Made it to Tok, next stop is Haines 438 miles away (or something) in Canada. Likely to take a week and not really sure there are many more options for food so my bike is bursting full with mountains of food that I’ve just purchased; I’ve had enough of “wasting away lethargic” cycling. The difference in speed I can make when well fed is surprisingly high so I’m happy to carry the extra bulk and weight. I regard it as my most important item after this new Bear Grylls’ knife I bought for close encounters in the tent:
Past couple of days have been flat riding and fast tarmac roads with virtually zero traffic. Really enjoyable contrast and good for the ego after some the painfully slow hills I’ve had to climb. It felt like I had a motor attached to my legs as the miles clicked by at a highly satisfying pace. This road, went on like this for miles:
In case anyone is looking for a new car I thought this could be a good option. Just over half a century old, it was only on for $1750. Perhaps Elvis owned it. I suspect it may sit there for a while since only 3 people drive past every day. My gut feeling is that you could make him an offer:
Reception to Haines will probably be in and out, aiming for the 6th September ferry; mustn’t miss it as there’s only one a week. One more thing, if you’re on the Tok cutoff highway I highly recommend calling in at the Mentasta lodge at around milepost 79; Taylor put up with me for nearly a whole day of hanging about (emailing, showering and overdue clothes washing), they do great food and have a nice little bar.
Hi Nick,
Thanks for the post – I can imagine that the cycling on the flat roads must have felt amazing after all the off-road that you’ve been doing. How is your body coping with it? Do you get muscle pains a lot, or are you just through all that? I can’t imagine what that amount of cycling must be doing to your body. You must be in amazing shape. Sounds a good idea to carry extra food etc.
I hope the next stage to Haines goes really well. Keep the updates coming. Chris and I are really enjoying them!!
Lots of love, Lucyxx
I built up gradually taking days off initially so my body could adapt to the massive increase in exercise. No real pains just fatigue and trying to keep energy levels up! Glad you’re enjoying the blog, hope to do an update over next couple of days. Hard to keep up with it as there’s always some kind of logistic I need to sort out or plan. Speak soon, Xx
Hey Nick,
loved the picture from the top of Igloo Mountain! I’m really annoyed that the rain made us turn back. Where are those plastic pants when you need them …
Thanks v much for your email. I replied to your Yahoo account. Don’t know whether you check this regularly. But anyway, there it is.
Enjoy!
Monika
Hey dude, good to meet you out there. Were thinking of you as we went down Denali Highway. It was definitely spectacular, much more so than the McCarthy road everybody is going on about.
Gotta tell you though, we saw a couple out there that upstaged you: they did the whole thing (gear and all on their backs) on unicycles…
Perhaps you passed them? They certainly weren’t particularly fast… 😉
We stayed at the McLaren crossing too, though on the other side of the river. Place belongs to a couple breeding competition sled dogs, the lady competes in the Iditarod every year. Must have been over 60 huskies outside our cabin – you might have heard them howling in the night 😉
Anyways, enjoy the next leg, keep safe & look forward to catching up
Malte
Hi Malte, thanks for your message. Yeah that Denali highway was great and I did wonder what all that barking at the Maclaren was! I heard about the unicycles, pretty incredible. Although they were only doing the highway I think. 🙂
Just got into Haines junction. Pretty tired but hope to do a blog update in next couple of days.
Speak soon, N