Here is what I look at all day. The distances are vast up here. Every 50 miles there is another scene like these.
Monday, August 1, 2011
Quick side story
We met a lady at the general store and got to talking. She works here and is a pipeline inspector. She works 3 weeks in a row, 16 hours a day, then has 3 weeks off. Her company is a subcontractor and is based in Tucson, AZ. As part of their engineering equipment, they have high power ground scanning radar. We got to talking and she told us an interesting story. Their business neighbor wanted to tear up their concrete floor to put in some plumbing for an expansion. They asked if she could use the equipment to check for any pipes/electrical before the started to bust up the concrete. When they did the courtesy scan for their business neighbor, they found a dead body in the concrete. It turned out the dead person was tied into the Mexican mafia.
We made it!
This is the occasion I have been waiting to post. We finally made it to Deadhorse/Prudhoe Bay. This has been one of the most difficult journeys I have had to make. The road conditions are bad at best. Our biggest challenge has been the rain. The rain makes the dirt road muddy and it's very slick. Now some parts of the road are Tarmac which is a welcome relief, but a lot of it is compacted dirt or gravel. It's not terrible if you are on four wheels but quite the challenge for us two wheeling nuts. For all those that called me crazy for trying this-you were right. They have taken two motorcyclists off the road in a helcopter, and a truck has flipped and the driver was killed. That was this week. I hope you enjoyed the pictures but they just don't do it justice. The scary part is that the road has no shoulders or guard rails.
Riding a bike in the dirt and mud has been quite the technical challenge. A lot of motorcyclists have had the benefit of riding a dirt bike before the street bikes. I am the opposite. For the street I like having maximum traction and sticking to a line. In the dirt it's all about the drift. Your front tire jumps around, your back tire slides around. I have learned you have to have faith. Some of you who ride and are reading this have had those "pucker" moments when you lose traction. The Dalton Highway is 500 miles of pucker moments.
I was thrown into the deep end as we started our trip yesterday around 5:30 pm. Our objective was Coldfoot. It's the last gas up facility before making the jump of 250 miles with no services to Deadhorse/Prudhoe Bay. We started on Tarmac and crested a small hill, and it turned into the slickest mud you have ever seen. I was going Only 15 to 20 miles an hour. This speed turns a 2 hour trip into a 8 hour trip. Willie was a great help to me, giving me pointers. I was finally able to let go my fears and trust the bike, it's tires, and a new feeling of how riding should be. It still took us more time and we missed our intermediate goal of Coldfoot. We did make a small out post and camped. It was still raining early this morning. We now had to make up the miles we missed last night. It was 360 miles to Deadhorse. It took us 11 hours. Not bad since we took a long lunch break and many stops for pictures.
Well this is the end of our 9th day on the road and my odometer is just shy of 5000 miles. I've learned to give up control and to have more faith. I've also learned that prayer works as I have never prayed so much as on this road.
Of course when you think about it, the goal has been met but the journeys not over, I still have to make it back down the road tomorrow...but tomorrow I will have the benefit of my new found knowledge and experience.
Riding a bike in the dirt and mud has been quite the technical challenge. A lot of motorcyclists have had the benefit of riding a dirt bike before the street bikes. I am the opposite. For the street I like having maximum traction and sticking to a line. In the dirt it's all about the drift. Your front tire jumps around, your back tire slides around. I have learned you have to have faith. Some of you who ride and are reading this have had those "pucker" moments when you lose traction. The Dalton Highway is 500 miles of pucker moments.
I was thrown into the deep end as we started our trip yesterday around 5:30 pm. Our objective was Coldfoot. It's the last gas up facility before making the jump of 250 miles with no services to Deadhorse/Prudhoe Bay. We started on Tarmac and crested a small hill, and it turned into the slickest mud you have ever seen. I was going Only 15 to 20 miles an hour. This speed turns a 2 hour trip into a 8 hour trip. Willie was a great help to me, giving me pointers. I was finally able to let go my fears and trust the bike, it's tires, and a new feeling of how riding should be. It still took us more time and we missed our intermediate goal of Coldfoot. We did make a small out post and camped. It was still raining early this morning. We now had to make up the miles we missed last night. It was 360 miles to Deadhorse. It took us 11 hours. Not bad since we took a long lunch break and many stops for pictures.
Well this is the end of our 9th day on the road and my odometer is just shy of 5000 miles. I've learned to give up control and to have more faith. I've also learned that prayer works as I have never prayed so much as on this road.
Of course when you think about it, the goal has been met but the journeys not over, I still have to make it back down the road tomorrow...but tomorrow I will have the benefit of my new found knowledge and experience.
Arctic Circle
Made it here this morning about 11:00 am. Our goal is 300 miles north of the Arctic Circle. That's the distance from Richmond to NYC!
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