AILSA CHANG, HOST:
Irish ultra cyclist Joe Barr is attempting a Guinness world record.
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UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Here comes Joe.
JOE BARR: I will be the first person to actually set a word record time on Route 66.
MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
Today, Barr is expected to complete his trek across Route 66 to honor the highway's centennial. That is more than 2,000 miles from Santa Monica, California, to Chicago, Illinois.
CHANG: Wowe (ph). He began last week, and it has been hot.
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BARR: Most of the day has been sitting around somewhere between 97 and 103 on the bike.
KELLY: Luckily, Barr's got a team to help keep him safe on the road.
CHANG: His crew chief, Marc Poland, says large parts of Route 66 are in disrepair. Others have no pavement.
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MARC POLAND: The dirt road slows you down for sure.
KELLY: It took two years for Barr's team to map out a safe path.
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POLAND: Block by block, in some cases.
CHANG: Barr bikes for 20 hours a day and only sleeps for about 3 hours a night.
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BARR: It's a very demanding schedule, but on the flip side of that, I would say it is by far the most enjoyable race I have ever done.
KELLY: Barr has been welcomed warmly by strangers along the road, including a recent stop near Springfield, Illinois.
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BARR: We pulled over to this side of road to do something, and we have ended up in someone's home. At one point, Abraham Lincoln actually stayed in this house.
CHANG: And there are some nonhuman visitors.
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BARR: The wild horses were running on the road beside me.
KELLY: And if that wasn't enough, tomorrow, it's Barr's birthday. Upon completing Route 66, he will turn 67.
CHANG: So how is he going to celebrate?
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BARR: I've been on a race nutritional program that's been my life (ph) for the last two years getting prepared for this event, and I'm going to have some really nice ice cream and hopefully a really cool beer.
KELLY: We'll be toasting you, Joe Barr. Congratulations. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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