Alaska-Bike-Run-2007

Alaska Bike Run 2007

New Mexico to Deadhorse/Prudhoe Bay, AK and return
10,000 miles, 26 days, 500cc

(NOTE: For those who have checked into http://www.AlaskaBikeRun.com this is a somewhat word enhanced and greatly picture enhanced version of my comments there.)

This Grand Alaska Adventure evolved from an Iron Butt Association "48 Plus" (48 states, plus Alaska, IN TEN DAYS!) by another rider. I tested bike and self with an Iron Butt Assn. SaddleSore 1000 on my then Honda Rebel 250, "Baby Wing," shown at the geographic center of the lower 48 states, a bit north of Lebanon, KS, on my return.

I over-accessoried my beloved Baby and crashed. Friday the Thirteenth fell on Sunday in March of 2005! Baby's fairing and saddlebags needed repairs, Baby herself was undamage, and I broke a foot! A fellow Yahoo Rebel Rider informed me of Dr. Mike Tuccelli's Charity Ride for deaf babies, and I thought, "WOW! I can combine this with my dream 60-60-100 (60 states and provinces, 60 capitols, 100 National Parks, in a summer) and do recreation, education and helping others all at once! I arranged to join this, then decided that maybe nineteen 500 mile days in a row, two weeks after the orthopedist released me from care was not too bright! I then revised my commitment for this annual ride ( www.AlaskaBikeRun.com ) to 2006.

OH, JOY! June 19, 2006 was "North to Alaska!" and the Fifth Annual Alaska Bike Run. NOT! Just 292 miles out, I found I had overdone it again when the locally infamous turbulent winds east of Sweetwater, TX grabbed Baby's too-much-cross-section-for-too-small-a-bike lowers and slammed Baby and I onto I-20E at 70 per! I woke up 24 hours later in the San Angelo hospital! My digital camera in my shirt pocket made quite an impression on five ribs and a collarbone! (The camera never faltered -- it took 13 weeks to put me back together!) . I landed on my cell phone, and it, too, never failed! Two tries for Alaska, two crashes! UGLY! Lessons learned:

1) Do not overload your bike!
2) WEAR YOUR HELMET! My 24 hour memory blank clearly shows a concussion, but I did not even have a headache!
3) WEAR A GOOD JACKET! My mesh jacket had one tear through just one layer between the shoulderblades, and a scrape where the cell phone concentrated my landing. Not a mark on me!
4) WEAR TOUGH GLOVES! Just one minor ding on my left hand, gloves essentially unmarked.
5) WEAR RIDING PANTS! Hey, this is ordinary paving! Mine were in my saddlbags awaiting rough conditons -- DUH! SO . . . two scraped knees and two scraped ankles, through brand new blue jeans.
6) WEAR TOUGH SHOES! No damage to me through my steel toed work shoes.

ATG-ATT! (All The Gear, All The Time!)

Truly blessed by such light injuries for such a violent spill, I was further blessed by an almost discomfort free recovery -- not one painful breath from those broken ribs! Much to my family's dismay, two crashes for two tries did not cure my 44 year motorcycle addiction, their fondest dream, although I did try around early November. My incomparable wife convinced me that she felt the presence of a motorcycle was more important to my happiness than its absence was to hers, and I went to Family Plan B (Bigger - Baby Wing was about 90% maxed out most of the time). The least Bigger I could find was Red Wing, a Kawasaki Vulcan 500, and I committed to Alaska Bike Run 2007. I used Winter and Spring to customize Red Wing into a "Concours 500" light touring bike -- windshield; driving lights; two cup holders; map pockets; throttle lock cruise control; highway pegs; SMALLER lowers; double layer, but SMALLER saddlebags; sissy bar with a high level brake light.
OH, JOY AGAIN! Then "BANG!" again on Monday, July 2, 2007 when a "flicker doze" low side spill made three spills for three trips, just 50 miles from home! I am consistent and persistent! But two skinned knees (chalk up another pair of jeans! -- still not using ALL my gear!) and a dented fuel tank and scraped muffler did not deter "Third Time Is A Charm!" I intercepted Dave Stufflebeam (Rogers, AR, on a Honda Silver Wing 600) and www.AlaskaBikeRun.com organizer Dr. Mike Tuccelli (Professor of American Sign Language, University of Florida, Gainesville, on a Honda Gold Wing) in Lubbock, TX.

Dr. T's cheery "up and at'm" rousted us out at 5 a.m. -- 4 a.m. New Mexico as I had crossed the time line! I am a slow and late waker-upper, and was amazed at how the excitement of the trip made it SOMEWHAT easy for me to get rolling three to four hours before normal! I had a few sleepy times throughout the trip,

but far fewer than I had feared, and I even ended up shifting my usual get-up times to between 5 and 6 even after we split up twelve days out! Our "warm, sunny southwest" was cold and misty well into New Mexico enroute to White Sands National Monument.

White Sands is the largest gypsum dune on planet earth! It shows up white on satellite photos summer and winter. It is not hard to get far enough up a dune that cycles and even vans look rather insignificant!


Our nation's birthday found us in Tucson, AZ, enjoying thick stands of Saguaro Cactus.

Dave had never done long rides, and rested while Mike and I took in a barbeque at the Arizona School for the Deaf and Blind (ASDB). Students reveled sitting on our bikes.
I learned that blindness is a far greater handicap than deafness, but deafness is far more common. ASDB uses many techniques pioneered at Utah State University's Ski-Hi Institute, the beneficiary of this annual Charity Ride.

We separated briefly leaving Tucson. Mike proceeded west across the Mojave Desert to visit his Dad south of San Diego, while Dave and I crossed the Mojave further north at 110-122°, learning what our troops in Iraq know about summer in a desert! Cresting the rise east of Mojave itself, "I tawt I taw a scad of wind generators!" spread like grass on the far hills.
When we got closer, that subtle white band in this picture resolved itself into tower after tower after tower and I realized, "I did! I did taw a scad of wind generators!" THOUSANDS of them, spread across at least three large mountain ridges! This is actually a collection of many smaller groups -- the group of 136 wind turbines eight miles from my home was the 3rd or 4th largest single installation in the country when it was built about 4 years ago. Now it is not even close!
I drove through miles of these orchards between Mojave and a visit to a beloved aunt in King City. I had not seen her in at least ten years. I THINK they are almonds, but no guarantees!

Leaving Aunt Myrna's bright an early, I started "The Longest Day" of the entire trip, 681 miles to rejoin Dave and Mike in Grants Pass, OR. I met THOUSANDS of motorcycles headed for the first weekend of the annual Hollister meet, and then passed by lovely, symmetrical Mt. Shasta.
Our threesome reassembled, we proceeded into Canada at Abbotsford, British Columbia (BC).
Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia spoiled us with incredible vistas of evergreen forest. The valley of the white water Fraser River, locally proclaimed as "The world's greatest salmon river," is a fine motorcycle road with limitless green trim!
Fuel is f-a-a-r-r-r apart up here! Pay at the pump is extinct in this part of Canada, but trust is not! Pump without pre-pay. So refreshing! BUT THE DOWNSIDE is that if you arrive after business hours, there is no fuel! We adapted to kilometers per hour, liters, and $4-5.50 fuel!

All through Washington, Oregon, British Columbia, Yukon Territory, and Alaska, these lovely flowers trimmed roadsides, from a few plants as in front, to several acres. This is "main" Alaska.
Approaching Stewart, BC and Hyder, AK in rain and very limited visibility, I crested a hill to see "Fright Sight," Bear Glacier and the road diving off the edge of the world into Bear Lake! Two days later in decent light from a bit further back does not begin to transmit to feeling, as Misty Fiords National Monument very convincingly lived up to its name!
I had gotten separated when I stopped to take a picture, and no one dared stop to double back as we were near our fuel limits. I caught Mike and Dave at the first station in Stewart, BC.

Hyder is the south and east road and town limit of Alaska. Right at the border is the very first masonry building in Alaska.
Misty Fiords is across the estuary. Bumped up against Hyder is the Tongass Preserve, the largest temperate rain forest in North America, and the largest PRESERVED temperate rain forest on planet Earth. The road to Salmon Glacier was still not passable, so this is as far as we got. The estuary had several log holding areas, and the Misty Fiord trim we had all day!
Hyder is much like many coastal fishing type communities -- scattered frame buildings, unpaved roads. Probably the main restaurant and bar has the walls "papered" with more than $70,000 of bills from many countries, many signed by the donors.
All day in Stewart / Hyder, and the following morning, Misty Fiords did its thing!
Stewart and Hyder are at the end of a long, rocky valley. When you cannot dig a hole for power poles, build one from the ground up!Leaving Stewart / Hyder the Cassiar Highway / BC 37 treated me to a mother bear and two cubs, three single bears, a large cat too far off to identify, and three Bighorn sheep from about fifty feet! Interestingly, with gnats and bugs on you before you could even stop EVERYWHERE in BC, there were NONE at Lower Gnat Lake, one of the blue-est lakes I have ever seen!
The fuel station at the "Tee" of BC 37 and the Alaska Highway was closed -- after business hours -- so I had to go out of my way to Watson lake for fuel, food, and lodging. No pay at the pump, remember? And I was right -- Rancheria was indeed out of my range!

The next morning I found Mike's beloved and highly recommended Mukluk Annie's Salmon Bake in west Teslin -- too early for the salmon menu -- drat! I then endured about 150 miles pitchy road ("souvenirs" of winter frost heaves) in western Yukon Territory, where RedWing bottomed regularly, but gently. If you do not know what these are, count your blessings!

Checking in at Honda (and Harley Davidson) Honda Outpost, I found a motor(cycle)home. I had met it on the road a bit earlier, so it was neat to be able to see it up close. It has a double bed.
Horror stories on the "Haul Road" / John Dalton Highway / AK 11 persuaded me to "Ride with my head, not my heart," as superwife Pat requested, and I planned to give up my cherished goal of an "Ultimate Coast to Coast" and stop at the Arctic Circle, if I could get that far.

The pipeline Visitor Center lets us look it over up close. The fins on some of the posts dissipate heat so the permafrost is not disturbed. Part of it is elevated so wildlife can walk under it, and part of it is underground, so wildlife will not even know it is there.
Saturday, July 15, the road was not bad! Smooth gravel about as good as one could hope for the light rain, and I prayed, "Lord, if it is OK with you for me to go all the way, you will have to find me a fuel can!" since Coldfoot to Deadhorse was about 60 miles beyond my fuel range. Yukon

Bridge station (in the distance) was out of fuel, so I was stopped! We salvaged fuel from a deadlined truck, and as I checked out, "What to my wondering eyes did appear?" but a shoulder high stack of fuel cans inside the door behind the register! Thus fueled at last, Red Wing and I arrived at the Arctic Circle (66°33' North Latitude) about 8:30pm. There is no way to describe the light levels at late hours this far north!
With fuel to return to Yukon Bridge, which at last knowledge had no fuel, or proceed to Coldfoot, and an acceptable road, I proceeded north. The "Haul Road" is the access road used to build the Alaska Pipeline, and it can often be seen from the road.
This is one of the ten pumping stations along the pipeline. The pipe is 48" in diameter plus the insulation. The public cannot get very close to these stations.
You can see that the road is wet, but reasonably smooth and fairly solid.

In Coldfoot, Rangers at Gate to the Arctic Nat. Park gave me a decent weather report (more of the same). I then found fuel and a restaurant where two truckers gave me an acceptable road report (pretty much the same except for the "Slide Path" approach to Antigen Pass and some road construction (I had PLENTY of that in Yukon Territory -- training!). Since I was now halfway there, I decided to "Just Do It!" and "take my best shot" for Deadhorse / Prudhoe Bay and my Ultimate Coast to Coast!

The climbs got steeper and muddier and I kept deciding "I guess this isn't the Slide Path after all!" Finally, SIGNS! "Slide Path, 1.0." "Slide Path, 1.5" -- apparently short term mile markers of this looks-like-a-corduroy-road, about an inch of mud on a series of lengthwise 4-6" ridges.
RedWing NEVER slipped! Light held for picture taking. I only saw one large animal, a caribou
that I photographed, turned for a scenery picture, turned back, and it was gone! I was getting impatient for the 100 miles of chipseal mentioned in my MilePost book. NOT! Hit chipseal about 75 miles out, then about 50 miles out it became the road construction -- by far worse than any of my practices in YT! Then RedWing began overheating about every 2-5 miles, but I MADE IT WITHOUT A SPILL! At the Arctic Caribou Inn, "The truth will out!" The muddiest radiator I
have ever seen! Manager told me "We cannot put water on the ground" and there was no way to clean it! I felt amazingly good, but went to eat and just flat WILTED! I could hardly lift food to my face! I lost my composure, did not even think of alternatives, like maybe a truck company has inside washing capability, called Pat, punted the return, arranged for RedWing to be trucked and me to be flown back to Fairbanks. I was so rattled I did not take pictures until RedWing's truck departed. This is a composite picture of the above inserted into a picture of the Arctic Caribou Inn, as done by a former student who lives nearby and who is a computer whiz.
The computer has destroyed, "Pictures don't lie!" But RedWing really was there! I guess you could say that my Ultimate Coast to Coast was buried in mud with RedWing's radiator!

In Fairbanks, I retrieved RedWing, gave her a bath, and took in the Pioneer Park Salmon Bake.

NORTH POLE! When I consider how often I bang my compact helmet on my surroundings, I have no idea how the assorted members of the deer family can do ANYTHING with these 2 foot by 2 foot by 4 foot racks!

"Into every life, a little rain must fall!" I had rain for all or part of four days in a row! I got concerned about frostbite (wet feet and ankles, 42°, and 60 mph draft), and quit at lunchtime. Then I discovered what a wonderful thing plastic shopping bags electric taped in place are! Again in Watson Lake along the Alaska Highway, I paid more attention to its SignPost Forest.
South of Watson Lake the road was a wildlife bonanza! Buffalo herds, Bighorn, caribou all over! There were probably 100 plus buffalo here. Some of them wandered right through a house / garage / shop complex, so you can tell they are really upset by man! (Sarcasm intended).


Mungo ("Big") Lake is the largest lake in the northern Rockies and the largest lake on the Alaska Highway. It was the most expensive section. The lake "ate" over 300 pieces of road machinery.
This was quite a complex. There are at least a half dozen dams on at least 3 or 4 levels. If you look closely near the center, between the two lodges, the beaver is moving some branches.
Continuing through our nation and our world, I remain amazed at how BIG this part of it is! I never got very close to this, but I am guessing that the spars on the horizon are leftovers from a long-ago forest fire. Pine forest BY THE COUNTY!
This picture does not begin to do justice to the small but majestic Kitkatinaw River Gorge!
There are roughly 7500 hats attached to the ceiling of a restaurant in Toad River. It started as a joke. The name is a pun from when boats had to be towed across the river at this location.
The south end of the Alaska-Canada Highway is in Dawson Creek. This road was built in 8 months in the depths of World War II as a desperately needed access to Alaska.
Proceeding toward home I discovered this chainsaw carver in McBride, BC. It takes him about an hour and a half to make a bear of this size. This saw is no longer made, but it is many times better than newer ones, so he preserves it.
Arriving at Canada's WORLD park foursome (Jasper, Banff, Yoho, Kootenay), I choked at the $160 motel rate in Jasper! The weather looked OK, and I continued, thinking, "The next motel CANNOT be worse!" But the weather could! "Caution! High Mountain Road! Sudden Weather Changes!" are serious, and rain soaked my ride on "The Icefield Highway." I took pix between drops, and Praise The Lord! missed the hail that hit parts of the road. At "The Crossing" in Banff Nat. Park, a guard had mercy on me (the motel was full) and opened a company Chevy Van Hilton, where I slept in the reclined passenger seat. Ah, the joys of a roof that does not leak!

A gas pump sticker in Radium Hot Springs, BC informed me that in 2006, 48% of the fuel dollar was cost of crude, 35% was (Canadian) taxes, 15% was refining and handling, 3% was profit.

Returning to the U.S., I blitzed the Highway to the Sun through Glacier National Park. It was terrifying! I was on the outside lane all the way, gulping over the choice between 50-300 foot vertical drops, and 500-3000 foot broken rock slopes at the angle of repose! More than ever I now know what the Bible means when it says, "The people's hearts melted!" One Bighorn ram mugged for my camera from about twenty feet.

That night I discovered that electric tape which holds plastic bags in place and comes off so nicely after 12 hours is not nearly so cooperative after 36! Part of me came off with it!

Next stop was a mini-adventure finding the not very well marked Utah State's Ski-Hi Institute, where I was treated to "Aggie Ice Cream," very good, and equally good barbeque. After proving that the road to Salt Lake City was as nice as the staff said, I zapped SLC at 75mph on I-15S, and drove across some of the most desolate country I have ever seen to Moab.

One more mini-adventure: my familiar highway from Bloomfield to Albuquerque had been renumbered! Dorothy (Wizard of Oz) is still correct: "There's no place like home," evening of July 27. 9874 miles, 26 days, 11 states, 3 provinces, 2 countries, 7 parks, about 200 animals, and unlimited scenery!