon we rode through one of the national parks which provided stunning scenery and signs warning you not to feed the bears!

After stops at Route 66 museums and assorted diners we finally reached Arizona and so commenced the trip back towards Los Angeles .. this is where it stopped being a sightseeing trip and the "challenge" for the charity kicked in ... 426 miles through Arizona, mostly desert, in 52 degrees heat, the best description I can come up with is it being like someone is holding a hair dryer in your face while riding ... we were stopping every 80-90 miles and I was drinking 2 litres of water each stop! 

Back to LA and trips to Rodeo Drive, Hollywood before finishing our trip at the place it all started. Santa Monica Pier.  We all took a well-earned paddle in the Pacific Ocean.

1800 miles covered and just over £1000 raised for the charity and a very enjoyable time was had by all.  

Big thanks to Critical for supporting me on this with both sponsorship and a couple of stylish garments to wear on my travels.
"

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