Home / Mojave Preserve and Desert bikepacking trips / Fall 2010: Route 66 and Kelso Dunes Wilderness Bicycle Camping / Day 7: Ludlow to Newberry Mountains by bicycle on Route 66 48
The forecast of a strong headwind doesn't materialize, so it makes for great riding. As the day unfolds, my plan to camp in the Rodman Mountains Wilderness changes, and I end up in the Newberry Mountains foothills instead.
40 bicycle miles with about 1200 feet of elevation gain.
- I slept so well last night here at the Ludlow Motel: the breakfast menu in my room invites me over to the café for FLUFFY
- Ludlow Motel, in the heart of the Mojave Desert, has soap in the bathrooms called "Coastal Breezes"
- Between the Ludlow Café and the Ludlow Motel rests a former gas station, decorated with a couple of old vehicles
- Please, have a seat
- Loadmaster
- The two antique vehicles are protected from sun and rain under the old gas-station canopy
- Interesting switches on the dashboard panel of the old van
- Faux wood paneling in the back of the old van, sagging a little
- I'm out of my motel room by 10h30 and start my way up the first 8-mile segment of Route 66 toward Barstow from Ludlow
- After almost six miles, I notice a little sign for "Sleeping Beauty Road"
- I stop at Sleeping Beauty Road for a very short break; it occurs to me that I could ride up this road and do a nice hike
- Old Route 66 makes a couple of 90-degree turns in order to cross the I-40 freeway
- As old Route 66 crosses the tracks just after an I-40 overpass, I'm briefly facing Pisgah Crater
- Not long after I cross the tracks, another one of those endless freight trains passes by
- I'm on that rough part of old Route 66 again between Newberry Springs and Pisgah siding
- I cross the powerline road that cuts through the Cady Mountains just a few miles north of my campsite at Broadwell Dry Lake
- Now that I'm getting closer to the town of Newberry Springs, I'm starting to see a few more cars on this part of old Route 66
- I begin the slight downhill on old Route 66 into the town of Newberry Springs, with the Newberry Mountains in the background
- Hector Road here provides an opportunity for cars to get off old Route 66 here and get back on the freeway
- This abandoned property at the east end of Newberry Springs has a commanding view of the Rodman Mountains in the background
- East of Newberry Springs, the freeway is really close to old Route 66
- This lava outcrop along old Route 66 glistens in front of its Rodman Mountains Wilderness Area background
- Perhaps the biggest no-trespassing sign I've seen on this trip, just east of Newberry Springs
- Now that I'm closer to town (Newberry Springs), I'm starting to pass more properties that are occupied
- I see another motor-created dust cloud traversing the desert in front of the Rodman Mountains Wilderness Area
- I stop to take a look at Gasco Road, which cuts across the salt pan on its way up to the Rodman Mountains Wilderness Area
- First, I think I'll ride the couple of remaining miles into Newberry Springs and refill my water supply
- Here's another old business on Newberry Springs' Route 66 that didn't make it: "Rocks 'n' Stuff"
- Newberry Springs: dirt-bikers paradise!
- This old property on Route 66 in Newberry Springs is nicely maintained
- Old public toilets on Route 66, Newberry Springs
- I figure I might as well stop in at the famous Bagdad Café since I'm passing by
- Bagdad Café: I'm hungry (again), so I order a plate of scrambled eggs and bacon
- Bagdad Café: I begin to notice that most of the business cards and other paraphenalia on the walls are from France
- Bagdad Café: business cards, welcome signs (bienvenue) and personal messages everywhere, le tout en français
- Bagdad Café: a French Harley shirt, mounted high on a wall
- I take a quick glance at the old Henning Motel next door to the Bagdad Café as I get back on the road
- I ride through another dirt-bike dust cloud as I head west on the way out of Newberry Springs
- The Newberry Mountains briefly come right up to old Route 66 along here
- Westward on Route 66 I go, crossing under the I-40 freeway and leaving Newberry Springs
- Another Route 66 sunset as I ride west from Newberry Spring
- I ride by the California Agricultural Inspection Station, closed in 1967, which I passed on the first day of this trip
- Finally, I arrive at my exit from Route 66, Hidden Springs Road, and turn left
- I look for the dirt road to follow after pavement ends at the foot of the Newberry Mountains, a short distance from the freeway
- Hmmm.... The city lights of Barstow are not so far away as I start my way up the road into the Newberry Mountains foothills
- In darkness, I head up the dirt road about a mile, set up camp, then an unexpected rain and wind storm descends upon me
- Route 66 Newberry Mountains bicycle route
- Elevation profile of Route 66 Newberry Mountains bicycle route