Roberto Rossi, author and founder of the Italian Route 66 Association, is returning to Kingman for the third time this year. But this time he is not serving as a tour guide for Italian Route 66 enthusiasts. On this journey along the Main Street of America, Rossi is presenting this storied highway as an inspirational stage.

JOURNEY BEYOND DARKNESS

A tandem journey across Route 66 exploring adaptation, trust and the choice to keep moving forward.
My name is Alessandro Pallaro, and I come from Italy. In the autumn of 2026, my friend Andrea Canò and I will set off on a tandem journey along Route 66, documenting the experience through a feature-length documentary.
Along the way, we will capture what the road gives us: the people we meet, the unexpected challenges, the conversations, the difficult moments and the good ones. Nothing staged. Nothing scripted. Just the reality of traveling across America together on a tandem bicycle.
Many people assume this project exists because I lost my sight. The truth is a little different. Blindness is part of my story, but it is not the reason for this journey.
When I was sixteen years old, leukemia caused me to lose my sight. For a long time, I believed that experience had completely changed the direction of my life. Over time, I came to understand something else. Direction has very little to do with eyesight.
It has much more to do with the choices we make when life forces us to take a different road than the one we had planned. That realization became the starting point for Journey Beyond Darkness.
Route 66 felt like the right place to tell this story. For generations, it has been a road travelled by people searching for a new beginning, a new opportunity or simply a new direction.
The tandem bicycle is not a random choice either. Andrea will ride in front. I will ride behind. He will see the
road. I will not.
To move forward, we will have to trust each other, communicate constantly and face whatever happens along the way together.
This documentary is not about accomplishing something extraordinary. It is about real people, real situations and our ability to adapt when life does not unfold as we expected.
Today, I am interested in connecting with cycling organizations, cultural institutions, community groups, media outlets and people who share these values.
Not necessarily to support the project financially. Sometimes a conversation, a local connection, a shared story or a meeting somewhere along the route can become an important part of the journey itself. Because the real goal is not simply reaching the end of Route 66. It is discovering how many people, places and stories become part of the road along the way.
Alessandro Pallaro
Journey Beyond Darkness
Route 66 • United States • Tandem Bicycle • Autumn 2026
www.viaggioltreilbuio.org

Inspiration on Route 66

Alessandro Pallaro, Roberto Rossi and their team are scheduled to arrive in Kingman on the afternoon of October 24th. If you are interested in joining the ride across western Arizona, contact Pallaro through the website. Contact Roberto Rossi through his website.

For one hundred years Route 66 has been the road of dreams. It is also a road of inpsiration. From the Transcontinental Foot Race (Bunion Derby) of 1928 to Joe Barr’s recent record breaking ride on Route 66 from end to end by bicycle, this highway has inspired people from throughout the world to dream big. Pallaro’s ride is another chapter in this story.