Internships may go to Hell and I will go to Alaska

...I concluded my speech by telling them I was done with politics at the present, and that they may all go to Hell, and I would go to Texas. - Davy Crockett



According to Gunnery Sergent Bob Lee Swaggart, Tennessee is the Patron State of Shooting Stuff and considering that I'm not 10 miles from where 'Ole Davy was born it seems like an appropriate title for a trip towards Alaska.

More on that later.

I currently do this...



here...



and after talking to KatoomWife we decided that if I was going to go to Alaska I better do it this summer since next summer it'll be moving, then BAR prep, then BAR, then drinking heavily either in celebration or drowning sorrow, followed by work.

Law school: Embrace the suck.

Yes, that's right, it was KatoomWife's idea for me to go to Alaska. She sent me to Moab...



a month after we got married...



(Yeah, that's the cake she surprised me with)

then the next year sent me to the Isle of Man TT races.



Now I'm going to Alaska. And worried about gas stops.

And where I'm going to stay.

And global warming.

And zombie Godzilla. Game over, man.



To help calm my nerves I've started this thread with the intent to keep this as current as possible. Never done a live ride report so it may be a Pulitzer prize worthy narrative or mindless babble. I may get to Alaska and miss KatoomWife so much I ship the bike back and fly home.

So grab a beer and pull up a chair because this...



is going to the Land of the Midnight Sun.



T-minus: 5-6 days to launch

Looking forward to follow your ride.

As someone that is currently studying for their LSAT and dreams of riding up to Alaska I am signing on to this one.

Try not to get any on ya...

Lookin forward to your ride! I have to wait a while before I can get enough time off for such a great ride, Too much damn work!

It was good meeting you at Ricks RDV, looking forward to your trip! Safe travels and good luck.

Nice, looking forward to the report.

Hi Adam,
You are worried about the wrong things.
With those fuel tanks, you don't need to worry about fuel stops (except the COST of fuel:eek1). The biggest gaps between "gas stations" (and I use the term loosely) will be north of Fairbanks and up the pipeline road (it was called Rte 11 when I did it exactly 20 years ago in 1993. It may still be called that). But unless they now have fewer "gas stations," or unless the stations run out of gas, you are going to be just fine on gas.

It's spare tires you need to worry about. Be prepared for tire problems. Take spare everything.

Where to stay? Stay in your WATERPROOF tent. Make sure you have a WATERPROOF tent, or a tarp to cover it. (Inside the tent, I use construction plastic a foot longer in each direction, curved up on the edges).

Pack your WINTER GEAR for BC and Yukon (I was wearing everything I own in July), and make sure you have really, really good rain gear.

AND Take lots of good mosquito repellent, and keep it handy.

Good luck. PM for any questions.






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I'll be following along once you get under way. We have two of our kids living there and I suppose you could stop in and say "hi" if you get to Anchorage. Most likely you'll have other things on your mind though at that time. Anyway, have a safe trip. Good luck!

Gary "Oldone"

Grampa’s Lake Superior Ride
Grampa’s National Monument Ride

Wish I was coming. No time like the present. You are lucky to have such an understanding (and encouraging) wife. Subscribed.

Subscribed!

KatoomWife sounds like a wonderful woman! Don't tell us that she's also handy with a wrench. That would be too much! Ride safe. Subscribed.


BluRidgeRider

Don't wait too long or there won't be any midnight sun since that was last
week dude. get a move-on. No worries 'bout gas. I've done the alcan on a
bike with a hundred-twenty mile range. Its 95 here in Fairbanks today. Don't
be bringing any cold with you. I'm quite comfortable right now. If you need
anything shout out on the Alaska regional. Talk to Adventure Cycleworks
if you need tires. There are others too. Don't carry tires, what a pain.
have a good ride!

Oh yeah, I'm with Mike on the bug repellent. Take along plenty or you will never survive your first Yukon piss break.

I have a vivid memory of a cloud emerging from the woods and descending upon us. We ran for the bikes and started rolling before we could get the gear back on. Coop dropped his gloves and we abandoned his ass. It turned out okay, he was only anemic for a few days.

-GW

What are friends for.

Hi Eli,
Yes, CLOUDS of mosquitoes. That's a great way to describe it.

On the Alcan highway through BC and Yukon, they have to use snowplows on that "pavement" (and I use the term loosely) so often during the snowy seasons, that slivers of steel come off the snowplow blades and rip up tires (not simple punctures as caused by a nail). One of these slashed my rear tire southeast of White Horse Yukon on my trip back. I carried spare tires with me and spare tubes and plugs and tube repair. If you don't carry extra tires with you, you may want to carry interior patches for the tires (we called them "boots"), in addition to spare tubes and patches for the tubes. I stopped to help a guy with a flat tire. The "hole" in the tube straddled a manufacturing seam on the surface of the tube. He never could get it to hold air for long with patches. It went flat on him repeatedly. Eventually he had to put a new tube in it. Be prepared to take care of ANY tire problem miles and miles from anything, and quickly, in clouds of mosquitoes.










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I'm riding up there with Padre and he's allergic to camping so the only thing I'm bringing is my giant rain fly and some survival bivy bags as an "Oh shit" option. I figured I'd be good on gas the way everyone was talking at the RDV but it's easy to psych yourself out.

She's installed numerous things on my bike. You should see her with a chainsaw.

It's surface of the Sun hot in Charlotte so hopefully that won't be the case. Thanks for the info, I'll probably be using it at some point.