These are the continuing stories of Scubatony as he travels across the continent for Ride the Americas. The 16 thousand mile journey is focused on raising awareness for the National Safety Council's anti-cellphone while driving initiative. Blog post are almost daily and include lots of pictures and stories and a funny video or two. Follow along and enjoy your ride!
The trip up the Dalton Hwy started out bad. Lots of rain and very cold. Worst thing was I could not get my new tire to pop on the bead. That means that the tire was not seated properly and was unsafe to ride on. I spent 3 hours in the morning in Fairbanks just trying to get it on. Thanks the the Chevron Station with Tim and Bob on a wet Sunday. They let me use the tools and air compressor to get the tire to finally sit properly. I would have been in a real bind without them.
I didn’t have high hopes as I headed up the road. The plan I had was to make it half way on day one then Prudhoe bay the next day. That would put me at my destination by Aug 31. It was my original goal although I new I was the last one making this run for the summer. There was very little traffic and the road was wet muddy and slippery. There were sections where I entered the clouds and the viz went to nothing quickly. But as the day rolled on the road got better and the weather also improved, I made it to my halfway point (Coldfoot), at around 9:30 pm. It was still light out and the sky was clear so I found a cheap campsite and pitched my tent and had dinner.
Shortly after I snuggled into my sleeping bag the rain began to fall. It rained all night and I could not sleep much because I was worried what all that rain would do to the road the next day.
I stayed in bed til after 9 am hoping that the rain would stop and I could pack up relatively dry. Unfortunately Alaska had other plans for me and it took me over 2 and a half hours to pack up. My hands were so cold I would have to heat warm water, do some packing, hold the hot water bottle for a bit then do some more work. It was 35 degrees and raining.
When I finally got moving it was almost noon. As feared the road was wet and slippery. It was also raining pretty hard and it made the viz real bad. I was making horrible time. If I could maintain the 20 mph pace all day the GPS said I would make Prudhoe bay at 9 pm. I knew it would be light but that made for a long long day of rough road. To make matters worse all the mud was clogging up my radiator and making it hard for the bike to maintain a good temperature. I was also gaining altitude and it was not running well. Every time I slowed down I would have to constantly rev the little mule just to keep it running. I have had some battery trouble lately as well so I didn’t want to use the starter much.
The road got worse and the weather followed. 2 hours into the ride I had not stopped for a break. I was cold, I had not eaten breakfast and my hands really hurt from the cold. I started to see snow on the side of the road. It really killed my mood when the rain turned to slush on my windshield. The bike was still giving me trouble. The idea of being stranded up here really was a possibility. The slush on my windscreen made it very hard to see. My breath would fog the shield and I would lift it up to clear it but it would get so cold on my face that I would have to close it again. IT was hard just to take my hand off the handle bars to do this. Little Mule was sliding around all over the place. My fingers were really starting to hurt too. Then the road grading began. A huge scrapper was grading the mud. It made a huge hump of wet mud in the middle of the road. I knew I could not cross it without falling over. This of course stuck me in the oncoming traffic lane. I knew it was not looking good when a huge big rig came over the next hill in my direction.
I slowed to a stop, the whole time revving the bike to keep it from dieing. I moved as far as I could to the right without getting in the mud hump in the middle of the road. I knew there was not enough room. So as the rig waited for me I slowly crossed the mud hump. It was hard because when I put my foot down it would slip as much as the tires. It took a maximum effort but I made it across without going down. Then just as I started to roll again my front tire dug into the mud and I fell over. It was slow but very messy. I didn’t hurt anything but it took me 5 min just to get the bike back up with all the bags loaded fully. The ground was so slippery. Of course once I got it up the motor would not start as I feared. I messed with it a while but could not get it to fire. I could also hear the battery getting weak. I was headed up a hill. Behind me was down and I thought maybe I could bump start the bike down hill. In the mud I was not sure the rear wheel would get enough traction to turn the motor over. I had no idea how much farther to the pass and possible better weather. I thought it would be better on the other side but I knew there was another pass beyond this one. All I could think of was failure as I turned around and headed back the way I had come.
First attempt to bump start the bike was bad. The rear wheel just locked up and I skidded sideways. I needed more speed. Luckily it was a long down hill. On the second attempt the motor fired up and I was very relieved. I began the slow painful return to where I had already been knowing I would not see the Arctic Ocean this time. My hands and fingers hurt so bad. My lips were numb and the visibility was terrible. By 2:30 pm I made it back to where I had started in Coldfoot. I stopped at a info center to warm up. As my hands warmed there was a very strange tingling sensation. I also borrowed a hose and rinsed out the radiator so that it could cool the engine once more. I continued on 120 miles further to hotspot. I got a room for the night and warmed up and had a nice hamburger. $116 for a crappy room but it was dry and warm and I was happy to pay it.
When I started my journey 2 weeks ago I had one focus. I wanted to make it to Prudhoe bay before the weather got bad. The locals saw tons of bikes this year. They said the most they had ever seen. All of them had stopped coming about a week ago. They also said I was smart to turn back. The weather up here changes so quickly and if I had made it over the pass there is no telling if I could get back over. I talked to a hunter in a big 4x4 who said he had just barely made it through the pass. He said there was a full blizzard going on up there. I have no doubt I made the right choice to turn back. If I had left a few days earlier I would have made it without a problem. Now the remainder of my journey will be shrouded in defeat. I can not say I made it to Prudhoe bay.
I didn’t take any pictures of the snowy day. I was having a hard enough time just controlling the bike. As I type I still have the sore numbness in 4 of my fingers. I assume it is mild frostbite. I will head down out of the Northern most road in America. The Dalton Hwy and the weather of Alaska has beaten me.
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