Trans Americas 2009 - The Blog

Woke early at 5.30am with severe indigestion, the result of too much rich food late at night, but at least that meant I could update the blog with the long story of yesterday's excitement. With that done, and again no sign of Tracy online (though I did chat briefly to Danielle), it was time to load up the bike and head off out. Pulling out of the Super 8 at 8.15 and heading out of Fairbanks, we stopped at the Alaska Pipeline visiting point, where we saw the pipeline up close.





Leaving the pipeline temporarily (the Dalton Highway follows it all the way to Prudhoe), we past a goldmine (belonging to none other than John Binkley of yesterday's story), and then continued on the same type of road as yesterday, fast sweeping turns and good tarmac, surrounded by dense forest, with a strong smell of burnt wood. With the sun out and the air warm it made for extremely pleasant riding, punctuated by the occasional stop to take a photo, or just to enjoy the peace and quiet...





Then we arrived at the start of the Dalton Highway, the dirt road that leads all the way to Prudhoe, and about which we've heard so much (and all of it scary!). But before we started we had to stop for the photocall in front of the sign...





Even “Spunky” and “Heffy” had to have their photo taken...





Then it was time to stop delaying and get on with the riding. The Dalton was in great condition, hard packed mud with sections of very thin loose gravel and really easy to ride on, despite our fears. Stood up to improve visibility and allow the bike to move around underneath me, I started feeling really good. With confidence improving with every mile, my speed also picked up, from the initial 35-40mph to 50-60 mph. With the occasional truck coming the opposite direction kicking up clouds of thick dust the only real hazard.

We stopped for lunch near a bridge over the Yukon, and once we'd all eaten we rode back over the bridge so that Kevin could get a photo of the group riding across bridge, a photo opportunity that could so easily have turned into a disaster as the bikes were ridden 4 abreast across the bridge, some with less than an inch between panniers... Will have to try and get a copy of the photo later!

After the photo shoot we continued along the dirt road, and I hooked up with Nigel (leading) and Richard & Karen (following). We came across a water truck going slowly in the same direction as us, so Nigel overtook it, and then I lined up ready for my turn, just hanging back left of the rear whilst the truck approached a hump in the road. Just at that moment, the truck driver turned on the water sprinkler, dumping water all over the road under my wheels turning it into a slippery, muddy mess within seconds... Nice... Still, it's all good practice, and I soon got a clear overtaking opportunity and once again was riding on compacted hard mud.





Then the trees on either side thinned out and were replaced by fields of Alaskan Fireweed, bright pinky-purple as far as the eye can see... with memories of Lavender Fields and Tracy once again flooding my consciousness, causing me to smile widely...





Then I arrived at the Arctic Circle...





Surprisingly it wasn't cold, in fact it was very warm. And full of mosquitos, attracted by the heat from our engines and keen to bite any exposed flesh. Fortunately, both Danielle and I had brought our highly fashionable net hats...





Shortly after crossing into the Arctic Circle, we came across another famous placename...





And then it was the home stretch, mostly tarmac into Coldfoot Camp, where we're staying for the night before talking the harder section of the Dalton to Prudhoe Bay. This place is a bit spartan, existing solely to cater for oil workers and tourists heading up to Prudhoe, with basic rooms in a large wooden cabin, with plywood walls and a simple shower/toilet cubicle in each room. They do have beer, though, unlike Prudhoe, so I managed to squeeze one down despite having a dry throat and not really being in the mood for beer, but as it is America's most northern bar, selling bottle of America's most northern brewery's beer, it seemed the right thing to do...





With the beer downed, I checked into my room and showered, then got something to eat from the “all you can eat buffet”, before getting the tent from Jeff... yes, I'd decided to camp in the Arctic Circle... this isn't as crazy as it sounds, because the rooms are very basic, and it is still fairly warm... So with the tent erected, I read a bit of my book before falling asleep around 9.30, to be woken by rain pitter-patting on the tent about half an hour later, and remembering how much Tracy and I love lying in the tent listening to the rain, fell into a deep sleep. Even the noise of the trucks coming and going could not ruin my night's sleep...