Two Wheels: July 11-17
Sunday, July 11. We have looked Madness in the eye and have seen the abyss. Insanity is a retired cop driving a battered pick up truck. He drove over to see who was sitting on the road 200′ over from his driveway. After using his retired cop super powers of deduction, he determined we were senior citizens riding bicycles. Then the interrogation began. “Who do you think won the election?” (Uh oh). Well…Biden is the president. “Nope!! It was all a massive fraud! Mark my words…his day is coming! Just a week ago Comey was tried by a secret military tribunal and found guilty of treason. He was executed by guillotine, just like he executed by guillotine thousands of homeless Republicans who came to FEMA’s emergency camps.” (You can’t make this stuff up) He was starting to pick up momentum now. “Do you have passports?” Umm…Yes? “You won’t get through Canada! Trudeau’s got 175,000 communist Chinese troops massed on the Alaska border. They’re just waiting for Biden to take our guns before they attack!” He was getting passionate now. “Make no mistake, he’s coming for our guns! You won’t hear about any of this on the news, but it’s a proven fact!!” He continued on, no longer bothering to ask questions before launching into his next tirade. We were ignoring him and packing to leave when someone he didn’t know drove down the side road onto the highway. Insanity fired up the beater and roared off in pursuit. We saw him a few miles down the road, grilling some unfortunate woman in a convenience store parking lot. We’ve been on the road five weeks and met dozens of wonderful people. This was our only uncomfortable and bizarre encounter. We happily left him in our rear view mirror.
Speaking of leaving people behind. With our change of plans to head to Valdez, it seems unlikely that we will cross paths with Marshal again. In spite of the Chinese army at the border, if Canada allows, he will bike south as soon as possible to continue his journey to Ushuia. If not, he will fly to Washington. It has been a tremendous pleasure spending time with a fascinating young man. I have no doubt we will meet again.
As for us, we said good bye to Chelsea (our Palmer Warmshower host) bought groceries, talked with a nutter, and landed thirty some miles down the road. The Glenn highway follows the Matanuska river and is sandwiched between the Talkeetna and Chugach mountains. Even the omnipresent headwinds did not detract from the pleasant weather and visual feast. We’re hoping for an early am start tomorrow to avoid wind and traffic. We’ll see.
Laundry on the road
Monday July 12. Nope! No early start! Sleep was deemed more important. Still, we hit the road fairly early and all day were treated to views of the Chugach range to the right, and Talkeetna mountains to our left. At our mid-afternoon food stop we pondered our dilemma. If the forecast for heavy rain for the next 36 hours was accurate (doubtful) that meant lots of soggy time in our tent. What to do? How about camp out under a highway bridge? It was unbelievably quiet and protected us from the rain all afternoon and evening.
Matanuska glacier 
Super cool “wilderness” campsite
Tuesday, July 13. The forecast was partially right. It did rain all afternoon and evening, but at some point overnight, the rain went away. Refreshed, we decided to make the most of the dry weather and light winds to put in our longest day yet. We rode 65 miles through more magical mountain scenery. We crossed Eureka summit – apparently the highest paved road in AK at 3322′ above sea level. This achievement earned us an afternoon of mostly downhill. Perfect.
Profile of a big day in the mountains
Wednesday, July 14. A nice lazy lie in followed our big day yesterday. Still the road called and we are compelled to answer. Our first real town since leaving Palmer is Glenallen, just over an hour down (literally down) the road. Our first priority? The grocery store. It took three separate trips to sate our appetites and prepare us with a little extra for the road ahead. We turned right onto the Richardson Highway and pedaled south toward Valdez. We found a lovely place to camp next to the lovely Klutina River next to some lovely Minnesotans who were kind enough to share a beer with some thirsty cyclists.
Thursday, July 15. If you’ve been following our journey for a while, it may seem like we’re whinging a great deal about rain and hills and headwinds. Today was one of those days that remind us why we endure the hard days. No rain. Light winds. A long gradual uphill for the first part of the day was followed by a miles-long downhill through corridor of snow-capped peaks. In the midst of all that loveliness we enjoyed a new taste treat – a Russian dish called machanka – served up by the Russian owners of the Tonsina River Lodge. Our 55 mile day means that tomorrow we only have to slog our way 20 miles up Thompson pass before we get to enjoy a 30 miles down into Valdez!
Mt. Wrangel 
Friday, July 16. Happy Birthday Sharon!!! 🎂 In honor of Sharon’s big day, we rode over Thompson pass and down into Valdez. According to Sharon, it was her favorite day of riding and favorite town so far. Wish I could take credit, but it was her idea to come here. I’ll say no more and let the pictures speak.
Birthday burger!
Saturday, July 17. Rest day! And, a huge thank you to Tom and Amanda (Fairbanks Warmshower host for Marshal) for the trust and generosity of allowing us to stay at their vacation place in Valdez. It has allowed us to clean and sort gear. Make plans for the future. Connect with family and friends. Cook some food. Lay on a sofa and read a book. Walk around and enjoy all that the charming little town of Valdez has to offer.
Across the harbor, the southern end of the pipeline.
Speaking of plans for the future, you may have noticed the somewhat…fluid nature of our plans. We have made some decisions. After the boat ride to Whittier on Tuesday, we going to head to Anchorage first, then explore the Kenai peninsula. This makes sense because…drum roll…it looks like we will not bike through Canada. At least, not all the way. There is still too much uncertainty involved with timing, restrictions, and whether or not we’ll find places open where we can buy food. So instead, we will likely catch the ferry all or part of the way back to Bellingham. Not to worry gentle readers. While this is a bit of a disappointment – we’re already excited about other opportunities to explore. So until next time…Seize the Carp!
PS. For those of you interested in such things, here are a few stats. As of today, we’ve been on two wheels for 43 days. We’ve camped 28 nights. We’ve spent 10 nights in hotels (mostly Fairbanks dealing with my knee). We’ve enjoyed 5 nights of hospitality in other people’s homes/cabins. In 43 days we have covered 1,266 miles – roughly half on gravel. We’ve taken 8 rest days – but only recorded zero miles biked on two of those eight rest days.
