Two wheels: June 23 -26

Wednesday, June 23. Tuesday’s “Best! Day! Ever!” put us in a positive frame of mind. The heinous headwinds and long slogs up endless hills in driving rain somehow seemed…”not so bad!” Not after a day of sunshine, tailwind and endless downhills.

All the positive vibes and good feelings got us thinking of all the wonderful people we’ve met along the way. Rather than a world of scary people intent on doing us harm, we found countless wonderful people who stopped to offer encouragement and praise. We found folks like the big rig trucker who stopped to give us her new can of bug spray “you’ll need this!” Or the big rig drivers who slowed to a crawl as they passed us. Or the pipeline workers who stopped and shared their amazing chocolate cookies and rice krispie treats. Or the couple who drove a mile back to retrieve a bear spray can that had fallen off Sharon’s bike on a bone jarring descent. Or the family who gave us their water when we camped without a water source nearby. Or the young father who gave us a package of smoked salmon. These varied acts of kindness lifted our spirits much as a strong tailwind might. It reminded us that it doesn’t take much for each us to make someone else’s day or life just a little bit better.

But I digress. We did have more downhill today. We did have more tailwind. Without much effort we covered our desired distance, restocked and enjoyed lunch at the Delta Jct IGA. We used the first cell signal in five days to take care of some business. And finally, found a lovely spot to camp along the Tanana River, complete with more views of the Alaska Range. We even had plenty of time left over to wash, to chat with Josh, a long distance cyclist who started from Prudhoe a week behind us. He is doing some big miles on his way to Panama or beyond. We spent a lovely afternoon and evening relaxing.

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Thursday, June 24. Crazy night. Massive winds blew up in the middle of the night. Somehow the wind blew over us, but we all lay awake wondering when we’d get blown into the river or stomped by a falling tree. Mostly uneventful day. We did see several moose. Very hot and hilly today. While it was pleasant riding for the most part, I think we’re all getting a bit worn after seven straight days in the saddle. Tomorrow, or Saturday morning we arrive back in Fairbanks.

Friday, June 25. Very quick and easy ride into North Pole. While having lunch we found out via Instagram that Panama Josh crashed on a downhill and broke his collar bone! That was after the same wind storm that terrorized us shredded his tent. After considering our options, we decided to ride the rest of the way into Fairbanks. We met up with Josh at Sven’s Basecamp hostel in Fairbanks and heard his story over beer and pizza. We also met Billy, who just happened to be related to Louise, the young lady who gave us a lift into Fairbanks. Alaska may be a big state, but it is also a small world sometimes.

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Saturday, June 26. Fun night at Svens, but way too noisy. Relocated to a hotel and enjoyed a welcome rest day. Very happy to have ridden through another large, wild and wonderful chunk of AK. Somewhat bittersweet. Dan leaves for home tomorrow. Marshall is contemplating a different route. Our happy little tribe may be separating. As all you BLE people out there know, “Don’t be sad it’s over, be glad it happened!” Tomorrow is another rest day as we prep for the Denali park road and beyond. More news in a week.

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