Chicago to LA not following Rt66

An uneventful journey to Heathrow T2; just shows it can be easy if you leave at 5 in the morning! Weather absolutely gorgeous, a crystal-blue dawn and very little breeze. Unfortunately, I already knew it wasn't that nice in the States. As usual, I’d been keeping an eye on the weather over there for a few weeks leading up to the big day. On previous trips, I’d been heading for California or Florida where, frankly, the weather is never a concern. But this time I was heading for the real America, the Heartlands, the Windy City, Tornado Alley – all things that bikers don’t like the sound of.

After the biker-embarrassment of only managing 100 miles on day 1, today was all about miles and catching up. 600 of them by the time I eased myself out of the saddle at the end of this marathon day.

The morning weather channels were all about the tornados sweeping through the southern states where I was headed, and severe thunderstorms everywhere else. The only dry bits were to be the northern Midwest.

I had a surreal breakfast watching the Monaco Grand Prix. The guy next to me said he had no idea where that was. When I explained it was in France but wasn't France, he glazed over. When I said Grace Kelly used to be the Princess, it meant something to him.

East to west is definitely the best way to see America, as it just keeps getting better. Each new State brings more drama, though this morning was all about the last bits of South Dakota. The best bits. The Black Hills of South Dakota are well known amongst bikers (the town of Sturgis holds the world's biggest biker festival every August). It's easy to see why. After miles of mainly flat scenery, these hills are full of great roads winding around some great sights.

A big day ahead of me. Yellowstone and Grand Teton. Two of the great National Parks. Again, scale takes some getting used to. The two parks together with the neighbouring state parks cover an enormous area, over 100 miles long. There was some trepidation; winters finish late round here and the forecast was cold. I didn't set off too early so at least it would warm up a bit. But it was still only 4deg when I set off at 9am.

Yesterday, Yellowstone Lake was a key turning point on my journey. That was the moment at which I stopped heading west and turned south, and would now remain southwards for some days. Leaving Jackson today this meant crossing more of Wyoming and into Utah. Mornings in Jackson are cold. I set off at 6 deg and it didn't change much from that for the first few hours. I climbed up onto another great plateau. This was the Wyoming you see in pictures. High plains, small farms, distant mountains. Beautiful area but long distances between everything. Real cowboys having coffee at the gas station.

No breakfast at this hotel, so I had to pop to Burger King! Then I was ready for a day of heat and parks. I'd picked Green River wisely as it allowed me to get to Arches National Park by 8.30 well before all the crowds, though there were already bus-loads of tourists arriving when I got there. I don't know where they all stay; I only see them in the parks and never anywhere else – maybe they sleep on these huge coaches. The entrance to the park was the usual efficient welcome. And then the road swept you straight up away from the valley and into the park itself.

I was enjoying Flagstaff but it was time to move on. Though at least it was finally time to ease back on the throttle and take it easy. The big miles of the trip that I’d clocked up so far weren’t needed anymore. I had almost reached California and I still had 4 days to go. The plan was to get across the border into California by the end of today. This meant crossing central and southern Arizona and thankfully leaving Rt66 again.

It may not have been so many miles today but it was still one of the toughest days. Crossing the Mojave is no easy thing to do, especially if you avoid the interstates. There are few gas stations, no shade anywhere, 40+ temperatures, no phone signal if you do break down. The roads go on forever and it's easy to let your mind wander a bit too much.

I was in no hurry to leave Big Bear Lake. This felt like a slow day; it was a Sunday. I walked down to a nearby bakery for some breakfast and sat on the terrace eating this. I set off mid-morning aiming to stay in the mountains as long as possible before dropping back to desert heat. So I followed what is called The Rim of the World Drive. And it is easy to see why they call it this. The views South across Southern California were jaw-dropping. I could see eastwards towards Palm Springs, westwards towards LA and directly south across the Temecula region towards San Diego.

Again, no rush to leave today. Sat by the pool writing yesterday's journal. Weather was warming up nicely when I left but as I knew would be the case the coast was clouded in its usual gloom. But I had reached the Pacific and that's quite an achievement coming all the way from Chicago.