Jun
29
2009
by Mr Cubes
Moon Lake to Tok (18.4 miles)
Total Miles: 752.1
Today's planned journey was the short ride to Tok, but even that would be difficult with a puncture which is what I was greeted with when I woke up. Always suspicious of punctures that appear overnight I started to look around for the squirrel from the previous night as my initial suspect. I changed the inner tube which seemed to be losing air from a scuffed up area; checked the tyre for glass or anything else that might have caused it but it looked fine - just a little worn around the sides.
Back on the road and the journey to Tok takes less than 90 minutes on good roads with magnificent scenery the whole way. This meant I could have an extended rest for the remainder of the day and as Tok looked like quite a busy little town I decided to spend another day resting there too. I checked into the Golden Bear campground and set up the tent and then set to work on cleaning up the bike. That is when I noticed that the back tyre isn't just scuffed around the side wall, it was shredded! The new inner tube was poking through some quite large openings and explains why the other one suffered so much. Time for the spare! It at least means I now had a weight and space saving - even at the cost of having no spare tyre. The Dalton really is a tough road and I'm grateful I decided to bring the spare after all.
The next two days are spent walking around Tok which is very much a tourist town - they know that everyone travelling between Alaska and Canada passes through it so there are a lot of campgrounds, motels and souvenir shops. A couple of bars too, so I spent some time in those getting to know the locals, the highlight of which was Tony; a big bearded bear of a man with a cracking personality and a story for every occasion. Did keep thinking I was Australian though. He knows California really well so we agreed to meet later with my maps for him to show me all the 'must see' locations. After this I was invited to dinner with him and Jackie, his wife, at 'Fast Eddy's' - the best restaurant in town! They told me I wasn't to look at the price, I could have anything I liked. Well after a week of noodles that was a Godsend so I went for their surf and turf which came with a visit to the salad bar and a mountain of fries. Naturally. They also ordered a plate of breaded mushrooms which would have fed a small army and various other side dishes. Tony kept wandering off to talk to other diners - even if he didn't know them. A very likeable guy.
Whilst we are talking they suggest that instead of staying on the Alaska Highway to Whitehorse, I take a detour through Chicken and Dawson City on the Top of the World Highway - assuring me that although it would be tough...it would be well worth it. I'd already heard about Chicken being a great place so this seemed like a worthwhile diversion. We got carry out boxes for all the food that wasn't eaten - which was still a lot and they gave me a lift back to the campsite. I'm still uneasy about accepting such kindness from complete strangers, but I reckon I could get used to it.
It had been a great couple of days meeting some really nice people, relaxing the body and mind and setting myself a new route. Time to see why they call it the Top of the World Highway...
Jun
28
2009
by Mr Cubes
Delta Junction to Moon Lake (94.0 miles)
Total Miles: 733.7
In an effort to improve my eating habits, I decided to draw up a new eating schedule. Start the day with a big breakfast and then stop every hour to eat. And on a day like today, it was lucky I did...
Leaving Delta Junction you immediately come onto the Alaska Highway and are 
greeted by a monument signifying the end of the road. 1,422 miles of it. As far as the eye could see it was dead flat and dead straight too, so most of the day's cycling was fairly boring but low impact and easy going. Even so, by the time I got to Dot Lake - my planned stopover after 60 miles - I was fairly tired and ready for a rest. Unfortunately the town had closed. A few locked up buildings and a school with a massively overgrown play area gave plenty of opportunities for stealth camping, but no availability of water - nor the large cheeseburger I was craving.
While standing at the sign of the road weighing up my options and studying the map, I was overtaken by a hitchhiker which made me think there must be life there after all. Still it was only thirty miles to the next official State campground so I decided to just carry on. Luckily the road remained flat despite the impressive Alaska Range threatening in the distance. And I got to the site with no problems. This site was called Moon Lake and was worth the extra effort, a very beautiful place 
though it cost $15 to pitch a tent. These campsites have no facilities at all, just a pump and outhouses, so it was fairly expensive but as the host was there I had to pay up.
While cooking up my gourmet evening meal of seafood satay (tuna, peanut butter and rice), an inquisitive squirrel started to edge ever closer to check out what the gorgeous smell was. Despite my shooing and general protestations he eventually got onto the picnic table and right into my pots. And I bet he didn't pay the $15...
So another day over ninety miles and now Tok - which everyone said was a fun place - was less than twenty miles away. A chance for a much needed day off was just around the corner.
Jun
27
2009
by Mr Cubes
Harding Lake - Delta Junction (59.5 miles)
Total Miles: 639.6
Being British gives me a birthright to complain about the weather at all possible times. Be it too hot, too cold, too wet, too dry - I feel it is important to express how difficult it's making my life. For the most part of today though, it was perfect cycling weather. Cool, grey and a slight trailing wind, it was difficult to have a good moan. Still, there was plenty to make up for that later in the day...
Along the way I spot my first moose - she's grazing by the roadside like some sort of hunchbacked horse until I see it's face. Very odd looking animal. Lunch is spent eating noodles at Birch Lake - a bit chilly if you ask me. Here I meet Kenny - a road cyclist from Fairbanks - who was on his way back from Delta Junction as part of his weekend training ride. That's a 200 mile round trip and he was preparing for a 400 mile ride later in the year in which he hoped to break the 24 hour barrier. Made my efforts look fairly lame, though he does have an ultra light bike and a support team keeping him fed and watered. That would be nice, I must admit. He assures me the road to Delta is mostly flat and I'm back on my way.
About 10 miles from Delta I start to feel spots of rain, that turn to a light shower and slowly develop into a major storm. I find the State Campground, set up the tent and go off to look for some food and Saturday night entertainment. Maybe it's because of the heavy rain, but I could find only one place to eat; which was very ordinary with only three teenagers in charge of the whole business. Nothing else in the town seemed to even be open - though I cycled the whole thing twice. Other people have since assured me that Delta is an okay place, but I must have missed that somehow. I'd be happy to leave and hoped that Tok - the next community shown on the map - has more to offer.
Jun
26
2009
by Mr Cubes
Fairbanks to Harding Lake (51.5 miles)
Total Miles: 580.1
After a rest day in Fairbanks, in which I got nothing accomplished but spent too much money, the knee felt better and it was time to get back on the saddle. I had been told that the next couple of hundred miles would be flat and I'd already started to find Fairbanks rather depressing. Being back on tarmac, with a rested knee and no hills made the bike feel a hundred times lighter...suddenly I was zooming along at a blistering pace!
My first port of call was North Pole, a small community 10 miles east of Fairbanks that was created when a planned giant toy factory never materialised. Now it is the redirect point for all mail addressed to Santa and I'm told he deals with each one 
personally. All the roads have Christmas sounding names, with the main street being Santa Claus Lane, which has a McDonald's as the first thing you see - probably where the elves all hang out after a hard day at the office. I cycled around for awhile, but couldn't see Santa's house which is meant to be here - there are reindeer and you can get your picture taken with the real Santa and pass on any special Christmas messages. I decided to give up and carry on, which is of course when I then spotted the house on the other side of town. Now I was on the highway though and no way to double back, so...sorry kids...this year isn't looking too great for you all...
Soon after this was the Eielson Air Force Base with an impressive display of US fighter planes and other aircraft, but plenty of signs forbidding the use of video, cameras or even just stopping made me decide to just keep on pedalling past it. The rest of the day was beautifully flat and 50 miles passed without me really noticing it. After I got to the campsite and set up the tent, I returned to a restaurant I had passed just before. The teenage waitress was obsessed with my accent until she was told by her dad, the owner, that she couldn't marry me as I was too old! Charming! It was nice to not have to cook for myself after a day's cycling and I even treated myself to some chocolate cake dessert. It had been a completely different day from anything in the previous week - I think I will enjoy this after all...
Jun
22
2009
by Mr Cubes
Five Mile to Hess Creek (37.1 miles)
Total Miles: 418.1
I've found that a steep hill at the wrong time can ruin the entire day. First thing in the morning is always going to be the wrong time. The first couple of miles from the campsite down to the Yukon were okay, with impressive views of the river, though it did look as if the huge bridge over it was going uphill...but surely that was an optical illusion. Bridges are flat, right?
At the Yukon River site there is an information kiosk with a young couple who I think were fairly new to the job, didn't seem to know a great deal about the road - though he gave me a lot of interesting information about the building of the pipeline itself. I'll save that for another article. I asked if he knew of a place called Joy - the souvenir shop I had been offered free camping at - but no, he wasn't aware such a place existed. I stayed to show some interest and took a photo of the pipeline itself, it is impressive close up, even after being a constant companion for six days. Then it was onto the bridge. And it is uphill...and then the road just keeps on going uphill. For eight steep miles. So that was my day ruined! It was a rare hot day too and water and food were now in short supply. I suddenly realised that without knowing how far Joy was, it would be stupid to just struggle on all day. Instead I'll just go as far as I can, and when I'm done...I'll stop.
After another steep five mile hill I was done. I enjoyed the long winding downhill and then when I got to the bottom - at Hess Creek - I decided it would be a good chance to get water sorted, refuel, have a good night's sleep away from all the industrial machinery at Five Mile and get truly into nature. Nature in this case, meant mosquitoes. Billions of them. And that's when the absence of an outhouse is really noticeable. Didn't think of applying DEET before dropping my trousers - must have lost almost a pint of blood, right from where I have to sit all day long too! Still, it was a beautiful place to pitch my tent and such a difference from the 'campground' of the previous night. This was much more how I had expected every night to be. I was in bed by 8pm and with only 30 or so miles left of the Dalton Highway I was well ahead of schedule. Hopefully tomorrow will be downhill...
Jun
21
2009
by Mr Cubes
Arctic Circle to Five Mile (57.5 miles)
Total Miles: 381.0
A miserable day. Awoken by the sound of mosquitoes, followed by almost 60 miles of hills in the pouring rain. After packing up the tent and realising I didn't have enough water for breakfast, I ate a couple of candy bars instead as I made it down to the Arctic Circle sign again for another photo. This time with the bike. At this point it was still clear and threatening to be a nice day. No chance.
The hills continued where they left off the day before. The rain, however, got much worse. I was now in full wet weather gear and still getting soaked. Made me really glad to have gotten through the muddy parts already though. Going up one of these hills on the way to Finger Mountain, a tour bus pulled over with another supply of bemused looking passengers and the driver asked how I was doing. Well in my Best of British way I said that I was fine. Not particularly close to the truth, but stiff upper lip and all that. Something about my grimace must have given me away as the driver, Mike, decided to get out into the rain, shoot round the back and fill up my water carrier from his supply. He also gave me hundreds of mini Hershey chocolate bars and his own 'home-made' trail mix, which was raisins, salted peanuts and m&m's! Top work Mike, you got me through today! Mike also told me that he had seen Anna and Andrew - who had now split up (after only 4 days!) - the day before on the other side of Atigun Pass. This meant they still had the long mud sections ahead of them, so hope they don't give up. It's going to be tough! Also made me wonder how Tom and the gang were getting on up in the mountains. Wouldn't be too much fun hiking in this weather.
For the last ten miles I was again desperately short of energy and water, but motivated by the promise of there being a cafe at Five Mile campsite, I soldiered on. The campsite itself was like an Industrial Estate, a large muddy patch full of heavy machinery and lorries. The burger from the cafe was just about the best thing on earth though. I was starting to need a rest day quite badly, but this wasn't the place to have it. Even out here there are families of travellers who set up long term residence on campgrounds...and make plenty of noise all night long. Cheers for that! No more photos, I wasn't in the mood.
Jun
20
2009
by Mr Cubes
Marion Creek – Arctic Circle (66.3 miles)
Total Miles 323.5
Waking up in a tent and listening to the rain outside has always been one of my favourite things. Leaving a tent to cycle in the rain on mud roads with a bike weighing about 50kg now ranks as one of my least favourite things. I spent two hours cleaning all the mud off the bike as it was really slowing me down. Fairly pointless as within a few yards of being back on the road it was totally caked up again. Coldfoot was only five miles from the campsite so it was a case of getting there, having masses of food at the 'All you can eat buffet' I noticed when we stopped on the way north and deciding what to do next.
Took me about an hour to complete those five miles. The rain had stopped, but it was too late for the 'road' which now resembled a chocolate milkshake. Not a great surface for cycling. Nor for pushing a heavy bike, which is what I was doing. What's worse is that when I got to Coldfoot, there was no sign of a buffet. Instead I was told to take a table (the place was completely empty) and the waitress would bring me a menu. Well frankly it was just nice to have someone else cooking for me. I order a patty melt, which I had never heard of before - basically a burger with onions and Swiss cheese on rye bread. Came with a mountain of fries which was a real bonus. Was starting to feel a bit 'normal' when I was brought back to earth by another customer, Roy, who had come in and asked if I was okay...as I looked shell shocked. Four days of hard work without a shower will do that to you Roy! I asked about camping at the site and was told it was free to camp there, but if I wanted a shower - and this was said in a way that suggested it would be the best investment I could ever make - it would cost $10. I thought about it for a little while and decided in the long run it would be better to go on to the next campground, at Arctic Circle, just over 60 miles away. Roy assured me that straight out of Coldfoot the road was pavement (not to be confused with English pavement - basically it wasn't mud!).
And he was right - felt so good to be back on a proper cycling surface. The sun even came out too! Roy passed me about an hour later and took my photo as I cycled past, an action shot! The cycling for the next 30 miles were really easy, mostly flat, in good conditions and on decent road. Happy days! But then the hills started. And the rain started. And the pavement ended. There was no longer any flat parts, in fact there wouldn't be for a few hundred miles, it was all up or downhill. Some of that I liked, some of it I didn't. At one point, Joe the driver passed me again and gave a big wave. Had another load of excited tourists in the back. Sitting in the minibus already seemed like a long time ago.
After this the day was quiet, just me against the hills. I amused myself with the signs posted out here in the middle of nowhere. One of them, for 'Bowhunting Only' struck me as being rather strict and there was a view point called Gobblers Knob which made me glad to realise it isn't just in England where we name places in the most ridiculous manner possible. The last ten miles of the day were very tough going - I was fairly sapped of energy, low on water and getting annoyed with the constant hills.
When I finally got to 66'33 latitude it was another mile or two east and uphill to the campsite. Again, no grass on offer. But thousands of mosquitoes. I made up dinner, crawled into the tent and realised that at midnight it would be the start of the longest day. And I would be on the point on the planet where the sun won't set. Which is a fat lot of good when the fog has returned and you can't tell if it's morning, noon or night anyway. I decided not to stay up for it and soundly fell asleep.