Author Archives: mev

Smithers, bike issues

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Made it to Smithers. Original plan had been to take a rest day or two, catch up the blog and get ready for the road ahead. I will make a separate post catching things up with photos from the Cassiar and last six days of cycling since there is a bunch to tell there.

Unfortunately, also had some bike issues today – though circumstances were probably best situation to have these problems. In short, it looks like my “freehub” has failed. The freehub ratchets things so one direction the hub spins freely and the other direction it engages and lets you drive the gears forward. I will work with local bike shop (McBike) to get best solution going forward.

I had been noticing an occasional “slip” earlier on the Cassiar and was hoping it was signs of a stretched/worn chain and not a failing hub. If I was cycling under full load, it wouldn’t happen but in a not complete load e.g. downwind/downhill or starting to engage it would slip just a bit. It was hard to get the exact sequence of when it happened, but I figured I would bring the bike to Smithers bike shop and replace the chain/cassette and also sort out this issue. So I had already planned a day or two as rest day here and had even emailed the McBike bike shop from the Cassiar to let them know I would bring the bike in over this weekend.

Today started same as normal where I had an occasional slip, but no more or less than normal. In the afternoon there were a few hills to climb over and also a nice tailwind from the north. The slipping was a bit more with the tailwind still tolerable. I had lunch in New Hazelton at 48km and another stop in Moricetown at 84km. I was looking forward to getting the last 30km and riding into Smithers.

At 97km there was a short hill to climb over. I geared down, but the slips seemed to increase compared with before. I tried several different gear combinations, but by time I was at top of the hill, it was now spinning freely in the wrong direction. The freehub had failed. I knew I was within 17km of downtown Smithers so worst case even within walking distance. The weather was good and the road was ok for walking. So I started walking with the bike. However, I had gone less than 300m when a pickup truck pulled up. He had noticed me walking and figured this wasn’t quite the right situation. I showed the issue and before I know it bike and all gear was in back of the pickup and on way to McBike.

We unloaded things downtown and did an initial diagnosis. We’re still in process of sorting everything out. The general direction would be either to build up a 36-spoke wheel from components here or to somehow get freehub components sent up here. Unfortunately, McBike doesn’t have a 36 hole hub in stock and Monday is a holiday in British Columbia. So we may have some things to sort out by Tuesday morning. In any case, probably best place to have this happen and otherwise was planning on looking around Smithers but might have a bit more time here than originally planned.

So time to let things unfold and sort out the immediate situation as well as figure out reasons why the freehub failed as soon as it did. I’ve had them fail before January 3rd and 8th 2001 in New Zealand and also in Thailand in 2007 and in Botswana April 2013 and December 2015 in San Clemente – so it is a circumstance I knew could happen but surprised it happened as quickly as it did since previous failing hubs generally had more mileage on them.

UPDATE 30 July
Had a chance to sort out a few more things here. In general my action plan is as follows:

  • Plan A (preferred) – get hold of the hub manufacturer when they open for business on Monday morning. See how quickly I might be able to get a replacement hub sent to Smithers. I actually sent their sales/service email addresses an email yesterday evening but no response so likely needs to wait until they are open for business.
  • Plan B (backup) – McBike doesn’t have a 36-spoke hub. However, the other bike shop C.O.B. does have a hub that should be possible to build a 36-spoke wheel. If Phil Woods can’t solve the problem or get a replacement shipped in reasonable time, then build a replacement wheel here to get on the road. In mean time, ship away the old wheel back to US and work with Phil Woods on replacement/fix after that.

Having a three day holiday doesn’t help but just need to get some time to get everything sorted out.

Meziadin Lake

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Short update from Meziadin Lake campground where wifi works when others are asleep but was too congested to connect yesterday. Three days of cycling brought me here:

  • First day had strongest headwinds of the trip. Had good full breakfast but also later start. Kept going until found good spot to camp at Bob Quinn wayside.
  • Second day was short ride to Bell2 lodge, a nice upscale, but expensive wilderness lodge. Met several other cycle tourists here headed southbound including Mark and Hana. Coming the other way was a group of 19 riding from Austin to Anchorage from Texas 4000.
  • Third day started easier with 60km mostly following river but last third went over large hill to reach Meziadin junction. At junction was work camp and had dinner in cafe with log truck drivers before going to provincial park

Still continues to be beautiful wilderness road going through valleys created from glaciers.
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Above is photo of Texas 4000 cyclists I met. Earlier in the day, I had met some folks with a camper who told me there was a large group of young people cycling from Houston. I had a guess it might be Texas4000, so when I saw the crew above cycling, I held out a thumb and pinkie and yelled “Go horns!”. They responded and hence confirmed that this was an Austin-based group who had left in early June. Later after I arrived at Bell2, the rest of the Texas4000 group arrived. Apparently, the group in photograph above was doing a “challenge ride” of 200+ miles from Meziadin Junction to Dease Lake. The rest of the group was cycling that distance in three days and would meet up later.

Likely two more days on the Cassiar to reach somewhat more populated Yellowhead Highway and one or two days from there to Smithers. Photos wait until I have better connections.

Iskut

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Weather today was not pleasant.
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Started out today at 7C (45F) and light rain. Motorcyclists looked at me as if I was a bit crazy, though we also agreed that I’d better generate heat than they sitting with cold wind chill. Fortunately, there was also some climbing on the agenda to generate the heat.

One kilometer in, I came across the sign above about an Arctic/Pacific watershed divide. Apparently, Dease Lake drains north to Dease River and eventually into the MacKenzie River in the Arctic Ocean. Barely up a few feet, areas south of the lake drain to the Tanzilla River to Stikine River and then to the Pacific. Only 822m according to the sign.

The first 9km had some gradual climbs until I reached the Tanzilla River itself. From here it would be 6km of steeper climbs and another 5km to reach the summit of Gnat Pass.
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The rain had paused and I was still fresh, so put it into low gear and slowly made my way up the pass. As I climbed it rained a bit more and the temperature dropped. By time I was at the top (1241m), it was 4.3C (39F) and there was also a bit of a headwind. Fortunately, it didn’t get colder after that.
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There were some nice lakes and the road generally trended downwards. It did warm a degree or two, but had to be careful to keep moving enough to keep warm. Close to 40km, the road descended a good bit to cross the Stikine River.
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There was an area for truck drivers to check their brakes. Overall, the signs said “6%” but that was only one or two spots and overall I think the grade was less. The bottom was at 51km and 692m elevation, so I lost all the gains I had made for the day.
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The bridge had a metal deck and I walked across rather than slipping in the wet. The river was surprisingly large. This overall river area is part of a provincial park. On the other side, the climb began again. Next 7km had some solid climbs including a section with steep curves where they had let the road go back to gravel. However, with almost as much energy as the first climb, I was soon back to the plateau. Along the way, the worst of the cold rain seemed to finish as well, though still had occasional drops.
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Up ahead I saw something cross the road. Didn’t quite seem like either bear or moose. Once I got closer, I found these three horses. They all had bells on them so made noise as they moved around. I stopped at a rest area and had a bit of of lunch at 60km. Every 5km there is a marker along the road, today had started 480, 475, 470,… I was amused to see that instead of “420” there was a milepost “421” instead. Most likely to keep people from stealing the sign.

Once up top, there was another brief drainage to cross to reach ~1100m and after this a good descent into Iskut. In this stretch of road, the headwinds picked up and it was still cold. Saw a B&B and was tempting to stop here, but continued to reach Iskut store at 82km. While I didn’t need further supplies, this one would have been sufficient to stock up on provisions (unlike Good Hope Lake). After this another 16km south of town, most of it going along the lake before reaching the Tatogga Resort.
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I was motivated to reach here, not so much to see the moose but instead to get a motel room out of the rain (more expected overnight) and recharge here for the next segment of the Cassiar. Overall, it never got much above 12C and particularly the first ~60km were rather cold and wet. While the lodge does have the moose mentioned above, it also has a rather nice set of overview maps so can get a sense of the terrain ahead.

Dease Lake, avoiding the rain

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Three days of cycling brought me to small settlement of Dease Lake. Each day had some rain, though fortunately avoided it during most of the the cycling hours.
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Left Nugget City after a good breakfast, refreshed and ready to see the Cassiar Highway. At 1km, I turned south to the junction and at 5km, I came to the border with British Columbia shown above. First impressions of the road were good, at least as smooth as the chip-seal Alaska Highway. A bit narrower, both in the road and in how much of the side vegetation had been cleared.
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I saw a fox in the distance not long after I entered BC. He watched me briefly and then scurried away. The first 30km along the road had an initial climb and then a lot of quick short hills. In contrast to the Alaska Highway, the Cassiar seems to stay “closer” to the grade and hence had quite a few quick, short and steep grades. That took some getting used to and the first 30km were a bit slower. In return, it felt a bit more “wilderness” than the larger and busier Alaska Highway. There were still a moderate amount of RVs and motorcycles and even some 18-wheeler trucks but perhaps 50% less overall.
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I crossed some older burned out areas. At 44km as I passed Wheeler Lake, the short steep little hills had largely subsided and the chip seal was replaced with perfectly smooth asphalt. Wow!
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At 60km, stopped briefly at Beaverdam rest area and talked with a truck driver with car carrier bringing seven vehicles up to Eagle River. He warned me of some construction ahead closer to Dease Lake. It also started to rain lightly. However, without too much trouble I was able to find my way to Boya Provincial Campground.
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The campground was a beautiful site with two campsites for bicycles with picnic table and right by the lake. It was a great place to camp. Some rain in the evening and also overnight.
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Woke up on second day at 4am to rain on the roof. I let it rain for a while, but not much past 5am, I was ready to get up. Not too far from my campsite was a covered space for the canoe/boat landing. I moved my tent, bike and gear under the shelter and made breakfast. This let me get ready out of the rain and by time I was ready to go, the rain had mostly stopped.
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In distance to the north (unfortunately I was headed south), I could see the sun under edge of the clouds. However, it did stay dry on second day until I reached my next camp. First 2km to go back to the main road and then follow the road over some small hills. Theme for day two was “Cassiar Mountains” as I spent the entire day slowly weaving my way between the mountains.
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Another image from second day where you can see the Cassiar Highway.
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At 15km, I came to “Good Hope Lake” and just in time for the gas station to open. This was also listed as a store, though I would have been disappointed if I had relied on this for provisions. Good thing I got them in Watson Lake.
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At 40km, I came to Jade City. While it is listed on the map as “city” what you see above is most of it. Apparently, a large percentage of the world’s Jade is mined near here and the store above has lots of different sizes and types for sale. I got a coke and candy bar and instead refueled here. Also interesting to meet a guy who had raced Tour Divide last year with an impressive 27 day finish (100 miles/day). He also told me to avoid carrying too much extra on the Great Divide route.
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Above is Needle Nose mountain. The route kept threading its way past these mountains and first along a sequence of lakes. I crossed over top of current drainage near 60km and then a good descent for several kilometers to the Cottonwood River. From here mostly flat before the road started following the Dease River uphill.
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Met a cyclist who started in Ohio on May 17th and was headed to Alaska. We traded information about the road ahead. Not much further, I found a good spot to camp near Pyramid Creek. 86km for the day, but a pretty ride. As far as timing goes, not long after I set up camp it started to rain. Was nice to be snug in the tent with the rain heading down, though did go out later to make dinner.
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Third day started a bit cold and ugly. It rained a fair amount overnight and in morning when I woke up as well. I procrastinated getting up for a while and as my luck had it, it did mostly stop raining in time for me to make breakfast and pack camp. However, it was cool (8C) and never really warmed up this day. Also later in the day, I got a bit of a headwind. I put my rain jacket on and also sweated some into it.
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Some minor road construction to start. These guys were using a machine to trim some of the foliage closest to the road.
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The larger construction was the “Sawmill to Serpentine” project for 27km. In addition to a number of kilometers of gravel, this happened to correspond to spot where the road climbed a fair amount away from the lake and then descended up and down over some steep little hills. The hills, gravel and reappearance of wet spotty rain meant for some slow cycling. Fortunately not that long of a day and I found myself into Dease Lake a little before 1pm.
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Coming into Dease Lake, I was amused to find some other businesses giving their directions as “turn left at the restaurant”, implying there was only one restaurant. However then found that even that restaurant was closed. However, a reasonable grocery here along with a deli grill. Got a motel room with kitchenette to dry my gear and also can make some things from the grocery. Looking to regroup here and looks like might be slightly damp next few days as well.

Watson Lake, signpost forest

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Today I cycled to Watson Lake to pick up some groceries. Nugget City is ~1km from intersection with Cassiar Highway but ~22km from Watson Lake. I could leave my heavy panniers behind. I was surprised at how much easier it was to pedal. This will be useful to figure out for Great Divide if there is anything else I can reduce the weight.
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Last night there was a group of 30+ airstream trailers that also stayed here for two days. It is an organized group on a two month trip going up the Alaska Highway and back down again.
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It was overcast and slight drizzle as I left. One kilometer I passed the start of the Cassier shown below.
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It was mostly downhill until the Liard River at 12km and then a several kilometer climb. This is particularly where I noticed the weight difference.

At 22.5km was a Yukon visitor station located at the “Signpost Forest”. I thought it was a fun place and have multiple photos below. The visitor center also had one of the better films and photos about construction of the Alaska Highway. Some items I learned:

  • Motivation to build the road came just after Pearl Harbor with concern that Japan could attack Alaska and establish a beachhead to attack North America. This concern was magnified in May 1942 when Aleutian Islands Attu and Kiska were taken and skirmishes made around Dutch Harbor.
  • The route was chosen in part to link together a set of airfields along the “Northwest Staging Route”. These airfields were used to fly US-built airplanes across the Bering Strait to Russia where under “lend lease” they were painted with Russian marking and used in battle on the eastern front in Europe.
  • It took less than ten months to build the original “mud road”. That is the amount of time between when congress authorized the work and when victory was declared. At the time congress authorized the work, they hadn’t yet gotten agreement from Canada, it was just assumed it would be given as part of the war effort.
  • It took ~20,000 people to build the original road. A majority of these were US military, though also a good portion of contractors as well. The cost was $150 million in 1942 dollars so a large expenditure for the time. This included up to seven miles of bridging and 50 miles of culverts built
  • In 1943, the Public Roads Administration (PRA) was chartered to turn the mud road into an all weather gravel road. After that first winter, when it melted, many bridges watched out and road bulldozed over frozen muskeg melted becoming impassible bog. That started a gradual level of improvement of the route.
  • In 1946, after the war, the road was turned over to Canada. Canada made payment of approximately 1/2 of the original construction costs.

Overall I found it interesting after traveling half of this road, to see how it originally came to be and was constructed 74 years ago.

The other interesting here was the signpost forest. In 1942, one of these construction workers, Carl Lindley, placed a sign indicating direction and distance to his hometown of Danville, Illinois.
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It went viral (pre-internet, viral over many years), after that with a steady progression of signs being placed. By 1988, there were over 6000 signs in the signpost forest. Now there are more than ten times as many.
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Below you’ll see some of the pictures I took of signs.
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Above you’ll see one from Northern Colorado
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These folks were from New Berlin Wisconsin. They were happy to have found “their” sign.
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Dutch readers will notice a few places from the Netherlands in this one.
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My grandparents lived in Stadskanaal for a while.
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Another collection of signs.
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After all wandering around around the signpost forest, I stopped by post office to mail away a few items. I also found grocery story below. After that cycled to far end of town to the recommended restaurant (BJ’s) and then cycled back to Nugget City. It rained a bit more on the way back but overall a nice day trip of almost 50km round trip.
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Tomorrow plan is to start down the Cassiar Highway. The position of services suggests likely 9 cycling days of ~80km per day to cycle the Cassiar. Will be interesting to compare with Alaska Highway.

Nugget City, 20km west of Watson Lake

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Three days of cycling, brought me from Teslin to the junction of the Cassiar and Alaska Highways. I split the 243km distance into three not extremely long days, though there were a surprising number of short steep hills to climb.
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First day set the theme for hill climbing. Once I crossed the Teslin Bridge shown above, there was a 3km long climb that started with 150m for the day. After that a descent, but in the first 40km to Morley River, a surprising number of little hills and drainages to cross.

I had started a little past 8am, later for me but waited for lodge to open and get breakfast as well as read paper and do the sudoku puzzle.
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After climbing out of the Morley River drainage, around 45km brought me to the border with British Columbia. The Alaska Highway makes a total of seven crossings of the YT/BC border before finally leaving YT a bit east of Watson Lake. Not much past this sign was a rest area where I met a group of 22 Norwegian motorcyclists on their way up the Alaska Highway. It still surprises me how many of such groups still ride this road as a big adventure.
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In this next stretch I saw two cyclists heading the other way. First didn’t stop, but second let me know that my potential end-point, above, wasn’t going to be that interesting. I had picked a rest area that was also listed as access to fishing, thinking this meant one could get to water. However, as can see above the rest area was wide open and no easy access either. However, without much difficulty went 2km further to end at 93km and down beside the road at place known as Screw Creek. First night sleeping in BC.
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Second morning, over a few more hills and the road led back into the Yukon with a fairly simple sign shown above. I was climbing up to a continental divide crossing – naming the dividing point between waters that drain to the Yukon and waters that drain to the McKenzie River. One sign suggested that presence of predicable food supply (salmon) in the Yukon led to less nomadic populations.
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I also met these three Canadian cyclists at the continental divide crossing. They were headed towards Inuvik and had a 170km day planned today.
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A pleasant surprise just two km later where there was a lodge open that I hadn’t expected. The normal cook was away and the woman behind the grill made lots of excuses about not being a real cook, but breakfast tasted just fine.

Another 18km later was the Rancharia Lodge. I stopped and had a smaller bite to eat here as would be last spot for 100km. Also surprised to find open internet here.
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After the Rancharia Lodge, the road mostly followed the river and so fewer steep little climbs though did get some headwinds in compensation.
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At the bridge before Rancharia River leaves the route, found a nice spot to camp. Only 86km for the day but that also left only 60km for day three.
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One thing I do find interesting is a lot of the graffiti on the outhouse walls is of the form “we were here” from travelers on their way to or from Alaska. I didn’t add to it.
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Here is a picture of that Rancharia River bridge. Also interesting to me that they built the original road in 8 or 9 months and just punched through whatever they needed to bulldoze a road. However, now 74 years later it is clear the bridge crossings have been upgraded and the overall road grading is gentle grades sometimes high and above the small creek/drainage crossings. That makes it a bit of a guess to find the ones that might allow some type of access so you can camp and also get water from the rivers.
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Third day was a shorter and not as tough day. However, still a number of hills to cross as you can see above the road crossed several drainages. Without too much difficulty made my way into Nugget City and was a able to check into a room for two nights here.
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The photo above gives a good overview of the two different road choices from here to Prince George. One way would be to continue to the end of the Alaska Highway at Dawson Creek. This route is ~100km shorter. The other way is to now go down the Cassiar Highway via Dease Lake and Smithers. This road has been upgraded recently and is now supposed to be all paved. There will still be some gaps between services so may need to cycle into Watson Lake tomorrow to get some groceries.

This marks ~4 weeks on the road since leaving Deadhorse. I still haven’t seen stars in the sky. There is now 6 hours between sunset ~11pm and sunrise ~5am but it doesn’t go very far below the horizon so not really dark (or I’m asleep in too much of this time). However, I was able to notice a nice moon last night around 1am, so expect to see more dark in next weeks as I head more directly south.

Teslin, along the lakes

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Two days of cycling brought me further to Teslin a small community 180km away from Whitehorse and on the shore of Lake Teslin.
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I was well rested as I left the big city of Whitehorse behind. I’m told the photo above is the last Tim Hortons I will see until I reach Smithers, ~1200km from Whitehorse. Also last bike shop. Hopefully won’t need either a bike shop or Tim Hortons before then.
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Overcast skies but pretty much stayed dry all day. The road started up along the Yukon River and then quickly climbed the escarpment to reach the Alaska Highway at 7km. Went along some roadside businesses but overall Whitehorse is fairly sprawled out. At 21km I took a break at the cutoff to the Klondike Highway I had taken yesterday (in the bus) that led to Carcross and Skagway. There were signs here that told which weekends were “non-motorized” in the winter, presumably to give cross country skies some time without snow mobiles as well.
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Not sure who Buckwheat is but friends made a nice memorial along the road.
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At 32 km the road descended and crossed the Yukon River. Nice little park here as well as boat ramp. The road then paralleled Marsh Lake for next 30km.
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Some was right along the lake, but most seemed to climb and descend little hills along the banks.
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I saw three cyclists the first day – coming the other way. Above was one of a brother and sister who were cycling up to Whitehorse and then Inuvik. Prior to that also came across Paul who was also cycling to Inuvik. It was nice to stop along the way and compare notes about upcoming road conditions and services.
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At 84km was Jake’s crossing and a chance to get a late lunch.
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From here I cycled 24km further to camp at provincial campground: Squanga Lake. There were spots for RVs and also a separate tent section. It was interesting to see who arrived in the tent section:

  • Matthias from Leipzig was another cyclist who started after I had from Deadhorse and was headed to Calgary. He had gone longer miles per day and actually leapfrogged ahead but then spent two rest days in Whitehorse so rode from there this first day as well.
  • There was a German fellow with a canoe who had paddled from Whitehorse along the rivers/lakes was now making his way back.
  • There was a German couple in the overland vehicle below. They had gone up to Prudhoe Bay and were now slowly winding their way south, eventually also via Latin America.

All German speaking and all on an extended holiday. I get the sense most of those in RVs are US as well as a reasonable share of those on on motorcycles. However cyclists is a smaller share of those from US. On several occasions so far, folks initially guess my nationality as Canadian. Not sure why, but perhaps I’m picking up lingo, eh? Or perhaps just fewer of my age group doing these types of extended trips?
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We got some rain overnight, but campground had a nice cooking shelter so bike was dry.
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On second day, had a breakfast in camp and then cycled 20km down the road to reach a second breakfast at Johnson’s Crossing. Nice RV park and café here. It was located at the Teslin River Bridge.
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Also the intersection with the Canol road. A short-lived project conceived to build a pipeline from Norman Wells some ~500km away and pump through the wilderness. The road and pipeline were abandoned in 1944 after the war scare passed and more economical sources of oil could be found. However the first half of the road is still here as a rugged road.
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A little bit later I came across Shon and Jihyun a Korean couple cycling on a tandem. Their bags said “Alaska/Argentina” and they had started in Ushuaia three years ago and were on their way to Prudhoe Bay. Wow! It was fun get a few glimpses of their trip.

From here cycled the last bits to Teslin. The second day was a shorter day of only 72km and a somewhat easier day before doing a three day stretch across to Watson Lake.

Whitehorse, rest day

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Today decided to avoid the bike and instead become a tourist.
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This area has been shaped by several events from the past, particularly the Klondike Gold Rush and the construction of the Alaska Highway in the second world war.

Gold was found near Dawson City in 1896 leading to ~100,000 people “stampeding” on their way to riches and fortunes. Problem was the gold was very remote, ~500km north of here along the Yukon River valley. Steamships going up the Yukon were slow and only could go some of the year. Hence, many of the folks on their way to the gold fields went first to Skagway, Alaska where there is deep water port and then just a matter of climbing ~3000ft over the coastal range, building a boat and floating down the Yukon.

The Canadian RCMP wanted to make sure those traveling had sufficient goods to survive and hence enforced particular limits amounts of flour, sugar and other goods (link from previous bike trip) – the total weight usually totaling to a ton. All of this had to be carried to top of the passes, requiring many trips. By 1900 a railroad was built to top of the pass and then on to Whitehorse. While the largest boom of the stampede was past, that railroad continued to run until 1982 including a particularly busy time in WWII to help construct the road.

By 1988, the railroad was opened back up – but this time for tourists. My goal for the day was to take a tour on the railroad as well as visit Skagway.
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The railroad lines into Whitehorse have been abandoned, so we started with a bus ride. Down the Alaska Highway and then on the Klondike Highway past Carcross where we took a short break. Carcross retirement home shown below.
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At Frasier we boarded the narrow gauge railroad. This was 27.7 miles from Skagway.
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After a short climb we came to the top of White Pass as well as the US/Canada border. Below are flags from US, Alaska, British Columbia, Yukon Territory and Canada.
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It was a rather scenic ride down the valley. One could see the narrow tracks, steep cliffs and great views as the train slowly inched its way down.
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About two hours later we found our way down to sea level and in the town of Skagway. It took a bit to clear US customs and then I was in the town. I think Skagway is a rather strange town.
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A beautiful scenic location, but also extremely influenced by the ~900,000 visitors each summer that come from the cruise ships that dock in the harbor. As a result, everything in the first eight blocks seems to be oriented towards having these cruise ship passengers get off their boats and buy or do something to get their Alaska experiences or souvenirs. In 2000, I did a cycle trip from Haines to Skagway and then I remember a preponderance of moose towels for sale.
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By now there seem to be a number of different things: (a) gold and jewelry (b) T-shirts, hats and other types of apparel (c) food (d) tours or quick experiences, e.g. Sockeye cycle would haul you up the road and let you ride down (e) various knickknacks in the “Alaska” category like towels, magnets and similar.
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Skagway can handle up to four large cruise ships at a time. Today was a “four ship day”. I was told every other Sunday was a “one ship day” but other days are all busier. Signs on the load streets suggest this madness all lasts from May 1st to October 1st and then Skagway somehow becomes something different.
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I did find the local bicycle shop (Sockeye cycles) and was able to buy a tube here. A brief bit of background. While today was a tourist day without cycling, I had tried installing a new front tire last night. The tire stayed briefly on and then slipped off the rim, “pow!”. Yikes, hopefully just bad mounting on my part, but I was a bit cautious. I put a new tire back on and partially inflated (30 psi) and made sure all was seated well. This morning before I left, I increased to 50 psi. After coming back from the tour, I went the full 70 psi and cycled unloaded some around town. It does seem to be ok.

However, at Sockeye cycles I was able to get an extra tube and also noticed they sell good 700x35C Schwalbe as well.
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On the way back we stopped briefly in Carcross and then back into Whitehorse. Too late for local sport shops to be open, but there is a large Canadian Tire store that seemed to have most of what I needed. Overall a fun and different day as a tourist.

Tomorrow will pack up and back on the road. Expect approximately five days from here along the Alaska Highway to reach Watson Lake (two to Teslin and three from Teslin to Watson Lake).

Whitehorse, riding to the big city

A bicycle ride across the Americas Posted on by

I figured I would ride the 100 miles from Haines Junction to Whitehorse in two not very difficult days. I had cycled this road twice before both times in a day, but even then it was a long day.
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It was a cool morning and all was riding well as I departed around 7:30am. Past the airport and soon in the more rural areas. However, I did notice a few more “subdivisions” in this segment, so looks like more people are moving or putting summer cabins here. Around 15km, I could see a small patch of wet pavement ahead. Rather strange thing as I cycled into the sprinkling rain on the pavement and then 3km further it was dry again. It was as if a rain cloud had chosen just this small part of the road to water. Looking back I could see the rainbow in photo above.
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Otter Falls was at 32km and good spot to have a real breakfast. Friendly waitress who suggested I take the road past Champagne rather than the main road. Also a friendly and curious dog who mostly was trying to figure out if I’d give it a treat. The pavement was still good to this point, though started getting more chip seal after this. A few small hills to go over but overall going fast than previous days.
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At 59km signs told me of 8km of road construction. Lots of dust here and a hard surface that was tougher to ride. Fortunately, at 60km was the turnoff to Champagne. This was the old road until 2002 when a bypass was constructed. Champagne was a native (First Nations) village that was 5km into the road. This route was great! Not only was there no traffic, but the chip seal was similar in surface to the main Alaska Highway. I also got to skip 7km of dusty dirt road. There were two short steep hills but nothing too bad.
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The town of Champagne had a tourist information sign as well as this building with collection of hubcaps. Presumably, the collection is growing less now.

It was another 10km along the Champagne old road until I rejoined the Alaska Highway. I figured I would go a bit further and then find a spot close to water and camp for the night. Still early, but this way I would split the ride into two easy segments. At Mendenhall there was sign for B&B/Cabins that were now “closed” and at 90km was a wayside rest area but signs for no camping as well as no water.

However, 2km further the road crossed Stoney Creek. Found a lovely camp site where a side road went up to the creek and set up tent to relax for the afternoon. While I was there three different vehicles pulled up. Folks got out and either filled up water jugs and/or let a dog loose to frolick in the water. Apparently, this is where folks in Mendenhall subdivision get their water.
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Next morning got my bags together and set off a little past 7am. Right now I’ve got four panniers and am working through how I might reduce things to two panniers for the Great Divide Route. I should be able to do it, but will need to carefully sort through what I’m using and what not.

Start of the morning always seems to go quickly with a lot of energy and fairly quickly rode past the Takhini River Bridge.
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This area has a region known as the Salt Flats where local water has become very alkaline and also a number of small lakes such as the one above. Either the hills increased a bit after this or I my early enthusiasm was wearing less but was getting more tired once I passed the city limits sign.
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near 45km. However, city limits doesn’t mean city and I had more than 15km to go. Whitehorse struck me as an interesting small/big town. In the next section the town was small enough that they could list multiple signs with services: first the gas stations, then the motels, then the other services, etc. However, this went on for nearly 10km along the road and hence the big part of it.

Without too much difficulty, I got myself into the city center and found a motel. This is the first town in 1000km with a Walmart.
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More importantly, I got several key items in my shopping list: a tire, a tube and shoelaces. There are two bike shops in town.
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I stopped by both and was impressed that both had reasonable Schwalbe foldable tires. My front tire went flat just as I went to the motel, but plan is to put a new tire in the front, get ride of the one with sidewall tear and use my old front tire as a spare [there will be a quiz :)]. That should last until next town with a bike shop which I’m told is Smithers BC ~1250km from here.
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I was even impressed that the town is big enough there are bike lockers to rent and store a bike. I’ve wandered around to the Walmart, past the downtown as well as visited both bike shops. Plan for tomorrow is to take a rest day here and be a tourist before doing the next section to Watson Lake. It is nice being in a big city even if the population is ~25,000 or so.

Haines Junction

A bicycle ride across the Americas Posted on by

It rained.

Today the rain made for a tougher day than it otherwise would have been. Forecasts told me 80% chance in Destruction Bay (my starting point) and only 30% chance in Haines Junction (my ending point), so figured it would only be getting better.
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Skies were overcast but otherwise dry and 10C (50F) when I started out. Fortunately, no more headwinds from yesterday. Slowly going down the road when at 13km, my front tire went flat. The tire has some small holes and something must have gotten in to puncture. I patched the tube but it already had four patches so also swapped in a new tube. Took my time carefully getting everything right. As I was doing this it started to sprinkle. Put on my rain jacket anyways and from that point until 80km point, it never stopped raining.
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At 26km, I came past an RV park and right at this point, Dave and Sarah came out. They had stayed there last night at a nice spot right along the lake. In this stretch the road followed the coast and if you look closely on photo above, you can see them cycling on the bend.

The road followed the lake around the next turn and suddenly the headwind was back. Coming due from south. The rain increased and temperature dropped to ~7C (45F). It was tough and cold riding. Up ahead at 36km was a small visitor area where I stopped in to warm up. Had nice exhibits about the Kluane Wilderness area and also one could rent bear canisters here and then return them in a “bear canister drop box”.

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Fortunately, after visitor area the road followed the lake shore around and then down wind. Still wet but better. At 44km the road also started to slowly climb away from the lake. The photo above was one of the plaques at 50km rest area.

The summit was at 52km and then a quick drop and then climbing again. The rain and cold increased in intensity so no photos for the next 50km. I was still warm enough but considered finding a spot to pitch the tent and just get a stop to the rain. However, one thing that kept me going was far ahead I could see a patch of blue sky. While it was still wet and cold at least the road ahead looked better than behind.

It took until 80km before the rain eased and then fairly quickly also stopped. The road was suddenly dry. Wow! It also warmed to 10C and then slowly a bit more. At 86km I reached a second summit, at 1004m the highest point between Fairbanks and Whitehorse.
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The next 14km past the summit was suddenly descent. No need to pedal, but instead watch to make sure I didn’t pick up too much speed. Somewhat amusing I found this sign around 96km warning of school buses and knew I was coming back to civilization. This community has around 100 residents, so not sure they have more than one or two school buses.

At 100km the chip seal ended. Wow! Smooth asphalt, it had been a while and definitely made a difference. Rode the last several 6km to reach Haines Junction. Overall 60km of wet rain and two longer climbs made for a bit longer day, though a 14km descent at the end still made it not too tough. I then got a chance to wander around Haines Junction.
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On the main highway intersection is this statue. Locals call it “the muffin” since it looks like a large muffin with animals embedded. Interestingly enough on several back streets there are also blue signs directing people to “the muffin”. I found a nice bakery (opens at 7am!) and they also had a muffin sign but explained the inside joke to me.
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Here is small church
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Here is sign explaining the church.
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Here is overview photo showing the Haines Junction highway intersection but also the dramatic mountains found nearby.