| A short story condensed from my journals of the Alaska to Key West Bike Tour summer 2001. I worked for a year organizing and plotting out the mileages and routes I was to take. Then the trip started out on a bad note as I had a 7 hour layover in Phoenix and they wanted to charge ME extra $$ for that, when they should have paid me for the inconvience, but they didn't get away with it! I arrived in Anchorage that night and in the morning I caught the Denali Star train to Fairbanks. We got in 4 hours late as there was coal train broke down north of the Denali station and we had to wait for it to be cleared. Arrived Fairbanks 8pm on the 4th and proceeded to a motel where I assembled my bike, got everything packed up and ready to go in the morning. Packed up all the stuff that wasn't to go on the ride, into the bike suitcase, took it to the post office and mailed it home. Now the adrenalin kicked in and it was time for the fun to begin. Do you ever think about some of the things we did when we were young and remember calling it FUN? I was just now beginning to wonder if I still had some growing up to do. I tried for several months, thru the Internet to find other riders who wanted to do the ride with me and I had 4 lined up, a college gal that just graduated from MIT, a fellow from Edenborough, Scotland and two eastern fellows. During the last month they all changed their plans and so I headed out alone, which I didn't really like doing as the N/W territories are so remote and wild. But I wasn't going to miss my ride because of a bunch of cowards so off I went. (by the way I have emailed all of them and are they sorry now that they backed out)! I left Fairbanks June 5 at 10am and headed south towards the town of North Pole, it wasn't far and I got there in time for an early lunch and a look around Santa's Village, got some tourists to take a couple of photos and I was again on my way. It was a nice warm day, about 70, and the highway was fairly flat for most of the day. I camped that first night in a pull out along the road side and had an RV for company. I was out of water so they filled my bottles up and we got well aquainted as they were from Ft. Meyers, FL They lived right on my route so they invited me for dinner and a nights stay whey I came through. Instead of crossing FL to the West coast I stayed on A1A on the East coast all the way down to the Keys so I missed their invite. I called them just the other day and they were glad to hear from me as they were wondering what had happened to me. The highway down through AK was very pleasent to ride as the roads in this state don't go over the mountains they just weave their way through them going down the valleys thru the forests and across so many rivers. A very wet place with Hugh mosquitos, but other than that it is a very beautiful place to see. Every afternoon big thunderstorms would build but were widely scattered. They all seemed to be headed the same direction as I was and about 5pm one was coming up behind me and when it was about a mile back I could just see this wall of water coming down but it was creating quite a gust front so I was really going fast but it was about 15 miles yet to my destination point and I knew I couldn't out run it. About 3 miles down the road I came to a river and right next to the bridge was a small camping area with a couple of covered picnic tables in the middle, I dashed in and got under cover and the rain hit about 30 seconds later. It was still raining 2 hours later so I cooked up chow and set up camp for the night. Next day dawned bright and clear so I had breakfast and hit the road about 8am. It was about 90 miles now to Tok, as I had cut my ride short the day before, but again I had tailwinds and just rolling hills so I figured I could make it withhout any strain and still stay on my schedule. Forty miles out of Tok, where I crossed the Tanana River and the AK pipeline, I stopped at a small roadside cabin where they sold curios and served food so I bought lunch and while I was there this Coca Cola van pulled up and this Hugh man came in, took an order, filled it, then stopped to talk to me as he was leaving. After finding out about my trip and where I was going for the day he pulled out a motel key and said his company kept a motel room for him in Tok and I was welcome to use it. I looked at him and was trying to figure him out when he said, " I know what your thinking, I'm straight, have a farm, wife and kids in North Pole and you have nothing to worry about. Besides I'm only going to stop for a shower and then go on south." I was relieved and accepted his offer but before he went on his way he gave me a note for the woman who owned the big tavern and food place next to the motel, which said, please give this guy anything he wants to eat and drink and put it on my tab. Wow, I thought, I had heard Alaskan hospitality was great but this guy was really super. He was called Big Al. The name fit him well and in more ways than one. Al, I know you will be reading this so I would like, once again, to say Thank you, and If I'm ever up that way again I will look you up! A cyber hut was available in Tok so I got email off to my wife Trina and to Carolyn so she could post the classmates web site. Had breakfast in Tok as I was already looking for food with some fat content. Hit the road at 8am and had 15 mph tailwinds, it's 90 + miles for today and I will be crossing the border into the Yukon Territories. For the first 18 miles I averaged 19 mph and thought I would have the day done in no time then all of a sudden there were mountains. Big ones too, the climbs wern't to long but the grades were steep enough to make you work hard. My avg speed dropped and the work load was enough to make me pull up just short of the Yukon border but it was a good ride. I met a German fellow, Jean, who was pulling a home made surry and it, with the load, weighed about 300 lbs. HE was pulling it. He was walking from Dawson Creek to Fairbanks, then he was flying home. What a trip he had had so far and he had shredded several pair of boots. About 10 minutes after I left Jean I met my first north bound bike rider, he was from the Netherlands, I forgot to ask where he started his ride but I could tell he had been on the road for a long time. Both of these fellows told me there was another bike rider about two days ahead of me who was on the same route. I thought this is great as I will have someone to ride with for a while. Then they warned me to stay away from him as he was crazy as a loon and didn't speak hardly any English. He was from Japan and while he was riding he was constantly yelling and screaming at everything and waving his arms all about. I never did see him but found out later that I had passed him somewhere. OK by me I don't speak their language anyway. Very difficult day today, first day with bad headwinds and a little cold. Wore an old pair of cycling shorts yesterday, brought them along so I could wear them out and throw them away. The chammy pad was worn bad and with the new saddle on the bike I got myself a couple of saddle sores and now I got a problem as I can't find a comfortable place to sit on the seat. Stopped 37 miles short of goal but very tired and couldn't peddle another stroke. Had some road construction areas today and I got hit in the chins twice by flying rocks which tore holes in my tights and bloodied my legs. Damn RVers they won't slow down for anything, I tried waving my arms at them but they just keep on truckin. I only have about a dozen vechiles a day pass me going south but 3 or 4 hundred RVs alone pass me going north. Most bike riders ride this trip going from the South to the North as they follow the spring weather tide and the prevailing winds are behind them. Their only gripe is all the traffic. This is why I chose to ride in the other direction, I planned my ride time to cope with headwinds but so far, other than going over to Haines, I have had only 1 day of really bad winds. Had to stop today to let a big Moose get off the road, glad he didn't chase me! Still haven't seen a bear. Got the tailwind back and only rolling hills again so I did my 80 miles and made up the 37 I was short yesterday. I did cheat a little, I got to a construction area that was 40 miles long and was about 3 inches deep in gravel. I tried to ride through it but the gravel was so deep I almost fell a couple of times in the first 100 meters and the dust from the oncoming traffic was choking me so I turned back. I was setting on the bridge railing wondering how I could get through this, a ride seemed out of the question as I hadn't seen anything except a couple of tanker trucks going south all day. I sat there for 10 minutes when I saw this car coming that I had seen going north about 3 hours before. How could you forget a dark blue 1956 Ford Ranch Wagon? I waved him down and he said he lived Whitehorse and could give me a ride that far but I told him I only wanted to get through the construction area. We tossed the bike into the back with his dog and in about an hour we were back onto good road again and I really gave him a big thanks as I was safely back on my way again. |