bears
mtn bikes vs road
speed
camp grounds
how carry gear
how long
ave speed/day
why?
how we proposed idea
about our other trips
Wed am
-pack
-enter nëw tenantsX
-get R's bikeX
Wed pm
-showsX
-go 2 houseX
-F's bike ptsX
Thu
-n poleX
-plow gardenX
-pack
-R&R super paints @ 2p;12pmX
Fri
-roof of GCX
-showsX
-dinner w/FredX
Sat
-rug dr
--10p1,2,3
--2p
--12a2
--6b6
--6a250
-shows
-meeting w/2p ex's
-plant garden
Sun
-close down greenhs
-move floats
-shows
-wash
-pay Al Cox
-dinner w/mom & dad
Mon
-rebuild 12a1
-shows
Before go
-get $ from bank
---
5/23
27 miles to Chena Lakes.
cloudy, west wind.
departed 14:30, finished 19:30
odometer starting= 936
Temp 50-60
Expenses = 0
met Matt, a newsminer photographer
met a couple of guys biking from Anchorage 2
LA (via FAI)
mom & dad-17:30 on road. They fed us bananas & went on to see how
far Chena Lakes campground was off the highway so we could decide if wanted to
go in there for the night. They
returned just as we were finishing our break with a report of about 6 miles to
the campground.
Mom and Dad went back to the campground and
we made it in less than an hour. After
a very pleasant picknic of hot dogs, potato salad and baked beans they helped
finish a last bit of business which hadn't gotten done (writing checks to cover
business expenses for while we are gone).
This final task finished, Mom and Dad walked us to a better camp site
before they headed home. It was pretty
late so we set the tent up and went to bed.
---
5/24
Rain. 30 miles to Salcha River
West wind off & on. Rain all day.
Odometer starting = 963
Started 13:30, finished 20:30.
Total miles finished = 56.7
Ave speed = 8.6
Odo ending = 992
Ride time = 6:32
Temp 40-44
Expenses = 61.77
-food 16.77
-hotel 45.00
Rain.
Which gave us an excellent excuse to sleep in. But we did eventually get up.
We are poorly equipped for rainy breakfast, so we ate chips and granola
bars and diet soda left over from the picnic.
During the night
the squirrels had gotten into a bag of chocolates, and pretty well demolished a
loaf of bread. In the evening we
discovered they had also chewed a hole in one of my bike bags. We were so worried about bears we forgot
about squirrels!
It took awhile to get packed up in the
rain. We put on all our wet and cold
weather gear (the temperatures were in the low 40's) and were finally ready to
leave about one.
Biking in the rain with all our rain gear was
pretty slow going. But we managed. We were pretty hungry by the time we got to
Moose Creek, so we stopped in at the store and got some lunch. While we were at it we got some food that
didn't require cooking for dinner and breakfast--since the rain seemed like it
was going to last.
The guy at the corner store was very helpful,
and gave us distances. So we knew how
far it was to the next place we could get out of the rain! After a nice break there we rode on to the
Knotty Shop, which has really great ice cream.
Not to mention it is a good place to get out of the rain and browse
around.
From there we called the Salcha River
Lodge. It turned out they were booked
up, but they had a motor home they were willing to clean up for us. So, with a warm place to stay and dry out
our soggy gear, we pushed on. We got
there around 8 pm, spread out our wet things, cooked dinner and went to bed.
---
5/25
30.3 miles to gravel pit
West wind off & on. Sunny-cloudy.
Odometer starting = 992
Started 11:30, finished 19:00.
Total miles finished = 87
Ave speed = 9.5
Odo ending = 1023
Ride time = 3:11+6:32=9:43
Temp 50-60
Expenses = 0
Both of us left Fairbanks with colds.
Riding in the rain did not help, so we took the opportunity to sleep in
while staying in the warm, dry RV. We
finally got up at 9, and had pancakes before packing, paying our bill and
finally getting on the road about 11:30.
10 minutes after departing we encountered the first hill of the
trip. Although it was not much of a
hill we walked a part of it--we are really concerned about Frankie's knees
holding out. There were a number of
hills throughout the day, 4 or 5 we had to walk up.
At the bottom of one of these hills we paused for a snack. Just as we were about to tackle the hill, 3
people headed north on bicycles paused to chat. One of them had biked all the way from Argentina. While we were talking to them the two guys
we met Tuesday joined us. We all talked
about half an hour before going our separate ways.
We stopped for the night in a gravel pit about 20 miles before Delta. We set up the soggy tent so it would dry
before we gathered drift wood from the banks of the Tanana river, built a fire
to make spaghetti dinner over, did the dishes, wrote the diary and went to bed.
---
5/26 To 20 miles S of Delta. Silver Fox Roadhouse at Sawmill Creek.
West wind all day. Sunny-cloudy.
Odometer starting = 1023
Odo ending = 1062
Miles ridden = 39.1
Total miles finished =126
Ave speed = 9.3
Started 10:00, finished 17:30.
Ride time = 4:10+9:43 = 13:53
Temp 50-65
Expenses = 70.35/132.12
-hardware (tarp) 6.00
-groceries 9.35
-hotel 55.00
A
nice tailwind and very few hills made for an easy day. A good thing, because Frankie's cold was
worse. We made good time to Delta,
with a few short breaks at the Tanana River bridge and along the way.
In Delta we bought another tarp to cover the tent with (the one we
started with proved to light, and the tent needs a fly to keep it dry). We also bought a little fresh fruit, a few
other groceries and splurged on a couple of doughnuts with chocolate milk.
On the way out of Delta we officially started the Alaska Highway (so far
we had been on the Richardson Highway).
We stopped and took a picture of our bikes and us under the roadsign.
Out of Delta the road was gradually uphill, with a grade so slight the
tailwind more than made up for it.
About the time we were ready to quit for the day (our goal being 40
miles, and we'd gone 39.3) we came to the roadhouse at Sawmill Creek. Both of our colds were worse, so we decided
to splurge and spend another night in a nice warm cabin. Cabin it was, a very nice one, complete with
kitchen, running water and a sauna!
We unpacked, took a nap, made dinner, endulged in a sauna and shower,
and after a little reading went to bed.
animals seen:
2 marmots
5 rabbits
2 moose
geese
sguirrels
sandpiper
ducks
---
5/27
42 miles to Dot Lake
West wind all day. Sunny-cloudy.
Odometer starting = 1062
Odo ending = 1104
Miles ridden = 42.0
Total miles finished =170
Ave speed = 10.2
Started 10:00, finished 17:30.
Ride time = 4:06+13:53 = 17:59
Temp 48-58
Expenses = 9.10/141.22
-food 9.10
Sleeping in until 10 on a long distance bike trip is a very lazy thing
to do. However, considering how sick we
were the evening before, it was well worth it, as we were feeling much better
when we awoke.
By the time we had cooked pancakes, eatten, packed, loaded the bikes and
checked out it was noon. Fortunately
our helpful tailwind continued, and we made excelent time, covering 27 miles before
we stopped for a late lunch. After
lunch we got into some hilly country (well, bumps in the terrain), which slowed
us down. Still we managed to cover
another 14 miles to Dot lake. We were
planning to do a few more, but the guy at Dot lake said we could could camp in
the back yard, which was all set up with picnic tables, outhouse, etc. So we decided to stop for the night.
Frankie went to borrow wood for the cookfire while Ray got the tent
ready to set up. The clearing is not in
a very protected area from the wind and as a result, getting the tent up was a
bit tricky. Then came the real
challenging part--getting the tarp over the tent (since our tent is not very
waterproof and has no real fly, we need to cover it with a tarp to keep out any
rain). Everytime we'd get the tarp in
position, the wind would blow it off.
After several attempts, we finally managed to get it to stay and tied a
stake to keep it in place. At least
that was the theory. After typing this
for awhile, a strong gust came along and sent the whole thing flying: tent,
covering tarp, and ground tarp. So we
chased them down and once again positioned the tent. The stake held, but the
string had come untied. We left the
cover tarp with a rock on it to put in place later.
After
dinner, conquering the tarp and writing a couple of email messages to be sent
out from Tok we went to bed
---
5/28
43 miles to Tok
Variable wind all day. Sunny-cloudy.
Odometer starting = 1104
Odo ending = 1147
Miles ridden = 43.0
Total miles finished =170
Ave speed = 9.9
Started 10:30, finished 18:30.
Ride time = 4:18 + 17:59 = 22:17
Temp 31-65
Expenses =0/141.22
Porkupine
Disaster! After a
nice day of riding, everything came to a crashing halt (quite literally). We
had parked the bikes on the side of the road since there was nice wide margins
and gone down the ditch to have a snack before continuing the last bit into
Tok. A white pickup backed into the ditch to chat. The man driving was drunk.
His passenger was not much better. On their way out the front of the truck was
uphill. The driver did not see the bikes in front of the truck until it was too
late, despite our shouting. He came down firmly on Frankie’s bike. He realized
what he had done and backed off before totally driving over the bike.
Unfortunatly, to damage was already done. The frame and forks were bent, pedal
crushed and arm bent, front wheel badly bent, mirror useless, crankshaft
slightly bent, and yet the bag only slightly torn. Our heart went out to the
poor dinner fork, for it was unrecognizable after being drug on the ground.
When Ray asked the driver for his ID and license, he sped off. We took pictures
of the damaged bike and the tracks left by the truck speeding off.
After much crying,
we hailed a passing car to go phone troopers. While telling the trooper what
happened, a van going the opposite direction stopped. It turned out to be the
owner of the only bike shop in Tok. What luck! He also ran a bed and breakfast.
We finished talking with the trooper and plans were make to bring us to the bed
and breakfast.
We must have made
quite a sight; two bicyclist talking earnestly with a trooper at the side of
the road. Needless to say, we filed charges. Around 11 pm the trooper returned
to where we were staying for us to identify a man thought to be the passenger
in the truck. He was.
---
_5/29 to 5/30 no biking.
On the 29th Ray spent most of the day rebuilding Frankie's bike. Although he got it so it could be ridden, it
certainly wasn't in any shape to go 2,000 more miles. So the decision was made to return to Fairbanks and buy a new
bike.
The 30th we got tickets to Fairbanks on the van that 40 Mile Air ran
into town. Ray's folks picked us up at
the airport and delivered us to Frankie's apartment, where the car was
located. We spent the afternoon trying
out bikes, and after trying 20 or more Frankie chose one. We had the shop put
in a few modifications for touring, since it was a mountain bike and not a road
bike. Not an ideal solution, but an adequate one all things considered.
---
5/31 Tok to 5 mi. S
Mostly sunny.
Odometer starting = 1147
Odo ending = 1155
Miles ridden = 7.7
Total miles finished =219
Ave speed = 10
Started 19:00, finished 22:00.
Ride time = 0:46 + 22:17 = 23:03
Temp 60-65
Expenses =0/141.22
We arrived back in Tok about 6pm, loaded the
bikes and resumed our trip. Many thanks
to 40-mile air for donating the freight on the new bicycle to Tok. A few miles
south of Tok was our destination, a campground on the Tok River. There was a phone there, so we called our
folks to let them know we were on the road again.
After getting the tent set up we wandered around a bit, reading signs
about the area’s history. While looking
at one of the of the signs, the pair who ran over Frankie’s bike drove by. We'd
eaten dinner during the ride back to Tok, so we made it to bed by 11.
---
6/1 Tok River to 3 mi north of Northway
Mostly sunny.
Odometer starting = 1155
Odo ending = 1192
Miles ridden = 37.7
Total miles finished =256
Ave speed = 9.0
Started 10:15, finished 21:00.
Ride time = 4:10 + 23:03 = 27:17
Temp 60-75
Expenses =0/141.22
Although we had ambitions of getting up at 7, the stressful last few
days caught up with us and it was 8:30 before we woke up. Even though we didn't have breakfast before
leaving, it was still after 10 by the time we broke camp and got under way.
The Tanana River bridge was only a few miles down the road and made a
good place to eat our cold cereal.
Today the road left the Tanana valley flood plains (which we have been
on since Fairbanks) and went through a series of rolling hills. These really aggrivated Frankie's knees so
going was really slow with a lot of walking up hills.
We took a long lunch break at 1, stopped to cook dinner in a gravel pit
and then rode on. We used most of our
water for dinner so at the first creek we came to we tried our water filter for
the first time. The filter is fine
enough to remove all human pathogens except virus (and when we are worried
about them we have a filter that will mix a small amount of iodine in).
By 9 pm we were getting pretty tired so we stopped and set up camp on an
old stretch of highway, and by 10 we were in bed.
---
6/2 4 mi S of Canadian border @ Little Scottie
Ck
Mostly sunny.
Odometer starting = 1192
Odo ending = 1236
Miles ridden = 44.0
Total miles finished = 300
Ave speed = 10.3
Started 9:30, finished 19:30
Ride time = 4:15 + 27:17 = 31:32
Temp 60-75
Expenses =3.60/144.82
-food
We really wanted to get across the border today so we set the alarm for
8, which gave us 9 hours of sleep.
Barely enough for as hard as we have been working!
First thing in the morning I built a quick fire and cooked oatmeal while
Frankie worked on breaking camp and packing our sleeping gear. By 9:30 we were on the road, dealing with
more hills. We had to walk a number,
and even my knees were giving me trouble by the end of the day.
Not too long after getting under way we passed the turnoff to Northway,
which is 9 miles off the main road.
Shortly before this we'd seen our last sight of the Tanana River, which
we'd been following since leaving Fairbanks.
We took a lunch break around 2 at a rest area. While we were eatting a Grey Jay got very friendly, coming up
close enough to eat out of our hands.
After lunch we ground on. We
pushed on hard all day and by late afternoon we made it to the border. We'd taken a short break at the last gas
station in Alaska, and recharged our failing energy with a couple of ice cream
cones. Shortly after we'd crossed the
border we ran out of energy and started looking for a place to camp. About 5 miles into Canada we crossed Little
Scottie Creek, which had a small turnout that made an excelent camp site,
though a little close to the road. We
made spaghetti with a pizza sauce (bought because it came in a plastic jar,
rather than a glass--when we have a week of food every ounce counts!)
Canadian customs was another 15 miles, so we washed up and tried to make
ourselves a little more presentable, finally getting to bed a little after
10:30.
---
6/4
31 miles to the Donjek River
Mostly sunny.
Odometer starting = 1284
Odo ending = 1315
Miles ridden = 31.6
Total miles finished = 379
Ave speed = 8.8
Started 11:00, finished 18:30
Ride time = 3:34 + 36:37 = 40:11
Temp 51-74 (felt hotter though!)
Expenses =4.00C+ 221.13C = 225.13C
-food 4.00C
When the alarm went off at 8 it was raining. So we decided to sleep in for a little while, in the hopes it
would go away. When we woke again at
9:30 the rain had quit, and it was turning into a very nice day. So we rushed through breakfast of cold
cereal with a fresh roll from the lodge.
An hour and a half after getting up we were on the road.
We had lunch in the early afternoon in a campground, which made a nice
break. On the way out Ray powered his
way up the hill, which likely contributed to the serious problem we had later
in the day.
By late afternoon we had covered about 30 miles. Ray's bike had gotten a little wobbly; he
suspected the load was shifting and hadn't checked it. This turned out to be a big mistake, because
by the time he finally got around to checking it the back tire had 11 broken
spokes! 4 on the drive side and 7 on
the other. This was probably due to the
heavy load over the construction and powering up the steep driveway at lunch.
When we discovered the problem, we were in the middle of a long stretch
of construction. Riding was out of the
question, so we started walking. It was
5:00 when we started walking, and about 6:30 we came to the Donjek River. There was a place by the river that looked
like a good campsite so we stopped and while Frankie made dinner Ray worked on
his bike.
11 broken spokes was a major problem.
We had 6 spares for Ray's bike, 3 for each side. Unfortunately 2 of these turned out to be the
wrong size. So to fix the 11 spokes we
had 4. Ray replaced these 4, and
re-positioned some of the others. By then
dinner was done, so he took a break and ate.
Then he put the wheel back on the bike and balanced it (it was pretty
crooked). When he was all done he took
it up to the bridge and tried it on the bridge with no load. It was still pretty wobbly, so we decided to
sleep on it.
Ray's rear wheel gear cap is reverse
threaded. We found this out when he took the back wheel off the bike (this is
more for Ray's future reference).
---
6/5 23.5 miles to Burwash Landing
Mostly cloudy.
Odometer starting = 1315
Odo ending = 1339
Miles ridden = 23.5
Total miles finished = 403
Ave speed = 8.1
Started 10:30, finished 19:00
Ride time =
2:53 + 40:11 = 43:04
Temp 60-70
Expenses 103.60C+ 225.13C= 328.73C
-eat out 16.70C
-room 74.90C
-food 12.00C
As soon as we got up Ray tackled his bike again. He re-positioned one spoke to cover one of
the gaps better, and then wove the broken spokes into the wheel to further
stiffen it. Another test ride showed
that he had the problem under control.
While the wheel no longer wobbled as you went down the road, it
certainly wasn't strong enough to carry much of a load. So we tied the heaviest bag on top of the
handle bar bag, put the lightest of our bags on the back rack, and gave the
other to Frankie.
---
6/6 9.9 miles to Destruction Bay
Mostly cloudy.
Odometer starting = 1339
Odo ending = 1354
Miles ridden = 9.9
Total miles finished = 418
Ave speed = 6.3
Started 16:00, finished 18:00
Ride time =
1:34 + 43:04 = 44:38
Temp 60-70
Expenses 127.04C+ 328.73C= 455.77
-eat out 12.70C
-food 16.54C
-hotel 98.00C
Today was a day that didn't work.
Ray got up at 7:30 and spent 3 hours working on the spokes, getting them
tightened, adjusted, and woven in with Frankie's spares. Not to mention moving a spoke from a place
where there was good coverage to the gap left by the one that had broken the
previous day.
After putting the bike back together we loaded the bikes, and then spent
4 hours writing and trying to transmit the newspaper column. Unfortunately we couldn't get the computers
to connect. So we left.
We hadn't even made it to the top of the hill up to the highway when we
had our next mechanical problem.
Frankie's bike rack broke just above where it ties into the frame. It was designed for the old road bike and
didn’t fit properly on the new mountain bike. Ray tied it in place and finally,
at 4 in the afternoon, we were on the road.
There was something of a headwind (I would say fierce headwind, but I am
writing this the next day after dealing with a lot more wind!) so progress was
slow. About 6pm we arrived at
Destruction Bay, and decided to can it.
We were really tuckered out and frustrated so we decided to really splurge
and stay in the hotel.
---
6/7 to 27 km N of Haines Junction
ending k-post 1662; 49 miles total
dst 32.1
ave 6.4
odo 1386
t 5:00
Today Ray's bike went for a swim.
He had leaned it up against a post and a gust of wind blew it off the
post and into a raging, flooded stream.
Fortunately it didn't get damaged, nor did anything get hurt other than
the bike odometer (which died).
The day started out hard, for all the way down the spectacular Kluane
Lake the wind was blowing a direct headwind.
Thus, the going was very slow.
When we finally left the lake behind us and climbed up the pass, the
hill blocked a good bit of the wind--but the going remained slow because of the
hill.
Because of the failed odometer we weren't sure how far from Haines
Junction we were, and as we were hoping to get there we pushed on far later
than we should have. Because of the
urge to make miles we didn't eat a very good diet either, eating junk food at
every break.
When we finally stopped we were pretty badly burned out. As it turned out we still had a long way to go;
27 kilometers and another pass to Haines Junction.
---
6/3 47.4 miles to the White River
Mostly sunny.
Odometer starting = 1236
Odo ending = 1284
Miles ridden = 47.4
Total miles finished = 348
Ave speed = 9.3
Started 10:30, finished 18:30
Ride time = 5:05 + 31:32 = 36:37
Temp 60-72 (felt hotter though!)
Expenses =28.04C+193.09C = 221.13C (Note: for
our trip through Canada, US dollars have been converted to Canadian at the rate
of $0.75 Canadian to $1 US. That is why
the big change; $144.82/0.75 = 193.09C)
-food 18.04C
-campsite 10.00C
We got up at 8:40, which isn't quite as lazy as it sounds because of the
time change. We were eager to get
through customs so Ray fixed oatmeal while Frankie packed the bedding. After eating we took down the tent, loaded
the bikes and got going.
The first 10 miles continued the rolling hills that had plagued us for
the last 2 days. We managed to ride
most of them, though a few of them proved too long or steep.
5
miles before Beaver Creek we left the hills behind us. So the last 5 miles to the customs station
was very easy and quick. Passing
through customs was a breeze; she asked for our driver's licenses, whether we
had any firearms, tobacco or alcohol, what our final destination was and
checked to be sure we had enough money for the trip.
Beaver Creek was a couple of kilometers on, and when we arrived there we
decided to take a break and buy a snack as well as a couple of cans of stuff to
fancy up our plain macaroni dinner (the mushroom soup really spiced it up!)
We left Beaver Creek a little after noon, and pedaled steadily for
several hours. The road, while not
entirely flat, did not have very many hills either so it was easy to keep up a
steady pace. Though it consumed a lot
of energy, and by 2 we were ready for a hearty lunch.
For the rest of the afternoon we took a number of rest breaks. Energy reserves are getting low; we have
both lost weight and need to increase our food consumption (at 50 calories per
mile a 45 mile day will burn 2250 calories!).
We made it to the White River in the early evening.
Bear 'guard'. At the bottom of a mountain just before crossing the White
River, a van parked on the side of the road.
When we approached closer, they told us there was a bear on the hillside. The
van drove slowly between us and the hill in case the bear became curious about
us. Thanks!
The White River Campground is a commercial RV park that had camp sites
in the back. It was an opportune place
to spend the night, and the $10 they charged for a campsite covered the use of
the shower, which was most appreciated.
Since we were so low on energy we decided to make a high calorie dinner
by adding half a stick of butter to our macaroni and mushroom soup. It made for an excellent meal.
After setting up the tent we both took a nice long shower. It was 11 by the time we finally got to bed.
---
6/8 53.4 miles to 60 miles from Whitehorse
(km post 1673)
Mostly cloudy.
Odometer starting = ?
Odo ending = ?
Miles ridden = 53.4
Total miles finished = 552
Ave speed = ?
Started 11:00, finished 21:30
Ride time =
?
Temp 40-65
Expenses 22.75C+ 455.77C = 478.52
-food 22.75C
Because of the hard day the day before, we slept in. We finally got up around 8:30, but were so
sluggish that it was 11 by the time we had finished breakfast and breaking
camp.
Our camp was really high (around 3,000 feet) and it was still early
spring here. There was plenty of snow
out in the woods, though it did not get especially cold overnight.
Haines Junction was about 1,000 feet lower, so it was easy biking down
the hills from camp to the Junction.
We bought lunch in the grocery store and then ate it out front, at some
tables. Unfortunately Frankie overate,
and was ill for the rest of the day with an upset stomach.
We stopped by a biking place to see if they had parts (spokes or wheel)
for Ray's bike, but they didn't (they were mostly a rental place). So we pushed on for Whitehorse.
Our goal for the day was the kilometer post 1575, which would leave us
60 miles to Whitehorse. So when we
passed the 1576 post we started looking for a good place to camp, finding one
around km 1573...a gravel pit just off the road.
We were pretty tired and Frankie's stomach was still queasy, so we
skipped dinner, set up the tent and went straight to bed.
---
6/9 62 miles to Whitehorse
Terrain: mostly level, with a few short sharp
dips to traverse, and a few hills at the Whitehorse end.
Mostly sunny, with a few rain showers that
essentially missed us.,.
Odometer starting = ?
Odo ending = ?
Miles ridden = 62?
Total miles finished = 614?
Ave speed = ?
Started 10:30, finished 20:30
Ride time = ?
Temp 60-75
Expenses =81.04C+478.52C = 559.56C
-eat out 11.49C
-hotel 69.55C
This was a tense day. We didn't
get quite as early a start as we wanted, but the road was pretty easy going so
we figured we still wouldn't have any trouble doing the 60 miles to Whitehorse,
which is the biggest town that we go through between Fairbanks on one end of
the Alaska Highway and Dawson Creek at the other end.
The day started real well, but early in the afternoon Ray broke another
spoke. Then another. At this point it was no longer possible to
true the wheel, so it wobbled pretty badly.
Because of the damage we rode very slowly, putting as little strain on
the wheel as possible. We were walking up even the slightest of hills to avoid
any possible strain on the wheel. Still we had broken a third spoke (for a
total of 15 broken spokes...only 4 of which had been replaced!). We were
wondering just when the wheel would collapse and leave us walking. But it held
and we arrived late afternoon in Whitehorse.
The first thing we did when we arrived in Whitehorse was to go by
A&W for a milkshake. Frankie went
ahead and ate there (Ray stuck to his New Year's Pledge not to *eat* out, and
only had a milkshake). After eating,
Frankie called her folks, and Ray called a couple hotels, finding one that was
fairly reasonable. We rode to the
Chilkoot Trail Inn, unloaded our bikes and parked them in an un-used room. Then we had the luxury of a bath and went to
bed.
---
6/10 In Whitehorse
Terrain: None :)
Mostly sunny, with a few rain showers that
missed us.,.
Odometer starting = ?
Odo ending = ?
Miles ridden = ~0 (rode to the bike shop and
back)
Total miles finished = 614
Ave speed = ?
Started -, finished -
Ride time = 0
Temp 60-72
Expenses =406.10C+559.56C = 965.66C
-books 7.49
-food 10.46
-food 12.38
-laundry soap 2.00
-food 3.09
-movie + drink 21
-hotel 69.55
-bike parts 280.13
Today was bike repair day. We
went to Philippe's Bicycle Repair (867-633-5600) and he did a great job of
fixing us up. We got a new wheel for
Ray's bike, a new chain, extra spokes, a freewheel tool and a new rack for
Frankie's bike plus bike odometers for both bikes.
Phillipe was
rather amused at the state of Ray’s wheel. It should be put in an engineering
museum for it was held together with so much different wire, odd sized spokes and
electrical tape it was hardly recognizable. Frankie took pictures of it before
throwing it out.
It was mid afternoon by the time we returned to the hotel. We bought hot dogs for lunch and hamburger
meat for dinner, along with fresh fruit and broccoli. It was such a treat after a diet of mostly starches and sugars!
After lunch we started the laundry and then took a nap. By the time we got up it was nearly 6, so we
dashed next door to the used book store and picked up a couple of books. Then we
splurged and went to the movies. We saw
Gone in 60 Seconds, and both liked it.
We stayed up rather late finishing the first load of laundry and
reading.
---
South to Seattle: Biking Blues
by Ray R. Collins and Frances Nichols
We ended the first week of biking (May 28) with serious questions about
whether Frances would be able to continue.
Her bike was pretty badly crunched by a drunk driver while we were
sitting at the side of the road taking a break. Even more inconsiderate, he had
driven off. So we flagged down a
passing car and had him call the state troopers.
Half an hour later, while we were talking with the trooper, Jill and
John Rusyniak stopped to see what the trouble was. It turned out they owned the only bike repair shop in Tok, as
well as the Cleft of the Rock Bed & Breakfast. A most opportune meeting!
They gave Frances, her broken bike (and the gear from her bike) a ride
to their place, while Ray rode his bike
the few miles there.
The
next day, Ray took the bike apart, effected many repairs, and put it back
together. Although he managed to fix it
well enough to ride, it still couldn't be trusted for more than 2,000 miles. So we decided to return to Fairbanks for a
new bike.
We
got tickets on a van that went into Fairbanks, and by one the next day we were
in town shopping for a new bike.
Unfortunately, there were no bikes like the one that got crunched (a
lady's style road bike), so after trying nearly 20 bikes we settled for a
mountain bike, on which we put 'slick' tires (which are much more efficient
than 'knobbie' tires for road cruising).
This was not ideal, but we only
had 24 hours in Fairbanks and it was the best we could come up with.
We had also done our grocery shopping, so when we got back to the
Rusyniak's (who had graciously stored our stuff) we just had to load up and
resume biking. So, after loosing 3
days, we were back on the road Wednesday evening pretty much where we left off--just arriving in Tok.
Before we resumed biking again, we had only ridden the new bike around
the block a couple of times. That is
not enough to get it entirely adjusted, nor had we put on some of the things
that you want on a bike for a long trip.
So in spare moments over the next few days we worked on her bike. When we had adjusted everything on her bike
to be ready for the duration of the trip, we thought we had put the worst
behind us. Not so! Ray's bike took this opportunity to
misbehave.
Sunday (June 4) afternoon Ray's bike had gotten a little wobbly; he
thought it was just the load shifting.
When he finally checked it, the back tire had 11 broken spokes (his tire
had 36 total)! This was probably due to
the heavy load over the construction.
We walked to a good place to camp (Donjek River) and stopped for the
night.
We
had 6 spare spokes for Ray's bike.
Unfortunately 2 of these turned out to be the wrong size. So to fix the 11 spokes we had 4. Ray replaced these 4 and re-positioned some
of the others. Then he put the wheel back on and took it up to the bridge to
try it with no load. It was still
pretty wobbly, so again we are left wondering how to continue. Hope we can make it the 200 miles to
Whitehorse!
---
South to Seattle: A Slow Start.
by Ray R. Collins and Frances Nichols
Shake
down cruise. What an apt term. Unfortunately we did not find time to take
one before we set out on our 2,300 mile bicycle trip to Seattle. So our shaking down occurred during the
first week of our trip.
Handling
a loaded bike is very different than an empty one. It wobbles different, it peddles different and most important it
must be kept exactly upright or it will fall over. Likely taking you with it, unless you are smart enough to let
go. We weren't. Smart enough, that is. But we learned.
So our first day was spent learning how to ride a bike. Not that we inexperienced at bike
touring. When we first thought of the
idea of biking the Alcan Highway 3 years ago, we were biking all the way around
the Hawaiian island of Oahu. Since then
we have taken a number of other trips, long and short. Though this is our first major expedition.
The first 'day' of our trip we shall have to call day 0, because it
rained. So we didn't depart. The next day we had to finish packing so we
got a late start (now why didn't we pack on the day before? Hmm...).
But by mid-afternoon we were finally headed down the highway. Slowly.
This turned out to be the drop-it-on-the-highway part of our
shakedown. First we shook the knife
loose. Then a stream of envelopes came
off Ray's bike. By the time we made it
to the Richardson Highway we had the dribble under control.
Ray's folks met us at Chena Lakes, which was our destination for the
day. The brought a picnic dinner for
us,
We awoke to a wet world the second day.
It had started raining during the night and our tent was flooded. We had put the tent on a tarp which was
slightly larger than it is without folding the edges under. As a result, water ran off the top of the
tent onto the tarp then puddled under the tent and seeped in through the
bottom. Luckily, we had air mattresses
which kept us and our bedding from being completely soaked through. Now we knew better than to leave the tarp
edges sticking out.
Since the tent was flooded, there was no point staying in camp so we
packed up the bikes and rode on into the rain.
It rained all day, giving us a good opportunity to test our new rain
gear while still close to home. With
temperatures in the low forties, we were wearing warm clothing under our rain
suits. Once we started riding we
quickly warmed up. In fact we were
hot. When we stopped for a break we
rapidly cooled off to the point of being cold.
So for the rest of the day we rode until we got hot, usually about four
miles, then rested until we were chilly.
This made for a slow day, but we stayed dry and that's what's
important. We splurged that night and
stayed in a hotel, soggy gear scattered everywhere to dry.
Physically we were not really ready to ride long distances. In particular we were concerned about
Frances' knees. So the plan is to ride
very gently and slowly for the first week, (250 miles) and gradually increase
the pace the second week (300+ miles).
By the third week we hope to be
doing 450 or more miles a week. Not to
give you the idea we were entirely out
of shape; we had put 300 mile on our bikes this spring before we started the
trip.
Besides sore muscles and straining knees there are other aspects to
breaking yourself into a long trip like this.
By the end of the first week we had been sunburned, windburned, chapped
lips, bumps, bruises and scrapes. Most
of this usually occurs during the first week.
We hope!! Unfortunately both of
us came down with colds about the time we left, so in addition to all the other
normal breaking in, we had to combat runny noses and bleary eyes.
Alaska 3452cu lisc of guy who ran over f's
bike.
Our third day was much nicer weather.
But today we got to try climbing hills.
Not that the hills we encountered were anything very much. Or they shouldn't have been, anyhow. Our straining muscles and joints thought
otherwise though, and to save ourselves damage we walked a number of them.
A
gravel pit made an excellent camping place.
Our nice shiny new pots got broken in, and we realized with some dismay
that we did not have a plastic bag to contain them, keeping the soot from our
other belongings. So we had to empty
one that was already in use.
Our
fourth day was another nice one. With
fewer hills we were finally able to add onto our dismally low mileages,
covering 40 miles. Around lunch time we
(finally) passed through Delta, where we could practice our resistance at
buying food and goodies to stuff our bike packs with.
The longer day aggravated our colds, so when we neared our 40 mile goal
a handy motel was much too tempting. A
nice warm environment could help us shake the virus so we decided to splurge on
a room.
The fifth day brought us to Dot Lake.
Another fine day, it was our first serious encounter with sunburn and
chapped lips. Nothing very serious
though, so after a nice night beside the lake we headed for Tok, our next
destination.
Our joints and muscles were, by this time, getting accustomed to the
work. Our biking skills were improved
to the point where the loaded bikes now seemed normal, and 40 miles a day was
comfortable. We were still spending
less time biking than otherwise, but were improving rapidly. Our colds were nearly gone, and the 48 miles
to Tok were not daunting. Well before
we expected to arrive we were nearing the outskirts of Tok. Then disaster struck.
We had paused beside the road, in a small driveway to take a break. While we were sitting there a guy pulled up
to chat. He (rather oddly) backed into
the ditch to chat with us, and when he left, he drove into Frances' bike! When asked for his driver's license he
rudely rolled up his window and drove away.
What a test of the tools I had brought!
Half an hour later, while the police were getting details about it, some
people from Tok stopped to see if they could help. It turned out the Rusyniaks ran the Cleft in the Rock bed and
breakfast just a few miles up the road.
Although they had been heading the other direction, the turned around
and took Frances and he bike back to their place. Ray rode on the last couple of miles to join her, and then he
spent the evening working on her bike to see if it was recoverable.
The frame was bent, one of the petal arms was bent, the front gear was
damaged and the front tire was mangled.
A few hours of work and Ray had it back in rideable condition. But another problem surfaced; the petal
crank arm was bent. Nor was the frame
straight enough to make it easy to ride.
Certainly not for another 2,000 miles.
---
5/28
15-17 Robertson R