Jul
01
2009
by Mr Cubes
Tok to West Fork Campground (62.3 miles)
Total Miles: 814.5
Today's plan of action was a 78 mile ride to Chicken, a small community just inside the border. I'd been told the road there was hilly, mostly of the up variety. Still I felt that with a good breakfast inside me it shouldn't be a problem - so I set off to Fast Eddy's again, which also promised free wi-fi. On the way I stopped at the visitor centre for information on Chicken and met two German cyclists, who were cycling from Anchorage to Whitehorse and were also planning on the Chicken detour. I left them to it and got my breakfast - by far the best yet and reasonably cheap too. Highly recommended, though I couldn't get the internet to work.
The 12 mile stretch to Tetlin Junction - where the road veers north to Chicken - was glorious. Flat and fast 
with the beautiful Alaska Range visible behind me. At one point I had to stop for roadworks which included a pilot car to escort everyone across - seemed strange at first but it would happen a lot as time went by. At the junction I turned north and immediately the road was on an incline.
The climbing continued for six miles and after that it was the same sort of ups and downs I faced on the Dalton Highway - a mile of steep uphill, followed by a short downhill and then a longer climb again. Either side of the road were dead trees from a forest fire sometime in the past...it looks like destruction but they tell me the fires are essential for the ecology of the area. The road was quite busy and it was also pretty hot. Not a very enjoyable day really. After 47 miles I got to Mount Fairplay Wayside - a rest area with lots of information about the road and the valley we were overlooking. It mentioned there was a campground about 15 miles further up the road which suddenly seemed much more appealing than the 31 miles I had been counting down to Chicken. As often seems to be the way with luck - when it comes, it comes in twos or threes - the road now became a long downhill which was hugely appreciated. The campground was not too busy and I got a spot overlooking a beautiful lake.
As I was slowly setting up camp, the campground host, Denny, came over and started chatting away about all the other cyclists he had seen pass through here. Nice guy who lent me a hammer and took my payment from me (normally you have to go to the self registration booth). I was as social as I could be, but being absolutely shatttered I just wanted to eat and sleep. I tried unsuccessfully to get a campfire going and instead focused on cooking up more noodles with peanut butter and bacon bits. Maybe I'm still in the honeymoon period but I LOVE it! A couple of young girls came over who had set up camp next to me asking how you pay and then went off on their way. And got a fire going. Must have been in the Girl Guides or something.
It had been a very long day and a very tiring one. At least Chicken was just a few miles further up the road now and that was all I had planned for tomorrow.