To the frontier.

I didn't sleep very well that night,not because of the re-occurance of any troubles but because I had spent so much time asleep that I wasn't really that tired.Eventually with a deep,dream filled three hours or so I was up and out on the road before 5am.The great thing about being on the highway at that h

our is that there is pretty much no traffic and you can ride the main road instead of the cracked,gravel strewen shoulder.

That mornings ride was great and even though the skies were still grey and the air was chilling me to the bone my spirits were bright and I was thoroughly enjoying the day.With no real hills of consequence I rolled along the highway passing small hamlets and tiny holiday cabins at regular intervals.I had been led to believe that this ride would be one of solitude and isolation but was surprised just how many townships and small general stores there were along the way.The only problem I had was that after the stunning scenery of the coastal mountain range,this boreal forest area was pretty dull and after a while monotonous.It was a pleasant morning though and with the added bonus of a long gradual downhill I flew into Glennallen before 7:30 am having covered around 55 kilometers and beating the closing weather by minutes.

I did my usual and headed into the local truckstop restaurant,the thing about these Alaskan truckstops is that all seem to be more like nice family restaurants than greasy diners more associated with highway travel.This one was no exception with one glaring difference,the girls who worked there.I don't know what is in the water around these parts but they sure do produce some good looking women in this town,even the girl in the souvenir shop was a looker.Maybe they are all related, who knows and I for one,wasn't complaining as chatting with the local beauties sure made waiting out the storm a lot more bearable.A couple of hours later the storms had passed and it was time to head back out on the road and onto a section on highway know as The Tok Cutoff.I had been warned about the road conditions of this section as the highway was undergoing some serious upgrading and with that meant gravel and delays.

The first 30 kilometers or so were anything but slow though as I cruised along the section of flat highway which joins Valdez in the south to Fairbanks at it's northern end.I wound up the bike on this section and for the first time actually started to feel like I was getting fit and used to riding with the trailer in tow.I managed a couple of long intervals down on my aero-bars and my bike computer told me that I was crusing along at a pace that surprised me somewhat.As I flew down the steepish descent into the small Galkana village and up the other side toward the Gakona Junction where I would turn onto the Tok Cutoff.When I hit the bottom of the descent I looked up and for heavens sake up ahead of me,pushing his bike up the hill, was Jack the guy I had left far behind on the highway three days before.WTF!!!I guess the old tortoise and hare analogy really applied here,how on earth did he get in front of me?

 I said a quick hello as I rode up the hill past him and then stopped to see how he was going.We had a quick visit and after he told me that it was only a couple of miles to the junction I rode on knowing that there was a little village at the junction which meant a chance to have a coffee and a longer chat to see how his trip was coming along.Jack rolled into the village a few minutes later and we hung out for a while chatting away about our different experiences over the last three days.He told me that there was a new development in his trip and that his girlfriend was so worried about him that she was planning to fly up to Whitehorse in the Yukon from California and would be joining him on the road for a while.It seems she missed him and wanted to share a part of his experience.I was very envious of him for that opportunity.It just shows that everyone has their own perceptions of happiness and while I knew Jack thought on me as some kind of  skinny athlete type which he could only dream of being I looked at him and wished I had somene who cared about me enough to call me every day to see how I was and share in my life.To have someone who not only understood and supported a ride like his but to actually have that person want to physically be part of the adventure was something that was just a pipe dream to me and I was very happy for him to have that.He is a lucky guy.

 It is funny how peoples percetions of a person can be so wrong or twisted by what I called,in a previous post,false truths.For so many years most people I know have had the perception that I do all this travelling because I don't want to settle down and commit to one person or place.That can't be further from the truth because that is all I want.I only do this stuff because,over the last few years,I've had no-where or to be more specific had no-one who gave me a reason to stay and be a part of something,until last year that is.Last evening,in fact,I was having a little chat on Facebook with one of the very few friends of mine who are keeping in touch with me on this trip.We discussed some stuff and he mentioned that he would love to see the day when I introduce him to some cute little hippy-traveller type who wanted nothing more than share the world wandering with me.I surprised him,I think,when I told him that I believed this might be my last long trip as I wanted to be part of a community and give something back instead of just wandering.That had been the precisely the plan that was discussed over the last half of last year and all my energy was focussed on that eventuality.Part of that dream ended but things change and shit happens and I now know that I still want that sense of community and if I have to live it without being able to share it with that special someone I guess it won't be the end of the world.

  Jack and I rode on together for a little while and he gave me a bit of a lecture on the history of the road we had now turned on to.He was a wealth of infomation on all things to do with this region and gave me all kinds of advice based on his years on cycle touring the roads between Florida and the Arctic Circle.He is one of those guys that would make for a great night of story telling in front of a warm firplace somehwere in the wilderness.No such luxury here though as within a couple of kilometers of bidding him farewell I hit the first of many long patches of gravel that had become synonymous with this stretch of highway.With my skinny road tyres the gravel road was a nightmare as my front wheel tried to slide out from under me at regular intervals.The base of the gravel was hard-packed but there was a loose cover of gravel on the surface which made the road very tricky.Riding the shoulder was completely out of the question as that is where all the loose gravel had gathered and being an inch or so deep was unrideable.I had no choice but to ride in the main lane and follow the tyre tracks of the vehicles before me.

  For twenty kilometers I struggled along at a snails pace listening intently for the sound of  vehicles coming on fast from behind.The cars weren't much of a problem as they tended to give me space and use the other side of the road to pass but the trucks made no such consessions for my situation and they just barrelled along,pushing me off the nice line and into the deep gravel and the inevitable,undignified, sliding halt.That section seemed to last forever and once through it I was a happy boy but that joy wasn't to last for long as  head the all too familiar sound of a dull rumbling from behind.My trailer tyre was going flat,damn!You would think that it would be my skinny tyres that would cop the worst that the roads could dish out but it was my fat little trailer tyre that has given in but at least it wasn't such a bad situation.I ended up stopping at the precise location that the road crew had set up a stop and slow area and I rolled slowly up to the lollipop lady and went about fixing my tyre.

Normally fixing this type of thing would be an easy process but stupidly I hadn't bought a spare tyre for my trailer so I would have to patch it and remind myself to get one later.The only problem now was that my dual action pump wasn't working.While the pump worked fine for use with the skinny valves of my road bike when I reversed the pump for use on the wider,car type valve,I noticed that the solid piece which is needed to push the pin in the valve was broken and the pump was useless.I talked to the lollipop lady and she radioed the construction camp to see if anyone had a compressor handy but they didn't so there was nothing for it but to turn to the line for vehicles who were waiting for the pilot car and see if anyone had a bike with them.They didn't and nor did any or the several long lines of vehicles that I would canvass over the next two hours.The pilot car driver told me that i should just hitch a ride anyway as the next thirty kilometers or so were pretty bad and that compared to the gravel I had just ridden,the loose dirt of the this coming section would be a nightmare for my skinny tyres.He also told me that he had requested all the bike that morning to get a lift through that long section for safetey reasons as everyone was supposed to be piloted across.Okay,I got the message,I'd hitch a ride.

It actually didn't take that long to find a ride and after another half an hour of eating all the lollipop ladys stash of bluberries I was asked by a nice couple from Saskatchewan if I wanted a ride to Tok some 90 miles away.I said sure and they loaded all my stuff into the back or their old Suburban and we were off,behind the pilot car for a very slow ride on a very rough dirt road.We passed three more sections of dirt and each were rougher and wetter than the last and I was thankfull for the ride as it would have taken a long walk, pushing my bike through those sections to get to Tok in a couple of days let alone that day and that would have been if they let me through with my bike in the first place.

So here I was in the last,or first depending on your point of view,decent town on the Alaskan side of the ALCAN Highway and it definately had that unique frontier feel about it.I felt like a bit of a rest and knew that, as I had to search for a new pump, I was in for a late start the next day so I checked into a motel and used the  time to do some laundry,service my bike yet again (stupid gravel) and catch up with my blog.I realised that I would soon be riding on Canadian roads and with the promise of better and hopefully warmer weather that thought,for some strange reason,made me feel better

I had made painfully slow process in the trip thus far but for what it was worth was enjoying it for the most part.I could take myself to task for not being tougher and pushing through but I don't have much fight left in me these days so I'll trade the daily grind of endless had miles for the fleeting moments of joy that I get when I meet interesting people in new towns.I'm a people person and it seems I'm at my best when in company so maybe that is what I should be focussing on.That and some run and swim training so that I don't completely screw up at Ultraman in a few short weeks time.

Out of the mountains and into my nightmares.

I had gone too bed late the night before and had suffered a pretty cold and fitfull sleep thank's to the cold wind blowing off the glacier.The day did hold promise of nice weather and after a coffee in the lodge I rode out at just on 9am.The trip didn't last long as the roadwork that had delayed me the day before was still going on but at least I didn't have to wait by the side of the road too long and after about half an hour I was off again climbing slowly to the summit of the first of two passed for the day.I didn't realise that I had hit the first summit until I had ridden about 40 kilometers and was actually at the top of the second summit at the Eureka Lodge.The trip had been a quick one and although still hilly, at least I still had a nice tailwind helping push me along at a fast( for me)  pace.

   The scenery had taken a real turn as gone were the majestic mountain roads that weave and dip in and around canyons and gorges,replaced by wide open lands covered in a forest of black spruce.The road rolled on and on over low hills and looking behind me at Eureka I could clearly see the wall of mountains that I had managed to weave my way through.I always marvel at how the first people found their way through huge ranges like these.Clearly they were made of the right stuff,unlike myself.

 I was beginning to think that I would have no worries making it to the town of Glennallen that day which would make for a ride of around 115 kilometers and back on to riding some decent distances.Those thoughts soon turned to thoughts of terror and survival as a huge storm front moved in.The wind that had been at my back all day turned to my side and started blowing hard from my right.At first it wasn't so bad but as the first major gust blew me off the shoulder and onto the main lane I started to worry.Within fifteen minutes I was holding on for dear life as my trailer flung me time and time again into the main lane .After a couple of very close calls with semi-trailers I rolled off the highway an into the safety of the Mendeltna Creek Lodge car park.Holy crap I was shaken!!

  I went inside the  lodge,ordered a coffee and decided to wait out the storm in the shelter of this beautiful old log building.I hung out for a while chatting to the owner, being slobbered on by one of her six English Mastiffs,I thought for a minute that I might end up as lunch,or drown in slobber.As fate would have it I would end up getting to know the dogs and the lodge owner much more than I had planned as the storm increased in intensity and added rain to it's fury.I was only 1pm and I wasn't going anywhere!

  The owner of the lodge told me that I was welcome to spend the night in the bunkouse of the lodge for the grand sum of $10 which seemd a real bargain.After checking the place out I knew that I had lucked out as the place was great,Clean,warm and very cozy for a place that could sleep ten.There were also six single cabins to be had but they were much more expensive than my cabin in Chickaloon so I was happy with my choice of beds in the bunkhouse.

  I spend that wet and windy afternoon ckecking the lodge out and doing a little work on my bike before having dinner in the lodge bar with two of the three other people staying there.Even though I was disappointed with only riding 60ish kilometers that day I made the most of it and had a good time chatting to some nice folks that night.I retired to my bunkhouse to prepare my stuff for an early departure and went to bed sung under three heavy blankets,handmade by the lodge owner herself.

  The next morning,I was up and ready to go at about 3:30am but opened the bunkouse door to find it wet and windy so there was nothing for it but to go back to bed for a couple of hours and check again at a more civilised hour.Sadly for me when I did wake again four hours later the clouds had moved into my head and my mood had deteriorated rapidly.I was feeling the blues approaching rapidly and so I wandered over to the lodge at 8am for a coffe and something to eat.I had hoped that by chatting to some people that my mood wuld improve but it didn't and I mentioned to the owner that if I hadn't come to say goodbye by 10am that I would be staying another night.I then finished my beakfast and went back to the bunkhouse to take stock.I paced the bunkhouse back and forth and in and out of the door for a good half an hour before I gave up.I was a bit of a mess and as I have said in previous posts, once you start the slide into a depressed state and you don't have anyone there to help you ae pretty much screwed.There is nothing you can do to turn it around,it must run its course,so I did what I always do to keep my mind from thinking the worst of thoughts,I went back to sleep for another five hours.

  On May 16th,just after my relationship ended,on my Facebook profile,I posted the following " Sleep is the peacefull oasis where one can hide from all the pain but with each sleep another day of hell draws closer." Many people commented on that quote of mine but those words, for me are not just a nice quote on found on a cool website somewhere.I wrote those words from my heart  because I live them more often than I care to remember.That day was one of those days!It was a day when I nearly packed all my stuff up and quit my trip,a day where the safest place in the world for me was inside that little bunkhouse where, alone, I waged battle with my other self.The one nobody wants to talk about.

   Thankfully,my way of dealing with all this seems to work and by around 3pm things had gone from my not caring if I lived another second to wanting to go for a run to check out the area.I went out into the clearing afternoon and ran out onto the highway where I started to run back along the road I had covered the day before.It was nice to be outside again and my head cleared enough to actually start to enjoy myself.I ran off the highway and followed a trail under some powerlines back toward the lodge mainly to test my knee (which passed) and to see what it was like to run on the spongy turf that covers the permafrost.It was weird to say the least,like running on a felt carpet which covered a bed of thick mud moving under each footfall.By the time I got back to the

 lodge I was feeling okay and set about preparing mysel for another attempt at leaving the next morning.

   Dinner that night was a very lonely affair as I sat by myself inside the large main building of the lodge.I wondered why I always put so much pressure on myself to ride certain distances each day and why I should care what people think of how I go about my  conducting my trips.I do though and it is stupid and is something I will have to rectify.More than anything though,I wish I had someone here to share all this with as I'm sure that would make all the difference.

Matanuska Glacier..

   The time spent in Chickaloon was fun and I had mat a bunch of great people but even though I could have easily hung around for the following weeks 4th of July festivities the road was calling and so at around 6am I rode off again up the valley to what was going to be a short but pretty difficult day.The crap weather of the prvious evening had left the roads damp and the skies were still grey and the air cool and damp.

  The road itself didn't present with much joy as within a few kilometers the grade increased dramatically and I was soon grinding away in the smallest gear that my road bike offered.With the weight of my trailer dragging on me like an anchor this was indeed the start of some long,long slow cadence strength sessions for the day.I shouldn't compplain though as after about fourty minutes I spied ahead of me a guy i had met in chickaloon the previous night.

  Jack is a 64 year old touring cyclist who was on his way from Anchorage to San Fancisco on a epic pilgimage to see some more of the world and lose a lot of the huge amountof weight that he was carrying.I was amazed to see his old bike and his obvious lack of fitness but who was I to judge anyone for doing what they though they needed to do.Watching him walk up the first of the hills made me feel for him though.I cruised by and then stopped at the top of the next hill for a bite to eat and to wait for him.We had a quick chat and he was off again while I stood absorbed in the moment of two totally different guys doing the same thing in two different ways for what may well be similar reasons.I finished my snack and headed off after him.

   I passed Jack some five kilometeres later at the bottom of a long descent where he had stopped in a lakeside pullout presumable to psyche himself into walking up the next long climb.I waved and wished him well as I hit that climb and thought of how long it would take him to walk the hill that was currently taking me more than 20 minutes to ride.I admired his dedication but seriously doubted his wisdom.

    The day continued with a long series of climbs followed by the inevitable drops as I slowly gained altitude.following the Matanuska River upstream to it source at the mighty Matanuska Glacier.Most of the day was pretty grey and bleak but as I edged closer toward the glacier the sun started to peek through the shroud above me.The suns rays did little to warm me though as the glacier seemed to have to cool everything in the area.Even though I had a tailwind the chill in the air became uncomfortable every time I stopped to check out the view.My sweat drenched clothes didn't help the situation and stops for happy snaps were kept brief and to a minimum.Eventually I passed the glacier and after some time checking out the tourist info center at its base I rolled on to my lunch stop for the day.I thought about making the long trek to the glacier itself but I was so wet and so cold(and without the right gear to wlak around on the ice) that I decided to view it's maginificence from a distance would be enough .I had ridden a very hard 65 kilometers that morning and sat down for a coffee and a big breakfast at the Granview Lodge RV Park at around 10:30am.

     Once inside I started to warm up and dry out while enjoying my meal and  the added plus of a good conversation with a very nice young girl who was the waitress that morning.She was full life and also something of an expert on everything to do with the area.It turns out that she is the daughter of the owners of the Lodge and was doing her "family duty" of a summesr work while on break from university in Juneau.There was also a very personable young guy sitting at a nearby table who was eagerly asking all kinds of questions of the pretty young girl.I can't say that I blamed him but was entertained by the round about way hee was asking qustions to find out if she wa single,which she wasn't.I understood his dismay at finding out that little titbit of information as that day was to be his first day on the job at the same Lodge and i'm sure the thought of a summer with her as company seemed like a huge bonus.With everyones place in order we continued to chat about what we were all about and as coincidence would have it both the guy, Heath and the young girl ( whose name escapes me) had spent time on the big Island in Hawaii  and  were both fans of Ultraman Hawaii.I couldn't believe that they actually knew about it at all let alone the fact that they were actually fans of the race.That was enough for me,I decided to stay there for the night and hang out some more with these cool people and check out the trails that I been told I must not miss.I payed my camping fee and settled in for an afternoon of trail running and conversation with the never-ending flow of travellers who stopped by the lodge for a bite.I was a little sad though as my thoughts turned to my friends in Penticton who would be celebrating the 50th birthday of our mate Phil the next day.There was to be a special "Birthday Hash" in his honour and I would miss it and again miss out on being part of that fun group.I hoisted a beer in his honour and sent him a special  birthday photo from Alaska.I hadn't covered very much ground that day but it was a good one and I went to bed that night a pretty happy camper.