Retired High School Biology teacher Dennis Stewart, 60 and his wife Geri, 51, commence their bicycle tour of Route 66 on Sunday, May 11, 2008, from the Santa Monica Pier. They are hoping to complete the tour ending in Chicago within two months by the Fourth of July. U.S. Route 66 (also known as Route 66, U.S. Highway 66, The Main Street of America, The Mother Road and the Will Rogers Highway) was a highway in the U.S. Highway system. One of the original federal routes, US 66 was established on November 11, 1926, though signs did not go up until the following year. It originally ran from Chicago, Illinois, through Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California, before ending at Los Angeles for a total of 2,448 mile. US 66 was officially decommissioned (that is, officially removed from the United States Highway System) on June 27, 1985 after it was decided the route was no longer relevant and had been replaced by the Interstate Highway System.