Jeff's Alaskan Bike Trip 2010

I thought my arms and feet felt bad yesterday. Today was even worse. Those roads took their toll on me. I'm looking forward to black top.

Leaving Fort Scott, we saw the new ice rink and curling expedition center. Now I know why they won at the Olympics. I can't say I've seen many curling centers in America. They had also constructed a new play ground and ballfield next to our campsite. They do things right up here when they build them.

I experienced the longest straight stretch of road in my life. Out of Fort Scott you go straight for 50 miles. I can't imagine the speeds people reach on this part. There are absolutely no police up here on the roads. The way we got passed by BMW's going south, I have to believe they really wound them out down through here.

The landscape changed today. Now we are riding through farms and pasture land. We saw bison on a ranch, lots of horses and a deer farm. The road is back to blacktop. Whenever you ride up on construction, you have to think the worst. Sometimes it was oil and rocks. Sometimes it's just rocks laid down with this high pressure hose. The speeds change considerably when you see these signs. We also experienced our longest delay from construction today. We had to wait about 15 minutes for the lead truck to come down this hill and get us. While there we met a guy from Blue Ash on his BMW. He was coming back from Prudhoe Bay by himself. You meet about everybody on these roads.

We diverted off the new Alaskan Highway to the old part to ride across the last bridge made out of road that still exists on the highway. The last kilometer to bridge was down hill, curvy and all rocks. The bridge is made from the timber cleared to make the road. Think of the wooden roller coasters at King's Island but thicker. The planks are laid diagonally. I figured I Had ridden across nearly everything at this point so why not. John went first since he was excited to go over this bridge. I followed and found the surface very drivable.

When we got back Fort Scott I got cell service. My phone was going off like crazy from text message and voice mail I had not received the last two days. I've got some work to do tomorrow morning.

We got to Dawson Creek which is mile marker 0 of the Alaskan Highway. You can believe it that we have memorabilia signifying our accomplishment. We rode the entire 1422 miles from end to beginning. The end part is way worse than the beginning. I can imagine the workers who did the first part thought the job was going to be easy. Not so fast my friend.

We finished at Grande Praire, B.C.. This town is really growing. The have horse racing and slot machines like the tracks in Ohio and Kentucky want. We finally saw stores with names we recognized. Ah, it's nice to see a little civilization again.