USA: Route 66
Two green lions stand in front of the art museum in Chicago. They pose their tails in an enterprising manner and look westwards. This is where Route 66 begins.
As I merge into the morning traffic, I feel sick to my stomach. I feel weak and lonely, because for mile after mile there are no other cyclists in sight. The carriageway is full of cruel potholes and murderous drainage grates, with tower blocks towering like mountains to the left and right, their windows reflecting the morning sun. It's gigantic, and it's beautiful. But I have to encourage myself: "Freshly ventured is half won" and similar heroic nonsense I whisper to myself. I feel the steady gaze of the two lions at my back, and luckily I'm meeting my friend Pete in three weeks' time, who will be riding the last third from Albuquerque, New Mexico.
To leave Chicago behind you, you cycle for half a day. The avenues and boulevards are endless, the hours of pedalling between shopping centres, factory sites and car dumps seem hopeless. America is a car, nothing but a car. But the drivers are so considerate that the European driving style seems barbaric in comparison. As a cyclist, you can also get by in the USA. If you approach it playfully, it's even fun - and you can have the Moloch experience half a dozen times on Route 66.
As dizzying as the metropolises are, the vastness of the country is just as liberating. Illinois is flat, a beautiful tailwind sweeps across the pea-green fields, the sky with its broad, sweeping cloud bars is endless, the horizon looks as if it has been broken away. There is no exciting landscape to obscure the view. The cyclist feels an emptiness and at the same time a fullness. Nothing and everything at the same time. If you lie down on the grass and look up at the sky, after a few minutes you can feel the depth of space. You can look out towards the Sputniks and Apollos. Even the most loyal companions waved off the suggestion of travelling Route 66 by bike. "What's there to see?" they asked, because they could only imagine Niagara Falls, the Statue of Liberty and Death Valley. If you're a fan of touristy prettiness, it's hard to satisfy this hunger on Route 66. Those who say goodbye to them are given an unforgettable experience of the world and of themselves.
Route 66 symbolises the urge to go west, the longing for California, the Promised Land. For this reason, it is clear that it should be travelled from east to west. But sometimes you have to search for the "mother of all roads" and ask local residents about the route. All along the route, you will discover beautifully restored sections of the original motorway from the 1920s and 30s.
You can find the entire travel story as a PDF download below.
The route leads from Chicago via St. Louis, Amarilla, Alpuquerque, Needles to Santa Monica.
Book tipThomas Schröder:
"Cycling 66 - from Chicago to L.A. by bike"
The detailed but long out-of-print road book (unfortunately from 1994) can be downloaded from the website www.bikeamerica.de as a photocopy at a cost price of 5 euros including postage.
Downloads:
PDF: USA: Route 66
