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

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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
I don't order the FLUFFY, but instead order an omelet. It's good, but it's really just an excuse to have another one of Ludlow Café's tasty homemade biscuits.
Ludlow Motel, in the heart of the Mojave Desert, has soap in the bathrooms called "Coastal Breezes"
There's always lots of wind in the desert, but none of it is coastal.
Between the Ludlow Café and the Ludlow Motel rests a former gas station, decorated with a couple of old vehicles
I like the old fire truck with built-in water tank. The other vehicle is an old van.
Please, have a seat
I wonder why they once painted over the old window. The long-lost padding from this seat probably made it into birds' nests years ago.
Loadmaster
Classic period design with a deco moderne touch.
The two antique vehicles are protected from sun and rain under the old gas-station canopy
Flat tires make it more difficult for passing freeway thugs to steal the vehicles.
Interesting switches on the dashboard panel of the old van
Those little plastic labels look very 1970s.
Faux wood paneling in the back of the old van, sagging a little
This looks like a kitschy update to the van during a later period of its life. Where's the fake brick that should accompany it?
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
The "old road" parallels the speedy freeway here, just a few feet away at my left. A strong headwind is forecast, but I'm not getting one yet (yee haw!). Still, it's slow-going since I'll rise about 600 feet on this stretch.
After almost six miles, I notice a little sign for "Sleeping Beauty Road"
I didn't see this sign when I passed by here almost a week ago because it was already dark then.
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
If it were late in the day, I would stop and camp around here. But with strong headwinds forecast for my bicycle ride back to the Amtrak bus stop in Barstow, I should keep going, just in case.
Old Route 66 makes a couple of 90-degree turns in order to cross the I-40 freeway
There's that "tube of civilization" again, beneath me, of people driving through the desert without experiencing it. That black hill in the distance is part of the Pisgah lava formation, and I'll be passing by it shortly.
As old Route 66 crosses the tracks just after an I-40 overpass, I'm briefly facing Pisgah Crater
I consider an unplanned side trip over to Pisgah Crater, but remind myself that I want to camp further on in the Newberry Springs area today, perhaps in the Rodman Mountains.
Not long after I cross the tracks, another one of those endless freight trains passes by
...presumably headed to Los Angeles.
I'm on that rough part of old Route 66 again between Newberry Springs and Pisgah siding
Since this is no longer the main road through the area (the adjacent I-40 freeway is now), it's not well-maintained. Only a few cars have passed me since I left Ludlow a couple of hours ago. Bump, bump, bump.
I cross the powerline road that cuts through the Cady Mountains just a few miles north of my campsite at Broadwell Dry Lake
I could follow it from here up into the Rodman Mountains, where I'm thinking of camping tonight. However, knowing how fickle the powerline roads can be, I may use a more direct and ridable route a bit further on from Newberry Springs.
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 have to start paying more attention now to my position as I ride down the road.
I begin the slight downhill on old Route 66 into the town of Newberry Springs, with the Newberry Mountains in the background
I forgot there would be a brief downhill here. Nice! The I-40 freeway is clearly visible from here off to my right.
Hector Road here provides an opportunity for cars to get off old Route 66 here and get back on the freeway
Along this stretch, I've been busy staring at the low pointy and rolling hills on the far side of the freeway over there, and how light plays on them as clouds roll by.
This abandoned property at the east end of Newberry Springs has a commanding view of the Rodman Mountains in the background
Despite the dirt-bike dust clouds in the foreground, the background mountains are an official Wilderness area with many potential hiking corridors. I am thinking of camping back there tonight.
East of Newberry Springs, the freeway is really close to old Route 66
From here, it looks like big rigs are driving across the lava field.
This lava outcrop along old Route 66 glistens in front of its Rodman Mountains Wilderness Area background
Being solid black, this must get really hot when it bakes in the summer sun.
Perhaps the biggest no-trespassing sign I've seen on this trip, just east of Newberry Springs
An interesting use for a junked trailer...
Now that I'm closer to town (Newberry Springs), I'm starting to pass more properties that are occupied
So many houses in the desert areas are either trailers or prefabricated.
I see another motor-created dust cloud traversing the desert in front of the Rodman Mountains Wilderness Area
It's the day after the Thanksgiving holiday, and people are out doing those things they don't have a chance to do every day. Hmmm... this might make for non-peaceful camping up there.
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
I might use this road shortly once I'm ready to go looking for a campsite.
First, I think I'll ride the couple of remaining miles into Newberry Springs and refill my water supply
I see another dust trail crossing Route 66 not too far ahead. If you're a dirt biker, this would be a great environment to have right outside your front door...
Here's another old business on Newberry Springs' Route 66 that didn't make it: "Rocks 'n' Stuff"
Unlike most of the defunct buildings one sees around here, these ones are being demolished.
Newberry Springs: dirt-bikers paradise!
For more fun, there's also a big OHV area to play in on the other side of the Rodman Mountains Wilderness Area.
This old property on Route 66 in Newberry Springs is nicely maintained
It's good to see a few people trying to preserve a piece of the past here. Even the old public toilets next door are still standing.
Old public toilets on Route 66, Newberry Springs
You can still read the old paint which reads, "Customers only." This looks like it may have once been part of a small motel complex.
I figure I might as well stop in at the famous Bagdad Café since I'm passing by
This place got its reputation from being in a movie called "Bagdad Café," which was set to take place in the no-longer-existing town of Bagdad, further down old Route 66.
Bagdad Café: I'm hungry (again), so I order a plate of scrambled eggs and bacon
I had eggs for breakfast this morning as well, so I really should order something different. However, the idea of a big meat meal does appeal to me right now (and they don't offer much else). The home-fried potatoes here turn out to be good.
Bagdad Café: I begin to notice that most of the business cards and other paraphenalia on the walls are from France
I knew that the Bagdad Café movie had a following in France, but I didn't realize it was so big that most of the visitors here would be French tourists and other foreigners (while Americans don't seem to know about it).
Bagdad Café: business cards, welcome signs (bienvenue) and personal messages everywhere, le tout en français
The French text completely surrounding me is an odd juxtaposition to the fact that nobody here right now speaks French except me (this is the off-season in terms of French tourists).
Bagdad Café: a French Harley shirt, mounted high on a wall
A local motorcyclist arrives as I leave Bagdad Café; we chat a bit. Understanding my quest for some quiet, he gives directions to an area of the adjacent Newberry Mountains that should be less popular for dirt bikes. Many thanks!
I take a quick glance at the old Henning Motel next door to the Bagdad Café as I get back on the road
The great thing is that the strong headwind forecast for today hasn't materialized, so it has been great riding so far.
I ride through another dirt-bike dust cloud as I head west on the way out of Newberry Springs
I pass a couple of the bikers briefly riding down the road and we exchange waves.
The Newberry Mountains briefly come right up to old Route 66 along here
The wash across the road from me looks like an interesting possible hiking route for tomorrow. I could try camping somewhere nearby, but I'm curious about the area further west of here suggested by the guy I met at Badgad Café.
Westward on Route 66 I go, crossing under the I-40 freeway and leaving Newberry Springs
I have a long freight train beside me as company for a short while on this empty stretch of Route 66.
Another Route 66 sunset as I ride west from Newberry Spring
The hills off to my left are the Newberry Mountains Wilderness Area, where I hope to hike tomorrow.
I ride by the California Agricultural Inspection Station, closed in 1967, which I passed on the first day of this trip
Gee, I'm getting a lot closer to Daggett today than planned.
Finally, I arrive at my exit from Route 66, Hidden Springs Road, and turn left
I'll follow this road under the freeway and up into the Newberry Mountains foothills. What will I find there?
I look for the dirt road to follow after pavement ends at the foot of the Newberry Mountains, a short distance from the freeway
There it is to my right, just as he told me.
Hmmm.... The city lights of Barstow are not so far away as I start my way up the road into the Newberry Mountains foothills
It didn't occur to me that I'd be so close to Barstow and "city life" tonight. The clear skies send no harbinger of the stormy weather system that will be here within a couple hours.
In darkness, I head up the dirt road about a mile, set up camp, then an unexpected rain and wind storm descends upon me
This gravelly road has poor traction since it's in a wash. I walk the 10-ton bike most of the uphill mile, enjoying the strangeness of having solitude in the dark while overlooking a freeway lit up by thousands of oblivious headlights. The three hours of heavy rain and wind this evening are bracing, to say the least. I'm glad I've camped on the fan above the wash but not in it. No rain penetrates my new tent, phew, and I'm happy when the rain clouds move over toward Newberry Springs and Ludlow around midnight, allowing the waning full moon to shine again. However the steady winds don't let up and keep beating on the tent. Cold and wet radiate from the gravel in the near-freezing temperature outside. Aurally exhausted from the noise of the rocking tent, I finally attempt sleep at 1h, after sufficient sips of cognac.
Route 66 Newberry Mountains bicycle route
40.5 bicycle miles plus about 1200 feet of elevation gain.
Elevation profile of Route 66 Newberry Mountains bicycle route
40.5 bicycle miles plus about 1200 feet of elevation gain.