Posts From USA

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I spent a little time in the downtown area of Dawson City this morning, noting the touristification that has taken place since we were last here. Main Street is now looking pretty cute and up market but the "behind" streets are still pretty basic and unpaved.

I thought today would be an easy 200 mile ride into Fairbanks. It started out warm though a bit windy and initially I spent time stopping to get some photos of The Alaskan Range. But as the day progressed the wind picked up and by late morning a howling wind (mostly a cross wind that demanded careful attention while riding), lots of dust turned the ride into a survival event.

I got talking to one of the owners of the B and B that I am staying at yesterday and discovered that, he is a keen motorcyclist, has bicycled and mountaineered in South America, owns a Unimog and was able to give the name of a local guy that does motorcycle maintenance and provides parts and service. The web site for this local guy is http://www.advcycleworks.com/. Today he (Dan the owner of AdvCycleWorks) fitted two new tires and gave my bike an oil change. I should note that Fairbanks has a BMW Motorrad dealer but they are closed on Mondays.

To get started on the Dalton Highway one has to drive (or in my case ride) about 80 miles along the Elliot Highway north from Fairbanks. The Elliot is reasonable quality paved country road so that 80 miles is no big deal, just a bit tedious, because one is keen to "get started" on the great adventure to Deadhorse.

I felt very lucky this morning when I looked out on a bright sunny day. Maybe, I thought, I would have good weather all the way to Deadhorse. Yeh, right. But I was not to know the truth for a while. North from Coldfoot the road is paved for about 35 miles and one starts to get views of the Brooks Range even before the pavement ends. So note to future travelers. Go North of Coldfoot a bit as the road is paved for a while and the views are good (provided the weather is OK).

Last night at dinner I met a German guy who had flown in to Deadhorse with a bicycle in an airline box ready to start a bicycle expedition to Panama. I say ready but that is a qualified term as he did not have any food and planned on buying supplies in Deadhorse. The hotel staff did not quite laugh at him but close. I waved him on his way this morning as he was up and ready to start riding much earlier than I was ready to depart. Before getting underway I needed to get fuel and I wanted to have a look around the town. This is another one of those take a note of where you are and what you are seeing as you will probably never be back here again. I noticed a number of motorcycles around the town and took a few photos as reminders, as well as bought some "stickers" for the bike at the General Store. Then it was hit the road time.

There is not much to say about today. The weather was good, the roads mostly dry and riding easy. The only record of the trials of the struggle to Deadhorse was the mud covering my motorcycle. For the first few hours this morning there were noticeably large numbers of rabbits and prairie dogs on, and beside, the road. I don't know why. But that's why the rabbit photo.

Raining this morning as I set out to retrace my earlier steps to Tok. As a result of the weather I did not take much notice of the scenery nor take any photographs. When the weather improved later in the day and I came to the new Tanana River Bridge (just before Tetlin Junction) I decided to stop and take a few photos as an acknowledgement that todays route has pretty much followed the Tanana all day.

The first town on my route out of Castlegar this morning was Trail, BC. It was clearly an old mining town built in and on the sides of a steep valley with small or narrow houses. Fortunately for the town some mining and or metallurgical facilities still operates; though also clearly tourism is now a substantial income source for the area. I was intrigued by the sign at the exit to the town I did not know Italian was one of the Canadian languages.

Well not quite. I did spare the horses as I am a law abiding motorcycle rider. I was pleased but surprised to see a hot air balloon in the air this morning as I was getting ready to depart. In an effort to avoid I5 and Seattle traffic my route for the day was to follow WA 20 all the way to its end point at the Port Townsend ferry terminal at Fort Casey on Whidbey Island. This strategy worked pretty well as the route through the Cascade Mountains was picturesque, with a good entertaining road, little traffic and pleasant temperature. It was not until Sedro-Woolley that I finally got caught up in the traffic appropriate for a hot summers day in the Pacific Northwest.