“
By Frank Colver
This was the third year that we (the SoCal Chapter)
did this ride on old U.S. Route 66 starting in
The weather this year was cool and breezy, on the
Saturday of the ride. However, compared to the day before – heavy rain, and the
day after – strong “
The old, nearly “ghost town”, of Goffs was our turn
around point and lunch stop. This town was started in 1883 as a railroad stop
and later became a hub of mining, ranching, and a place to re-supply along the
original route of US-66. For more on Goffs refer to the “Brief History of
Goffs” article, on our chapter web site.
Because of the weather we ate our lunches, carried
along by the trouble trucks this year, inside the restored old school house.
This place has become a repository of old articles and photos from the history
of the
We were greeted by Dennis Casebier and his wife Jo
Ann. They are largely responsible for the formation of the “Mojave Desert
Heritage & Cultural Association” and the preservation of the historic
schoolhouse as well as other historic buildings and artifacts in the area. When
I arrived, Dennis met me down at the corner and announced that they had fired
up the old stove in the schoolhouse and that it was “toasty warm” inside. I stopped
shivering long enough to thank him and then rode on into the schoolyard.
Inside several of the “locals” had set up tables for
us to eat our lunches. A side line here: At our general meeting, in
September, a discussion of amenities on our various rides started. Not based on
the fun of the ride but just the amenities provided. Then someone rated several
rides. Borrego got a 5,
Joshua Tree a 1, and Route 66 a –0.5. When I heard that, I made it my goal to bring it
up to a 0 this year with club
supplied lunches. Dennis started us off with a brief rundown on the
history of the place. It was very interesting but remembering the “cowboy”
incident on the Tehachapi ride two years ago, we did start bringing in the
lunch stuff after about fifteen minutes. The discussions of history continued
as we ate.
Judy discovered that the computer in the schoolhouse
had voter registration records from Needles, CA going back many years. Her
Grandparents had lived there, so Dennis looked them up for her. Soon she
started making a big fuss, horrified at what her grandmother had chosen to do
in her life. I thought she must have read that her grandmother had run a
brothel - instead it turned out that she was a Democrat!
After about two hours of eating, talking, and
looking at various historic “goodies” we got ready to start our ride back to
Several miles into the return ride, my Y13 started
running poorly and then died a couple of times. I was concerned about spending
too much time nursing it along, with 70+ miles to go, so we put it on Ralph’s
truck. I then proceeded to ride back in the warmth of Tom’s truck. Ralph got
back to
By the time the riders got back to
It was another great