This day’s travel finds John Classen, our Course Master, leaving the fresh pine scents of Flagstaff behind as he heads towards the evening stop in Laughlin, Nevada. Most of the day will have our riders traveling along Historic US Highway 66.

STAGE 14- From Flagstaff, AZ to Laughlin, NV

Friday, September 24

Today’s ride of 221 miles does involve some time on the Interstate early in the day. However, most of this stage will be spent on US 66, and includes riding the longest remaining uninterrupted section of this highway in the country. This intact, historic roadway section will be traveled for 101 miles and will include Sitgreaves Pass.

The fine folks at Mother Road Harley-Davidson in Kingman, AZ will host lunch where we will causally enjoy our midday meal before heading out for some very extreme roadways and interesting sights that afternoon.

After lunch, our riders will be traversing what was considered to be the most treacherous section of Historic US Highway 66 between Chicago and Los Angeles. The pass is very curvy and narrow, with extreme ups and downs and hairpin curves. This road is a sitting challenge.

In November of 1926, when Route 66 came into existence, not all cars could speed up the mountain pass as certain models of that era lacked a pump to get gasoline from the gas tank to the engine. If a car were low on fuel and traveling at a steep incline, the engine would starve for fuel and stall. The answer to this problem then was for brave drivers to back their cars south up the steep mountain. Sitgreaves Pass climbs to an altitude of 3,550 feet at the summit and extreme care should be exercised over this old stretch of road. Again, alert riding will be the order of the day.

As we descend the pass, we will ride through Oatman, Arizona, a well know tourist stop and old time mining town that is famous for its wayward burros that wander freely through the streets. Dodging tourists and burros will be a serious task.

The pass drops into the Colorado River Valley and affords a view of the high-rise casinos of Laughlin, NV, before we cross the Colorado River for an afternoon finish and overnight at a casino resort. Weather temps for this desert city average in the high 80s for September, but can sometimes reach 100 degrees. We will end Stage 14 with a total of 2,952 miles behind us and just 2 more days of riding before rolling into the end city of Santa Monica, CA.