Chix on 66 – Day 16 Barstow to Santa Monica, CA – The End of the Trail

Saturday June 25

Barstow to the Santa Monica Pier

The FINAL Day!!

There are so many things I want to say about today. About the ride. About the people. And I will, but not just yet. I am still completely amazed that we did it. We rode the entire Route 66, and we are here in Santa Monica.

There are so many people to thank. So many stories to tell. And I will at some point. When it sinks in.

Sunday, June 26: Chix on 66 recap…

I’m sitting at the gate in LAX waiting on my flight. I’m exhausted, I smell like a goat, I’m wearing the only quasi-clean clothes available, and I’m so ready to hug my Maizie and snuggle her.

But my mind keeps going back to the incredible, inspiring adventure of Chix on 66. What began as “hey, this would be kinda cool,” ended up being an epic, iconic endurance run for 40 women who were complete strangers on June 10, and close friends by June 25.

I am so fortunate to have been able to watch these women experience the road, grow as riders, and as people, as they took in everything the road hands a traveler. I’m so incredibly proud of each and every woman. You all inspire me more than you could ever know.

We also had a talented support staff who kept us rolling, kept us healthy, and showed our best side to the social media sphere. Running sweep and providing mechanical support as needed: Jason Sims and Jose Torres in the “man van.” Additional sweep support from Eric Bass Cycles . These guys were the only un-chix on 66 – rough job, right?! All joking aside, they worked their butts off keeping the bikes running and off the trailer, and they were an absolute pleasure to work with.

Our primary mechanical support came from Athena Ransom and Vivian Gypsy Charros – these women are troopers. Up late, up early, working to help riders who were stranded or broken down. I know all of us were inspired to see women turning wrenches.

Tricia Szulewski and her assistant Kelly Biggshttps://womenridersnow.com/ captured so many great images on this ride, they could print a coffee table book! And these two fit right into the chix thing. They really just became part of this motley entourage crossing the country.

We had a planning committee who pulled the entire event together. Marjorie Kleiman handled the marketing and PR, brought many sponsors on board, covered our social media, and arranged the oil changes in Milwaukee and in Tucumcari, which required a great deal of planning and organization. This ride would never have been as put together as it was without Marjorie.

Tara Lynch did a fabulous job coordinating the evening events that we enjoyed.

Ivy Vanessa Yapelli brought on a sponsorship from Stilettos on Steel, which helped us cover quite a few unexpected costs.

I heard nothing but great feedback on the lodging, which Ivy, Kathy Strobele, Joann Annunziato-Mikulec and I put together.

Several of us worked hard to secure the Harley-Davidson sponsorship that Danielle Werner was able to bring to the table.

Gina Woods put our marketing deck together, and she brought another sponsorship along from Seafoam. That support allowed her to document the Chix’ personal stories, which I can’t wait to see!

So many people have helped and supported us through this ride, and we are so grateful. I am particularly grateful that our riders – my new friends – got the experiences they were looking for, and then some.

The Aftermath:

June 28, 2022: Recovery Day 2 of ???

I. Am. Exhausted!

All along the way, people asked me what I was going to do when Chix on 66 was over. My answer every single time was, “I’m gonna sleep for a week.” (They thought I was kidding…)

This event was a year in the making, and it took a group of us many, many hours to pull everything together to produce an experience that we were proud to offer, and that we hoped our riders would enjoy. From all the feedback, I believe we succeeded. Not to say it was flawless, but that nothing went so wrong that it overshadowed everything that went right.

I am grateful for the women and their ‘roll with it’ approach to the unexpected. Part of travel, particularly on a motorcycle, is a whole shitload of the unexpected. Weather, road conditions, traffic conditions, amenities, etc. – none of these can be predicted with any accuracy, and they all have a much greater effect on motorcycles than they do on cars.

Even though we averaged 200 miles a day, each day proved to be long, sometimes grueling, occasionally frustrating, and exhausting. We were up early, and up late. Many of us had bikes to maintain or repair.

As the leader of our crew, I was ultimately responsible for everything each day, although I had great support from many people who took the heavy lifting along with me. I could never have done it without them.

As the leader of the vintage bikes, again, I was responsible – my group was great about communicating what they and their bikes needed each day so I could tailor that day’s ride correctly. Speed, gas stops, sightseeing stops, riding preferences…

Regardless of what bikes you are leading, you have to tailor the ride to the smallest gas tank and the slowest bike; otherwise, you are doing a disservice to riders who need to trust you.

Sometimes getting through certain segments of 66 was harrowing, but we all worked together and got it done.

The biggest concern was always gas stops, but we never had a dire situation. Once we hit a detour and we were given wrong directions, so we pulled a couple water bottles full of gas from my bike to put in Cindy Mesmer ‘s No Man’s Pan, and another time we got turned around in Victorville for 10 miles, so we had to stop and gas up both Cindy’s bike and Jenny Bass Cycles bike from Eric Bass’ stash. It’s essential to have a plan B.

When we had breakdowns, we stuck together and figured out how we could get the bike back on the road. My little group was clever, resourceful, and absolutely loyal to each other. Early on, I started calling myself Momma Duck because it felt like I had a little line of ducks following me. On one of the less eventful days, I was able to let my mind wander a bit, and I named all my “ducks.” Jenny Bass was Knuckle Duck (or Badass Duck, interchangeably), Cindy Mesmer was Proper Duck because when she rides, she has perfect posture and is completely unflappable. Sharon Panhead was Lucky Duck, since she escaped a rather harrowing adventure on day one, and just never gave up the idea that every day was the Best Day Ever, no matter how “ducked up” it might get. And Mian Taylor joined our little flock in Tucumcari. She rides a Suzuki sport bike, but had a great time riding with us and provided sweep duties that helped keep us together through many situations. She was Sporty Duck.

I would fall into bed every night completely spent physically and mentally, and wake up every morning a little more stiff and sore each day, but by some miracle, rested and ready to go again. Toward the end, my legs started hurting a lot in the morning, making walking a bit awkward until I loosened up, but seeing how enthusiastic everyone was about this experience was inspiration enough to make me forget how bad my body was hurting.

So I am currently resting at my friend Jennie L Cannady ‘s with Maizie and Jennie’s pack of Boykins. I have a 14-hour drive home that I will do over two days’ time. I’m still over tired from the red-eye flight from LAX, so I plan to leave here tomorrow and do about half the drive home, then wherever I stop, I’ll spend the night and do the rest the next day. I should be home Thursday evening.

The rest of today I shall be snoozing.

June 29, 2022

Finally home home. Spent a couple days with Jennie L Cannady, mostly snoozing on her sofa before driving Miss Maizie home. Was gonna do the 14-hour drive in 2 days to make it easier on me, but I ended up just busting it out today. Feels good to be home in my own bed! I’ve been gone almost a month.

Lots of sorting, straightening, cleaning and organizing in my near future.