Miles: 24.11 to Tulsa, and specifically the Enterprise Rental store on (way) South Memorial Drive.
Weather looks was good, warmer temperatures and lighter winds (though still from the adverse direction). It was a little hillier in the approach to Tulsa, but it was all bike manageable, though slow going.
Departing Hampton Inn in Claremore OK, parked next to a seriously-powered bike (aka as a MOTOR-cycle).
The country scene south of Claremore continues to be mostly animals and pasture.
The Blue Whale is one of the famous Route 66 roadside attractions, and one of the few yet remaining. As visible in the other pictures below it is actually a pier/raft for the swimming hole.
The Blue Whale is actually a pier of sorts that one can use to enjoy the swimming hole (in warmer weather).
The bus below would make an excellent conversion project for a Muppet Movie redux. (It’s almost ready as it sits)
Entering into Tulsa I made a pretty stupid mistake: the biking road blended onto to I-44 with no obvious turning off point and if my handy map showed anything different, I missed it. As soon as I had made the entry I realized this was no biking road. But sitting on the overpass there was no immediate cure in sight. I elected to continue forward a little way and exit via the entry ramp, where there was a berm. Later heading out of town, I took the below picture from the rental truck of where this misadventure occurred. The on ramp that I used for my off ramp is visible on theater side the Interstate highway.
Below is a video from a later, similar situation though the one below did have an fork leading to a frontage road, which I took:
The Enterprise Rental facility in South Tulsa. Very friendly people, like all the OK people I saw.
The Orange Flash fit nicely, barely, in the truck bed, and all my 60 pounds of support gear fit in the 2nd row of seats, for the drive back to Joplin and pick up my car, Moses, for the trip back to St. Petersburg.
Goodbye OK (actually this sunset was in MO).
Goodbye Route 66 and Oklahoma, for 2015
Given the weather forecast was for increasing winds, again, and then rain, and lots of it, with cold weather, I declared the 2015 Route 66 biking season closed. I had hoped to get all the way to LA in 2015, but that will now have to await 2016. Alas.
2015 Route 66 Adventure Mileage
- Leg 1 Chicago to St. Louis: 354
- Leg 2 St. Louis to Joplin: 471
- Leg 3 Joplin to Tulsa: 125
- Total: 951