didnt even have to set the alarm clock this morning - the thunder and lightening woke us up around 530am.
made a cuppa insta sanka - crawled into my semi dry clothes, complete with new garbage bags for my feet. trudging out to the bike i wondered "who's brainy idea was this any way?"
it was sooooo hard to crawl on the bike that morning, looking on the horizon there was nothing but black black clouds. once again i was smacking myself for not having a windshield.
on the brightside, the roads were smooth and mostly straight.
I have always been a little worried about riding in the rain, my bike hydroplanes so bad, you have to take corners so slow - no leaning your bike into the corner.
this was going to be a long long day.
about 10 min into the trip i could feel cold rain water soaking my butt, /sigh - it is going to be even longer than i imagined.
we stopped at the first lodge we came across, there were about 6 other bikers there headed N. I stripped off my rain gear, they all laughed when they saw how wet i was. then they pulled out their rain gear and started putting in on before they headed out.
i went in and bought some large heavy duty garbage bags, dug some semi dry jeans out of my bag - poked 2 holes in the bottom of the garbage bag and slid my legs thru them.
as i was tucking the top of the garbage into my jeans, the waitress wandered by and said "nice butt" - imagine this huge bubble of air trapped in the garbage bag (front and back) "yeah but check out my package" i said as i turned around. everyone laughed. it was fun
cuppa coffee later - repack and we were off.
The garbages worked like a dream!!! I was dry, so cold....they said the temp was 7-9c - not sure what that is in F - but let me tell you at 70mph it is cold - damn where is my windshield.
we saw another grizzly with 2 cubs, i dont think i have ever seen so many bears in one trip.
we saw a young brown bear hanging out with a young black bear. clints first thought was "where are your mothers?"
there were so many buffalo i lost count. a few moose (they look so small compared to ours) but for the most part, they all just sat on the edge of the road and watched us go by.
we finally got to fort nelson around 3pm - found a work store and bought some rain gear. it isnt meant for motorcyles but at this point i didnt care. i just wanted to be dry. oh did i mention i finally bought some riding boots. All this time I have been in street boots with 3 inch heels!!
there are a few women who can say they rode their bikes down the alcan, they might even be a few that can say they did it without a windshield. but I would like to find the one that can add "and i did it in 3 inch heels"
the rain just never stopped that day. we tried to push on but about 60 clicks out of town, by body was broken, my feet so cold i couldnt shift my gears any more.
we stopped at the first lodge we found. so full of life, every one gathered around the fire, talking about their day, eating dinner.
when they lady told me they were full - i almost cried. then she said there is another lodge about 15 clicks down the road. nice place you will like it.
as i was drying my gloves by the fire there were some pictures of this young man, Jeremiah, on horse - all signed by him. He rode his horse from palmer, ak to mexico!!! it only took him 2 yrs to do it. he kept in touch with this lodge and sent them pictures and post cards along the way. one of the sayings on his picture was "if your gonna be dumb - you gotta be tough"
back out into the rain - the 15 clicks felt like 1500 clicks. but there at the bottom of hill sat a tiny little store, 3 cabins off to the side. as we pulled up a man came out to greet us. rain beating down on him - "sure we got a room - take them middle cabin the door is open"
sure enough it was open. we dumped our helmets and went to pay for the room. the store was so warm and cozy, lazy dog by the fire, too tired, or too cold to get up to greet us. the mans wife popped up out of her easy chair and came right over. "welcome" the man behind the counter "take some movies - there is some microwave popcorn over there" he said as he pointed to the wall of movies. "i will be right back - gonna turn the heat up in that cabin for you guys" he was out the door before we could stop him.
what a nice couple - they went out of their way to make us feel welcome, warm, entertained and dry. once again i dont remember my head hitting the pillow.
this was the longest day yet - on the road 16 hours. only made 500 clicks. trying not to be depressed about it - listening to the rain hit the roof - i slept.
made a cuppa insta sanka - crawled into my semi dry clothes, complete with new garbage bags for my feet. trudging out to the bike i wondered "who's brainy idea was this any way?"
it was sooooo hard to crawl on the bike that morning, looking on the horizon there was nothing but black black clouds. once again i was smacking myself for not having a windshield.
on the brightside, the roads were smooth and mostly straight.
I have always been a little worried about riding in the rain, my bike hydroplanes so bad, you have to take corners so slow - no leaning your bike into the corner.
this was going to be a long long day.
about 10 min into the trip i could feel cold rain water soaking my butt, /sigh - it is going to be even longer than i imagined.
we stopped at the first lodge we came across, there were about 6 other bikers there headed N. I stripped off my rain gear, they all laughed when they saw how wet i was. then they pulled out their rain gear and started putting in on before they headed out.
i went in and bought some large heavy duty garbage bags, dug some semi dry jeans out of my bag - poked 2 holes in the bottom of the garbage bag and slid my legs thru them.
as i was tucking the top of the garbage into my jeans, the waitress wandered by and said "nice butt" - imagine this huge bubble of air trapped in the garbage bag (front and back) "yeah but check out my package" i said as i turned around. everyone laughed. it was fun
cuppa coffee later - repack and we were off.
The garbages worked like a dream!!! I was dry, so cold....they said the temp was 7-9c - not sure what that is in F - but let me tell you at 70mph it is cold - damn where is my windshield.
we saw another grizzly with 2 cubs, i dont think i have ever seen so many bears in one trip.
we saw a young brown bear hanging out with a young black bear. clints first thought was "where are your mothers?"
there were so many buffalo i lost count. a few moose (they look so small compared to ours) but for the most part, they all just sat on the edge of the road and watched us go by.
we finally got to fort nelson around 3pm - found a work store and bought some rain gear. it isnt meant for motorcyles but at this point i didnt care. i just wanted to be dry. oh did i mention i finally bought some riding boots. All this time I have been in street boots with 3 inch heels!!
there are a few women who can say they rode their bikes down the alcan, they might even be a few that can say they did it without a windshield. but I would like to find the one that can add "and i did it in 3 inch heels"
the rain just never stopped that day. we tried to push on but about 60 clicks out of town, by body was broken, my feet so cold i couldnt shift my gears any more.
we stopped at the first lodge we found. so full of life, every one gathered around the fire, talking about their day, eating dinner.
when they lady told me they were full - i almost cried. then she said there is another lodge about 15 clicks down the road. nice place you will like it.
as i was drying my gloves by the fire there were some pictures of this young man, Jeremiah, on horse - all signed by him. He rode his horse from palmer, ak to mexico!!! it only took him 2 yrs to do it. he kept in touch with this lodge and sent them pictures and post cards along the way. one of the sayings on his picture was "if your gonna be dumb - you gotta be tough"
back out into the rain - the 15 clicks felt like 1500 clicks. but there at the bottom of hill sat a tiny little store, 3 cabins off to the side. as we pulled up a man came out to greet us. rain beating down on him - "sure we got a room - take them middle cabin the door is open"
sure enough it was open. we dumped our helmets and went to pay for the room. the store was so warm and cozy, lazy dog by the fire, too tired, or too cold to get up to greet us. the mans wife popped up out of her easy chair and came right over. "welcome" the man behind the counter "take some movies - there is some microwave popcorn over there" he said as he pointed to the wall of movies. "i will be right back - gonna turn the heat up in that cabin for you guys" he was out the door before we could stop him.
what a nice couple - they went out of their way to make us feel welcome, warm, entertained and dry. once again i dont remember my head hitting the pillow.
this was the longest day yet - on the road 16 hours. only made 500 clicks. trying not to be depressed about it - listening to the rain hit the roof - i slept.
posted by:
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Anchorage
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