Day One: Route 66 State Park to Bourbon, 48 miles
The first day will begin with tour announcements and a group start at 8 a.m. Consider making your first detour a leisurely ride through the Shaw Nature Reserve in Gray Summit, which has boasted 2500 acres of natural Ozark landscape and plant collections since 1925. An early souvenir stop is the Jesse James Wax Museum, and next door the Antique Toy Museum, full of old toy trains, trucks, tractors, cars, and dolls galore. A great picture to cap off your first day riding would be the infamous water tower labeled "Bourbon" on the outskirts of Boubon. We'll sleep well after feasting on Missouri Ozark Barbeque at the Missouri Hick Barbeque.

Day Two: Bourbon to Devils Elbow, 54 miles
After leaving Boubon be sure to take your time to check out the sites of the quiet town of Cuba. Proclaimed the "Route 66 Mural City," Cuba's many murals include a depiction of bygone "Al West Motor/Tractor Sales", and another of soldiers going off to war on the "FRISCO." You may also want to snap some pictures of a few of the bygone old cottage style gas stations in town. You'll still have time to make a quick stop in Rosati, home to Rosati and St. James Wineries, where many grape stands will aplenty this time of year. From here you will head into Rolla for lunch, with many more historic roadside attractions to explore. Have your gotten your ride souvenirs yet? Here's the town to do it as you have several choices. Check out Memoryville USA, a museum devoted to old cars and historic scenes, or the Mule Trading Post, purveyor of Ozark souvenirs. Or you may want to explore the Route 66 Motors and Gift Shop, which is full of old cars, signs, and antiques. We'll finish our day in Devil's Elbow, named for a bend in the river that caused logjams and sits below 200-foot tall tree-lined bluffs. We'll gather for dinner at the famous Elbow Inn Bar & BBQ which operates from the 1929 Munger Moss Sandwich Shop building. Celebrate: you've just completed 100 miles!

Day Three: Devils Elbow to Lebanon, 38 miles
As this day is the "hump" day for the ride and to allow a little more time for scenic detours today holds a few less riding miles. After leaving Devils Elbow and making your way through St. Robert and Waynesville, be sure to check out the 90-foot, kudzu-covered Hooker Cut, which was once the deepest road cut in Missouri. Today we will be riding on the now abandoned first four-lane stretch of road on Missouri's Route 66, built in 1941-45 for wartime traffic to Ft. Leonard Wood. Also worth noting are two more "giant" roadside attractions of the week's trip: a giant bowling pin and a large boulder sticking out of a hill, cut and painted like a giant frog. Be sure to get a picture of the three thru-truss spans (plus a small "pony" truss) of a magnificent 1923 bridge carrying Route 66 over the Gasconade River before heading into Lebanon for the evening. Lebanon boasts two of the best and most famous food and overnight stops of the ride. Enjoy a family style dinner at Dowd's Cat Fish House before retiring for the evening at one of the most famous motels anywhere on Route 66, the Munger Moss Motel (1946), which also sports a functional vintage neon sign. Ask yourself; will you be getting the Elvis Pressley or Coral Court Motel room?

Day Four: Lebanon to Springfield, 55 miles
As day four begins, do not miss the 1926 railroad overpass, which is still in use, and take a quick pic of a pair of photogenic Meramec Caverns Barns, two of several that lazily sit along Route 66 in Missouri. After lunch we ride though the small town of Niangua with its Niangua Junction Store, in operation since 1935. If you pedal fast enough today you might have enough time to visit the Exotic Animal Paradise, a large drive-thru wildlife park west of Marshfield. We will finish our day at another one of the famous original Route 66 motels still in service, the Best Western Route 66 Rail Haven. Beginning with eight sandstone cottages built in 1938 and known as the Rail Haven Motor Court, be sure to take a picture with the retired 1965 Best Western lighted road sign including the old five point crowned logo. Be sure to take a relaxing shower before eating dinner at one of the few remaining original Steak N Shakes.

Day Five: Springfield to Carthage, 58 miles
Take your time today as it will be your last riding day of the tour. On your way out of town be sure to check out the majestic neon sign at the Rest Haven Court. Your tour ends with a day of long, flat stretches that lead through a half dozen small towns along Route 66 that exhibit some old motel cabins, garages, cafes, and stations that were bypassed when I-44 was laid out less than a mile away. Along the way, don't miss the 1926 thru-truss over Johnson Creek, the 1923 "pony" bridge over Turnback Creek, the Fundamentalist Burma Shave-style signs and billboards either side of Plew, and the Route 66 Bar in Avilla. Before heading into Carthage for the evening don't forget to snap a picture of Flying W Store's "flying manure spreader" sculpture named the "Crap Duster." Make sure you have a hugh appetite tonight as we will wrap up our riding week with a Cycle Route 66 "after party" and dinner at a Chinese buffet.

Day Six: Chartered bus ride from Carthage to Route 66 State Park, 246 miles
We will load the bikes and luggage on a chartered bus and a separate transport at 8:30 a.m. for our ride back to St. Louis. On our way out of town what better way to wrap up the week with pancakes at the famous Pancake Hut. While there, be sure to check out more retro Americana with their mechanical "Chicago Band Box" (does anyone remember those?). Enjoy the drive back up I-44 through Missouri paralleling the Route 66 you've just ridden for the past five days and see many scenic parts of the route one last time. Reminisce with the other cyclists who you you've rode 253 miles with as you will have created memories that will last a lifetime. Congratulations, you made it! Smiling faces will be waiting as the bus pulls into the Route 66 State Park after a long, fun-filled week.