Back on Gravel

 Yesterday it was high 30’s low 40’s and pouring rain, and I do mean pouring. So we decided to stay put in Beaver Creek, I had made up some ground over the previous few days so I figured a weather induced rest day wasn’t the worst thing that could happen. There isn’t anything to do in Beaver Creek so Azure couldn’t run me around like she did during my “Fairbanks rest days” which could more accurately be call the “Fairbanks honey do list days” so I did get some quality rest. We got up this morning to partly cloudy skies and cool temps and after some breakfast I headed out.

Unfortunately after an hour or so on the bike the skies opened up and I was once again riding in the ice cold pouring rain. Nothing I could do today, I had to keep riding. After a few hours, it did finally let up and I changed out of my soaking wet gear and put some dry stuff on, and continued to plow through the miles. Sorry not a great post but today was just a put your head down and keep pedaling type of day. I did run into two other cyclists headed North today and spent some time talking with them. We traded route info, i.e. what they had just ridden (where I was headed) and what I had just ridden (where they were headed).

Azure did see a black bear pretty early on in the day, so I’m pretty sure that she nor the dog left the van until we reached our stopping point for tonight.

The roads today were terrible, mostly gravel and really rough pavement, and then throw in some rolling hills just to make it more enjoyable. Although, the ride today was one of the most beautiful yet, unbelievable scenery from start to finish, the Yukon is pretty easy on the eyes.

106.2 miles

14.8mph average

32mph max

7:11:30 ride time

Oh Canada

I had a pretty easy day today; I was just trying to get across the border.  Only 63 miles from where we camped last night.  Today wasn’t a very hard day, and the weather was perfect for riding so that was nice for a change.  There were still some rolling hills to deal with, but nothing like what I have been doing.

We crossed the border without incident and set up camp in Beaver Creek.  Showers and running water are a great thing, it is amazing what a shower can do for you.  Azure was able to do some laundry as well, which should help the current smell in the van.

Not long after arriving we met Houston and Sue who are riding North from Missoula, Montana and Jasper, B.C. respectively.  It has been interesting I have met a lot of cyclists up here all seeming to have different agendas and destinations but very few of them have been American.   So it was nice to see some fellow Yankees out here pedaling away.  We ended up having a few beers at the site and then heading to dinner.  It was truly an enjoyable evening, pleasant company and conversation was a really nice change of pace. 

I think that it is because everyone is out of their element and has more time available, but when you are on the road everyone is generally really friendly.  Had we crossed paths with these two in any of our perspective hometowns I highly doubt, even if we exchanged hellos or simple conversation, we would have ended up having dinner together.  What a shame.  Taking the time out to actually speak to a stranger isn’t something that we do in our everyday lives; I am as guilty as anyone.  The hustle and bustle of everyday life gets to everyone Azure and I included.  Tonight as we were having dinner I was thinking about all of the interesting people/conversations I have missed out on.  I know that most likely when I return to the “real world” I will drift back into the societal norms.  But I hope that I can preserve something from this overtly open and friendly life style that we are currently living. 
Houston and Sue, Thank You for a great evening.

63 miles

12.8mph average

28.1mph max

4:52:40 ride time

Closing in on Canada

 I put a bunch of time in on the bike today.  Today was what I expected the weather to be like in Alaska, in the 60’s and sunny.  My body was really sore this morning after spending all day yesterday fighting the cold and wet weather.  So while I didn’t really want to ride I knew I had to capitalize and make the most of the nice weather.  I did, putting down 85 miles with about 45 of them being through the hills.  So we are about 50 miles from the border with plans to make it to Beaver Creek, Yukon if everything goes well.

Not a whole lot to write about just spent most of the day grinding it out.  But I did meet a nice couple from Spain who are going to spend the next two years biking all over North America and South America.  Fortunately, their English was much better than my Spanish, so we had a very nice conversation and after giving them some PB&J’s we were on our way. 

There was one funny moment.  I came to a construction site early this morning only about 35 miles into my ride.  After having to sit it out and wait on the Dalton I didn’t want to suffer the same fate and wait around all day until they were done working.  My mind was running at light speed running through possible scenarios in which I would utter the magical words and they would allow me to ride without waiting.  I felt like Ralphie in A Christmas Story trying to find the right words to ultimately lead to him getting a Red Rider BB gun.  Would it help if I could work up some tears?  Even if it would I was so dehydrated that I probably didn’t have any to spare.  As I rolled up to the flagger, still trying to determine the best method to plead my case.  She looked at me and said “no need to stop honey… I’ll jump on the radio and tell the boys your coming through” I couldn’t believe it, so much so that I barely got out “thanks, have a nice day”.  I rode around the bulldozers and steamrollers ecstatic that I didn’t have to wait all day to ride a 1-mile section of torn up road. 

Shortly after that however, I hit the first hill of the day and spent the rest of the day climbing.  I want to clarify something, I am saying hill strictly because it Alaska they are hills, in Virginia they would be considered mountains.  Actually pretty much everywhere East of the Rockies they would be considered mountains. 

Tomorrow more hills and the border, Canada here we come.

84.5 miles

13.7mph average speed

39.7mph max speed

6:12:30 ride time

A Cold, Wet Day

 Today was just that… a cold wet day.  It rained most of the night; great for sleeping, not so great for riding.  I woke up once in the night to the rain and hoped that it would stop before morning.  But it wasn’t to be.  When I left Delta Junction this morning it was between 39-42 degrees and spitting rain.  It rained all day, not the down pour that I rode thru on the Dalton but hard enough to soak me thru and thru.  Being cold on the bike is one thing, you can always ride harder to bring your temp up.  But being wet and cold it no good because the faster you go the more wind on your cold wet gear the colder you get. 

I had two flat tires today. For those of you keeping track that’s; 1 broken derailleur, 1 broken saddle, 4 broken chains, and 8 flat tires.  I just have to keep my fingers crossed that I have enough parts to get me to Whitehorse, Yukon which is where the next bike shop is, about 550 miles from here. 

We stopped tonight at a small family run B&B / campground, outside of Tok, and the people were amazingly hospitable.  They weren’t expecting us but still threw together dinner for us… it was delicious.  It is few and far between that we will be able to get showers and hot meals -that Azure doesn’t have to cook, while fighting off mosquitoes- so we are trying to take advantage of it when the opportunity presents itself.

Both times when I was fixing my tires I had local’s stop and offer me help or a ride.  Often times in small towns the locals get a bad wrap, but I will tell you what we would live in a better country if we had more Alaskans.  There is such a sense of camaraderie and a thru and thru notion of helping your neighbor.  It is truly refreshing, but hey that’s one of the reasons I fell in love with this place the first time I was up here.  Do yourself a favor if you see someone who could use some help, whether that be lifting groceries, giving directions, or change a tire, help them out. It will make you feel good about yourself, I promise.

77.6 miles

16.2mph average

30.2mph max

4:42:49 ride time

Close Encounters of the Moose Kind.

    After a few days rest in Fairbanks and yesterdays leisurely ride, today was a day I needed to get some miles behind me.  The day started out great flat and good roads, and I quickly put 40 miles behind me in a little over two hours.  Then the first hill of the day, I had checked the map and knew that there would be a few but didn’t expect anything serious.  I was right they weren’t very long or very steep but the headwind I was riding into made it very difficult to climb them.  I guess it would be best if I always expect the worst, of each day on the road and then be surprised if things work out differently. 

    Down the road a way I could see an ambulance and road flares.  I didn’t have to slow down to rubberneck seeing as I was only going about 15mph… a car had struck and killed a moose and the driver of the car was being treated and put into the ambulance.  People that aren’t from up here don’t realize it, but if you hit a moose in a car going anywhere from 55mph to 70mph you have a very serious problem on your hands.  Think of a moose as a cow on stilts with an attitude.  Lucky for this guy (bad for the moose) he was driving a van, which was destroyed, but high enough up that the moose didn’t come through the windshield.  An interesting thing happens when a moose is killed on the highway.  In Alaska there is a road kill registry, and they call you if your next on the list if a moose is killed in your area so that you can come and get the meat.  Moose are huge so it is good to know that even though it was killed by a car, it will probably feed the family that get its for months and months to come. 

    The hills eased a bit and my pace quickened.  I was riding with my head down, a really bad idea up here, when I just happened to look up.  There was an enormous male moose not even ten feet from me.  I say he was male strictly because of his size (they don’t have racks this time of year), I slammed on the brakes and came to an immediate stop.  I whistled as loud as I could – you know the guy at the ballgame who can whistle so loud it can be heard across the entire park… that’s me- and it was loud enough to startle the moose into the woods.  This could have just as easily backfired on me and caused the big guy to charge but in the heat of the moment I didn’t think, just reacted.  I did see a third moose a bit later on but it was much farther from me than the first and it scramble into the water across the road before I got close. 

    In keeping with the “take this” attitude that my route has been laying down.  With about ten miles left to my stopping point that headwind I was telling you picked up, big time.  I would say it was probably blowing at about 25-30 mph (I am a pretty good judge of wind speed we used to live a few blocks from the Chesapeake Bay, a really windy place) so the last ten were painful but I knew that there was a shower waiting for me at the Green Acres RV park where we are spending the night, so I just kept grinding it out.

    Upon our arrival we met a lovely couple from Canada.  They were very interested in what I was doing and we had a really nice chat.  They were kind enough to give us a large donation, it still surprises me when people just hand us money, which we will mail in to SAVE when we hit Tok, along with a few others we have received recently.  They are actually going to be in Florida in October when we should be arriving down there and offered to take us out to dinner.  The road is an interesting place, and while the riding has been hard the people we have met along the way have warmed my heart.

Today’s Ride Stats

82.1 miles

14mph average speed

35.2mph max speed

5:50:30 ride time