A worldly globe-trotter, Faber was born in Moscow, worked as a journalist for what she called a \u201cproper paper,\u201d and, after a trip to South Africa in 2009, has resided there since. In the summer of 2015, she set to traverse what was once America\u2019s main artery from Los Angeles to Chicago by bicycle.
\nWhy Route 66, specifically?
\n\u201cI\u2019m Russian, so I was growing up in the Soviet Union, when all this pop culture was prohibited,\u201d she said. \u201cSo whatever information we could get about music or whatever was illegal, but of course we got a little bit of it. I\u2019ve always been interested in the golden age of American culture, which to me, is Route 66, so I was curious to see how it now is, and if still existed.
\n\u201cI understand that those times are gone, even probably before I was born, but still, I think it\u2019s extremely interesting.\u201d
\nFaber has a wry rationale for choosing to bike her way across the country rather than cruisin\u2019 USA via motor vehicle, to say the least.
\n\u201cCars? Cars are too slow,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m sorry, 65, 75 mph on a highway is just \u2014 not \u2014 acceptable.\u201d
\nSo does Faber have an 80-mph bicycle prototype, something of which the world has never seen?
\n\u201cI like to bicycle because when you are on a bicycle, you go your speed, and however fast you can go, is how fast you can go,\u201d she said. \u201cWhen you put the pedal to the floor in a car, you are going to catch the attention of police. On a bike, it is under your control, not police control.\u201d
\nWhile Route 66 has attracted many cyclists and wayfarers, Faber believes that the ridiculousness of her journey warranted her writing a screenplay about them. Such involved her getting bitten by a dog in Oklahoma, investigating the dog\u2019s drug-dealer owner, aided by a woman she\u2019d met, whom she referred to as a frequently fainting version of Bette Midler.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s so ridiculous, it\u2019s hard to even describe,\u201d she said, laughing.
\nWhile in Pontiac two years ago, Faber got caught in a two-day rainstorm. Brad Trainor, owner of the Old Log Cabin, was kind enough to offer her a place to stay. But in her time in the city, she found its fascination with Route 66 rivaled her own, and the people nothing but friendly, citing it as one of her favorite stops.
\n\u201cPontiac has been wonderful,\u201d she said. \u201cThe people I\u2019ve encountered have been so very nice, and you have all the murals and paintings and museums, it\u2019s amazing.\u201d
\nFaber said that the synopsis of her script is finished, with a couple of scenes already penned as it remains a work-in-progress. She\u2019ll remain in the area for a while yet, and hopes residents come out and join her at the Old Log Cabin for a slide show presentation of her journey on July 25 at 5:30 p.m.<\/p>\n
By Paul Westermeyer<\/span><\/p>\n Posted Jul 15, 2017<\/p>\n
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