I had "issues" with my bike. I won't go into details but I spent the evening with a guy called Dan who had a garage and a shed load of kit. He mends bikes and changes tires (tyres). It took him and his son two hours to get the bend and broken bolt out (see picture) before they could install a rack. Meanwhile 7 other bikers turned up (all from the US) looking to tyres before they head up to Prodhue bay.
Next day I headed up to the Circle. I was worried about the road but it turned out to be fine. It's 200 miles from Fairbanks to the cirlce whereI turned around. It was a little weird to turn around- face south- and think that I was now heading for Panama. The road continues 300 miles north from the cirlce to Prodhue Bay. Many bikers make the two day trip but the road is quite bad in places (described as riding on snot and marbles) and I've heard of people crashing and braking stuff. If I'd ridden up from Argentina or this was the end of my trip then I guess I'd have felt compelled to make it all the way up. But as I've only ridden this bike for three days and have just started I decided not to risk it. In a way I'll always regret not making the last stretch but at last I'm still alive and moving!
I've met SO MANY people I haven't had a moment to feel like I'm doing this trip "on my own". Whenever I stop there are other bikers around or just friendly curious people who ask where I'm going etc. Just thought I'd mention it. On yah - and it's SUNNY at last.
Hey sir, looks like your going well, I liked the moose, it was a nice moose. Hope the bike holds up! Looks to be made of stronger stuff. Glad to see your updates, I'm checking every few days because frankly, I'm a loner. Haha only joking (maybe) it's just cool seeing a teacher of all people doing an epic journey, anyway, good luck with the whole thing, hope to see you in January.
ReplyDeleteBest wishes, George