June 1- Day 16 Report–Did you miss me?

Before I get started with my rider report, I want you to know that once I entered the Dalton Highway heading for Deadhorse, I will be electronic dark. No cell phone or wi-fi !! The only communication tool I had or have is my Satellite Spot Tracker that most of you have been checking from time to time, to see where I’m currently located. I can use that same tool to send one messages to my wife so she at least knows that I’m alive, well, and moving. Now my ride report.

I got up early, 6am so I could get to the dirt road portion of my ride because even though I did a lot of research, until the rubber meets the dirt, I do not know how the bike will handle or I will handle the bike. The sun was up much earlier than me and by the time I stepped outside it looked like it 10 or 11am. I suited up completely,(Heated Gear), so I could test the suit for when I run into that cold, cold, at Coldfoot and north. The suit works very well, so well I could not run it more than 5 minutes because the outside temperature was 57 and climbing quick. Within 30 minutes after I got into the days journey, the temps reach 70. Rolling into Fairbanks, 75. It was really hard for me to believe the temperatures.

The ride across the plains between Mt. McKinley and Fairbanks was smooth, warm, and the skies were bright blue and cloudless. I got the pleasure in seeing a Cesena pop above the tree line to my left and in-tow a glider. The forest here are thick with trees and most are spruce. The picture to the right is looking back toward Mt. McKinley about 80 miles northwest. The ride was pretty and uneventful.

So let’s get right to the Dalton. First thing that happened is that the guy from Texas that I met at the The Motorcycle Shop getting his maintenance was exiting the Dalton the same time I was entering. We both recognized the other did quick u-turns. He was dirty but not to bad, so I was thinking I would be ok also. I asked if he made Deadhorse, to which he answered yes and that to made me feel more confident. He was riding on new tires, but not real aggressive dirt tires like I had installed, so that made me feel good also. If he can do it, so can I. He told me watch the roads right after they wet them, but that advice turned out to be shallow, more later. He also told me it got down right cold on the other side of the Atigun pass. like 34 degrees cold. Ok, I can handle that also. We bid are farewells and spilt in different directions once again.

As soon as my tires hit the dirt, within 1 mile the dirt below me felt extremely bizarre. I could tell it was wet, but could I brake hard with the front tire? Why does the bike feel so unstable and wobbly? So first chance I pulled off to the side and put her on a kickstand. I knew from my past experiences that air pressure in soft dirt or mud, needs to be lowered. So I got my tire gauge and dropped them down to 30 each. 12 out of the rear and 8 out of the front. Then I walked out onto the surface of the road and it felt like clay or spongy. Got me some water to drink and got my courage from the OZ, then back on the bike. I accelerated, decelerated, upshift, downshift, weaved back and forth, and then did a hard rear brake and then a hard front brake. Then in the distance I see one of those workers with the stop sign, man!!! I was stopped chatting with her for almost 20 minutes before they cut us loose. I also got to speak to couple that were here from Italy touring Alaska. he spoke really good English, she not so much.

Ok, we finally got the go and I let the Italian’s go first to follow the pilot Truck for the next 8 miles. The bike was now handling a lot better. It was responsive to the instructions that I was giving and they felt as normal as they could for being in the dirt. Once the Pilot truck pulled to the side, I blasted away from the group. The current dirt was hard, packed, and not to much gravel and soon I was pacing at 60-70mph. I will make good time to Coldfoot at this pace. Then I hit my first real goo. It was about 3 inches of deep loose, but dry recently turned over dirt for road repair. OMG! This is one big bike and that was not very much fun! Glad it was only 1/2 mile long. Then it back to hard surface roads, yes hard surface. I was really surprised that of the 240 miles of was suppose to be dirt, maybe half was actual dirt.

Here is the problem with not paying attention to the road. Out of nowhere you could be transitioned from good solid dirt then loose dirt or even worse, wet soup. You really had to read the best you could far down the road. Then there was the occasional 8 to 10 foot long pothole. No little pot holes for this road, they were Alaska size. This was the easy stuff.

What happened next was gut wrenching, is the best way I can describe the internal feeling. The soil was turned over by a grader looking machine, then mixed with water to make 3 to 4 inches of mud. OMG x 2!! How I didn’t drop that beast of a bike is a miracle. She followed every track that was laid down before me and it was all I could do to hold balance without putting my feet down. Oh how I wanted to put those feet down, but I didn’t. That nightmare lasted about 500 yards or so. That was the only instance that I encounter for this portion of the run.

The next thing I hit is where the machine was grinding up the road and then flatten it out but it was soft. This time I tried an old tried and true method of dirt bike riding and that was standing on the pegs while driving. Whoa la! It wiggled a little bit because of tracks previously laid, but handling the bike through that soft stuff was much more confident. So, next time we see mud, up on them pegs boy!

That was it! It didn’t get any worse than that and the temperatures and weather was awesome. I should have written down my time when I first hit dirt so I would know the return time, but I didn’t. I have no internet or cell, so I cannot even use spot tracking website to figure out time and distance. Thinking 4 hours, but not sure. I have this wild idea to get up at 3am, and try to ride to Deadhorse and back to Fairbanks in one day. 760 miles of dirt and hard surface. Not sure that I’m skilled enough or have the endurance to pull that off. It really depends on rain or no rain. Also depends on how more road they tear up to fix up. I also know leaving Coldfoot, heading north to Deadhorse is 20 miles of hard surface and 230 miles of dirt. Truck driver said so!!

Ok, this is the end of my day. I stopped in Coldfoot, ate my lunch/dinner at the same time. Then I rented a room that I can only describe as, your kidding! Ready for this, $200 a night. Beggars can’t be choosey when this far north because your chooses are none! I did have a little entertainment watching a dust tornado wisk it’s way through the elite all dirt parking parking lot.

Pictures of the Day