Bike to Alaska

 Chapter 22: Goodbye to the Dempster, Back to Dawson  August 6, 1980 - Wednesday: 60 miles (6294)  Adding extra spokes to the rear wheel didn't solve the problem of broken spokes, but it did mean that the wheel wouldn't always immediately warp when a spoke broke. Over the last few days several spokes have broken and I've been able to keep riding, but finally today when the 5th one broke, the wheel started to warp. I stopped at one of the best views on the whole Eagle Plain - the crest of the hill just before the road drops to the Ogilvie River. I climbed to the top of a mound there, and sat in the sun and wind, fixing the spokes. It was so beautiful up there that I hated to come down - I was sad to leave Eagle Plain behind. It's too faint to see in this photo, but the road zig-zags across the image, following the high ground all the way to the horizon. At one point I saw a dust cloud in the distance, and it was fully 30 minutes later that the truck making the cloud pass...

 Chapter 21: Bittersweet August 1, 1980,  Friday: Zero miles (5950) Rest day in Inuvik The weather was even colder than yesterday, with a damp chill to it. I put the tire Missoula Gary gave me on the rear wheel, and found a cheap tire in town to use as another spare. I feel home free now, always supposing these cheap tires will take the abuse to Dempster deals. I also repaired my riding shorts using Chris's sewing machine. This evening I bought food for the return trip. The forecast for the weekend is still lousy - cloudy, some rain, cold... so I'm not sure what I'll do, but I'm feeling itchy to go, so I want to be ready just in case. Buying food was a real eye-opener. Prices here are absolutely unbelievable. A few of my favorites were grapes $2.79 a pound, and OJ $2.99 a quart! Milk was cheap by comparison at only $1.70 a quart. I spent $25.  August 2, 1980, Saturday: 80 miles (6030)  It was cloudy as ever this morning, but it wasn't cold and it wasn't raining,...

 Chapter 20: Some Challenges The gully where the built-up road served as a wind-break while I tried to wait out the storm. This photo was taken after I had packed up to leave. When I arrived, the raging torrent you see hurtling out of the culvert was a little stream I could hop across, barely big enough to wash the mud off my legs. July 26 1980, Saturday: zero miles  I felt a sore throat coming on this morning, and all it took was one little peek at the ominous, dark clouds for me to decide I wasn't going anywhere. I figure I can't afford to get sick out here, so I took a multi-vitamin and went back to bed. I sure didn't regret that decision. It poured off and on all day and at one point pelted down hail, up to marble size! I was glad to be in my tent then! I spent the day sleeping, writing, and eating.  I'm frustrated with my writing. It takes me so long to write a simple letter or journal entry that I only got four letters written in 12 hours of struggling thought. I ...

 Chapter 19: The Dempster Highway  July 21, Monday: 58 miles (5536)  Dawson City to ~ km 42 of Dempster Hwy I'm on the Dempster! I slept later than I had planned to, packed, and went into town. I went to the post office, and then got a huge load of groceries. I didn't get out of Dawson till 3:30. The last thing I did was go to the Sears store to weigh my bike. I almost fell over... it weighed 127 pounds !* * The Dempster in 1980 traversed a true wilderness; the road was only completed in 1979, so aside from a few primitive campsites with pit toilets, the only signs of civilization on its entire 456 mile length at that time were Eagle Plains at mile 230, and  Fort McPherson at mile 340.  Eagle Plains consisted of a gas station, a few motel rooms, and a little cafe. Fort McPherson was big enough (pop. ~750) that I assumed it would have a grocery store. Figuring 50 miles a day and allowing for weather or other delays, I packed what I hoped would be 9 days worth of ...

 Chapter 18: The Klondike Highway July 14 to July 20, Carmacks to Dawson City, Yukon.   July 14, Monday 50? miles (5281 + ~20 missed)    Carmacks to Minto campground  I had my first serious confrontation with mud! It rained more last night and this morning, and several times during the day, turning sections of the road to slippery, sloppy, sticky, messy mud which clung to all parts of the bike, clogging the chain and gears to the point where the chain skipped so much I almost couldn't make the hill I was on. Of course the odometer stopped working; the reason for the uncertain mileage. It rained lightly several times and then poured this evening just before I got to the Minto Campground. The pouring rain was Unicorn Luck - if it hadn't rained so hard I would have just gone on to the Pelly Campground without noticing the front tire, two inches of which had torn away from the bead, saved from a blowout only by the cloth I had wrapped around the tube. That could not...