“Outskirts: Route 66” film shows a group’s trip on Route 66 by bicycle

Brennen Matthews of ROUTE Magazine flagged this film, released on YouTube in July, on Facebook a few days ago.

The full-length documentary is titled “Outskirts: Route 66,” about a group of avid cyclists who try to tackle the full 2,400 miles of the Mother Road.

Here’s the movie:

The description of the film from Rapha, a cycling apparel company based out of the United Kingdom that produced the movie:

Once known as the High Street of America, Route 66 was the first great US highway. Winding its way through the beating heart of the country, it opened up the West coast and helped to forge the nation as we know it upon its completion in 1926.
But much has changed. The road itself has become outdated, faded and superseded by modern Interstate freeways while the nation it transects is crossed not only by highways but also gaping political fault lines.
Bypassed and broken as it may be in places, the historic Route 66 endures. A physical connection in a time of polarisation, a legacy of the American dream. In the first installment of Outskirts, Gus Morton, accompanied by three friends, rides the length of the highway from Chicago to LA. Shot from the hip, the film explores the road, the landscapes it traverses and the people who live beside it.
Once at the heart of a country, they now inhabit the outskirts.

It’s a good film. You’ll see a few familiar characters of the Mother Road, and the movie reveals interesting and even heartbreaking backgrounds of the cyclists.

Those who are considering a cycling trip of their own on Route 66 are encouraged to pick up the set of maps published by the Adventure Cycling Association. They’re a bit pricey, but they also contain far more information for cyclists than the best Route 66 guide for standard motorists.

(Hat tip to Brennen Matthews; screen-capture image from “Outskirts: Route 66” of cyclists on Oatman Road in western Arizona)