Two Wheels: July 4 – July 10
Sunday, July 4. “On our own!” One month ago we set out from Deadhorse, AK. Hard to believe we’ve been on the road that long! All that time, Marshal has been playing the good boy scout, helping us old folks across the street, as it were. During his bus ride back from Wonder Lake, he was offered a free helicopter flightseeing tour. His momma didn’t drop him on his head, so he’s sticking around today to take advantage.
That means for the first time on our trip – we’re flying solo.
“I’m tired…I think I’ll lay down now!” 
Mosquitos here really are big!
Only persistent headwinds kept this from being a “perfect” day. Smooth roads. Light traffic. Comfy temps. Stunning vistas, including one more peek at Denali. In spite of the fierce wind holding us back, we logged 50 miles.
Monday, July 5. Drastic headwinds call for drastic measures. That, and the threat of a storm system looming later today got us out of bed at 3am. On the plus side, no wind. On the down side, not quite 40 degrees as we hit the road. With heavy cloud cover, we had only occasional peeks at the peaks. With our early start, we were able to log 55 miles by 11am. We talked about pressing on, and might hsve except for two things. Last night it seems my snoring kept Sharon awake. She stopped my snoring by waking me up every time I fell asleep. End result – a sleepless night for both. Lack of sleep + abundance of rain = an early stop.
Tuesday, July 6. Living in AZ for the past 20 years we’ve been conditioned to never complain about rain. So, we’re not complaining…but we’re also not “embracing the suck” as one ultra athlete put it. After 8 miles we decided to punt the suck and gratefully accepted a ride from trail angel Chris and family 25 miles to the Talkeetna spur rd. That left only 15 addional miles of rainy riding…well…and beer…and pizza.
Wednesday, July 7. Forecast…rain through Saturday. While we are not made of sugar, neither do we have webbed fingers and toes. Solution? Accept John and Kay’s generous offer to stay at their cabin at Deshka Landing. A lifetime ago, Kay and I lived across the street from one another and went to grade school together. The timing and location couldn’t have been better. We arrived at their wonderful retreat just as the skies opened yet again. I don’t think we’ll ever again take for granted the joy of being warm and dry.
Thursday, July 8. Rest day. Luxury! Warm, dry, comfy cabin. We took advantage of a dry spell to explore the cool location. Met the neighbors Tom and Dee…true Alaskans through and through. Checked out the Deshka Landing on the Susitna River. Fun people watching. The area around here has no roads, so people use the local rivers (the Susitna, Yentna, Chulitna, and Talkeetna) as highways in both summer and winter.
Friday, July 9. Marshal left early this morning to send off his phone for repair. We’ve decided to fully embrace the lazy life and take advantage of modern amenities…like electricity and running water. We’re spending one more day at Kay and John’s cabin. Books. Games. Movies. Sorting and cleaning clothes and gear.
The awesome Huebner cabin 
Keeping up with bike maintenance 
Road sign not often seen in AZ 
Another rare AZ road sign.
Saturday, July 11 Friday night we were pondering the logistics and timing of getting to Anchorage, visiting with John and Kay, and getting to points beyond. Sharon came up with the idea of heading east and visiting Valdez. From there we could catch the ferry to Whittier or Homer. After sleeping on it, that became our new plan. We set out Saturday with that in mind. Our destination for the day was Palmer and the Warmshower hosts Chelsea and Garet (sp). Over a delicious dinner of salmon burgers and local hoppy beverages we heard tales of backcountry skiing, biking, climbing, pack rafting, long winter nights, the demanding life of a veterinarian (Chelsea), growing up in the middle east and working in the oil industry (Garet), life in AK and plans for the future. It was a wonderful evening.
On the unremarkable ride to Palmer, we met some remarkable ladies from Missoula…many years our senior…out on the road still kicking it. Very impressive.
Thus ends another week on the road. Challenges! Luxury! Fascinating folks! The lure of new places to discover and people to meet. Can’t wait to see what this new week brings.
Hey Dave, really enjoying your blog! Keep on pedd’lin.
Jim Core from Brevard, NC. I met you guys last fall as your were riding south from Brevard.
Hi Jim. Good to hear from you,, and thanks. Just finished a hard (beautiful) week of riding. We’re going to take a few days off before completing our Tour de AK. Hope the heat we’re seeing in the lower 48 isn’t keeping you from riding.