Route 66

We have done this tour in 1996, 1998, 2001, 2006, and 2009.

Historic Route 66 (eastern states)

Arrive in Amarillo, Texas Saturday, May 21, 2011
15 riding days, 1,216 miles, 81 miles per day
Fly home from Chicago, Illinois, Sunday AFTERNOON, June 5th
Note: This tour finishes at noon on Sunday in Chicago
$2,195 per rider (20 or more riders...limit 25 riders)
$2,495 per rider (19 or less riders)
Rider count based on April 1st final payment deadline
Single supplement $500

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Abandon All Hope Ye Who Come Here (without the expert guidance of PAC Tour) Ride this historic highway across the Eastern half of Route 66 from Amarillo, Texas to Chicago, Illinois. This tour will travel the oldest sections of this famous highway. We will be looking for the best milk shakes and homemade pie from classic diners. This tour is for riders who want to stop and see museums and research the old road. We sleep at the nostalgic motels which were the best places in town before the interstate passed them by.

Cycling Route 66

	Day	Date	Start	Finish	Miles
	Sat.	May 21	Fly into Amarillo	Stay at Big Texan
1	Sun.	May 22	Amarillo, TX	Shamrock, TX	97
2	Mon.	May 23	Shamrock, TX	Clinton, OK	86
3	Tue.	May 24	Clinton, OK	Oklahoma City, OK	84
4	Wed.	May 25	Oklahoma City, OK	Bristow, OK	98
5	Thur.	May 26	Bristow, OK	Vinita, OK	103
6	Fri.	May 27	Vinita, OK	Carthage, MO	84
7	Sat.	May 28	Carthage, MO	Springfield, MO	71
8	Sun.	May 29	Springfield, MO	Lebanon, MO	61
9	Mon.	May 30	Lebanon, MO	Cuba, MO	90
10	Tue.	May 31	Cuba, MO	St. Louis, MO	91
11	Wed.	June 1	St. Louis, MO	Litchfield, IL	72
12	Thur.	June 2	Litchfield, IL	Lincoln, IL	80
13	Fri.	June 3	Lincoln, IL	Pontiac, IL	68
14	Sat.	June 4	Pontiac, IL	Romeoville, IL (Joliet)	84
15	Sun.	June 5	Romeoville, IL (Joliet)	Chicago lake front	47
	Option: Fly home late Sunday afternoon or stay over in Chicago on your own and depart Monday, June 6
			1,216 miles	15 days	81 miles per day

Jersey

What is Included:

Hotels and Motels in Historic Route 66 towns
One main meal per day in a Route 66 Diner or Restaurant
Snacks stops during the day at 25 to 30 mile intervals
Custom Route 66 Jersey (sign up before March 1st 2011)
Start and Finish Group Banquet Dinners
Collector Route 66 Tour T-Shirt
Detailed Route Cards each day
Guest speakers discussing Rt. 66 topics
Entry fees to many Rt. 66 museums
Rt. 66 Gearbag for transporting clothing during the tour.
Rt. 66 Guidebook and DVD (sign up and pay $1000 by February 1st)
Full mechanical support and bike repair
Vehicle support and luggage transportation

What is Not Included:

Transportation to and from the airports in Amarillo and Chicago
Additional meals not supplied by PAC Tour
Additional snacks at ice cream shops on your own
There are no partial tours offered for Cycling Route 66

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FAQ

What kind of bicycle do I need?

You need a bicycle suitable for good pavement and also for some cracked rough road conditions...(parts of the highway are 85 years old). A road style bike with 700c x 25 mm wide tires would work...(28 mm wide tires would be better). These tires will handle the rough sections but be fast enough on pavement. You do not need a mountain bike. Only 10% of the road has cracked or rough pavement. These are some of the most interesting sections to ride and they are not enjoyable to travel on skinny racing tires. We have organized this tour five times before and all the riders agreed that requiring 25 to 28 mm tires on these eastern Rt. 66 roads is a good idea.

Where do we eat?

PAC Tour will supply one major meal per day. Usually we will eat together at a classic diner or cafe. Some days you will have your choice of restaurants for lunch. On those days we will either have breakfast or dinner together at a recommended diner. PAC Tour will also be supplying at least two snack stops during the day when local services are not available. PAC Tour will be serving Gatorade, water, fruits, snack bars, cookies, beef jerky and other snacks.

Where do we sleep?

We try to stay at older traditional motels that will remind you of traveling Route 66 over 40 years ago. Some of these older motels do not have wireless internet. Sometimes we stay at more modern motels that are eager to support Route 66 travelers.

Will I learn more about Rt. 66 on the tour?

We have several guest speakers who will meet us along the way and tell us personal stories from the old road. We also have video and movie nights on our big screen projector. These programs will have a Rt. 66 theme and be specific to an area we will be visiting. We will have these programs on our shorter riding days. Everyone will also receive many updates before the tour filled with facts and trivia to get you ready for the tour.

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Training Goals For Route 66

The training base for riders attending Route 66 is different than for riders joining our other cross country tours. Many Rt. 66 riders will not be able to ride outside much before the tour in April. This tour is a lot more fun when you have the fitness and confidence to know you can complete each day. You will have lots of things to stop and see. The faster you can ride, the more time you will have to spend at restaurants, museums and flea markets.

Here are some fitness goals:

Try to include 10 hours per week of physical activity in your routine. Walking to work, shoveling snow, chopping wood, skiing and snowshoeing all help maintain winter fitness.

Join a Health Club and participate in Spinning Classes. Riding three sessions per week will help your cycling. Training with other people will help keep you motivated. While you are at the gym, include some stair climbing, weight lifting, pull-ups and stretching in your routine.
Don't forget some intensity. Remember Lon's 90% guideline of max heart rate — try to accumulate one hour per week in this intensity zone. Use a heart monitor watch with upper limit memory. When you ride your indoor bike trainer include sprints and hill climbs. Donąt plod through every workout at a conversation pace.
Eat Right. It is difficult to diet and still ride long miles. If you need to lose weight...start now. Lose those extra pounds gradually before the tour. You want to be able to eat apple pie and ice cream during the tour without guilt.
The Route 66 riding days are planned at a 3-4 hour per 50 mile pace with rest stops. You need to average a 10 mph minimum speed. That means riding down the road at 14-18 MPH. Use this as a guide for planning your training pace.
Use your Rt. 66 bike on your longer outside training rides. Get your gears, saddle, shoes and handlebars adjusted before the tour.
Include some rough road on your training rides. Ride on loose gravel and be comfortable with your bike handling skills on bumpy roads.
Be able to ride 100 miles in 8 hours on your favorite training loop.
As we mentioned before...It is better to have the fitness to enjoy this tour than just enough fitness to make it through each day. On past Rt. 66 tours the stronger riders had a certain amount of pride in actually being the last riders to the motel each day because they were stopping and seeing more sites along the way.