Planning and New Equipment
Three good books used in the planning of this tour were, “Alaska” pub. by Lonely Planet, “Backroads of Alaska and the Yukon” pub. by Lone Pine Travel and “The Milepost.” The Milepost is the real bible to Alaska since 1949. If you are going to buy only one of these books get “The Milepost.” While it’s not 100% correct it’s still the best guide. The main problem with this book is that if a place does not buy an ad they may not got mentioned on the road maps that are in the book. Most travelers use just the road maps. But, they should get a mention is the verbiage that accompanies the maps. We found some places closed that was thought to be open and we found other places that were open and not mentioned at all.
While reading Bicycling Magazine I noticed an ad for Alaska bike jerseys. After the problem we had getting our Route 66 jerseys I gave Pat’s Bikes (Anchorage) a call and ordered one for me and one for David. Pat’s wife, Kathy, is the artist who won the design for the centennial licence plate for the state and has the copyright to the design which was also made into this bike jersey. It was really great to wear this jersey while riding in Alaska.
My riding partner, David, did most of the planning and research for this tour. He does a great job in this respect and is a wonderful guide for getting through busy towns using back roads. Our goal was to ride all the major paved highways in the state, Alaska Hwy, Tok Cut Off, Glenn Hwy, Parks Hwy, Richardson Hwy as well as Hwy 9, and 1, which covers the Kenia Peninsula . The only stretch of highway we missed was from Delta Junction to Tok.
I rode my Cannondale T-1000 with “Conit Top Touring” tires, 700x32. Rain gear, warm clothing, and a good tent is a must (or we thought it would be). I did buy a new down sleeping bag. It’s made by “Mountain Hardwear” of Richmond, CA. (www.mountainhardwear.com) The bag is their “Phantom 32.” It’s good to 32 degrees but the best part is that it only weights 1.5 lbs, and stuffs very small due to being filled with 800-down.. I did use my rain gear but for the most part did not need the warm clothing and I was to warm in the down bag. I also purchased a pair of waterproof gloves. These gloves are made by “Danalco” of Duarte, CA (www.danalco.com) I bought their “Chill-Blocker” model. They are fleece-lined and very waterproof. I must say that the gloves did not keep my hands as warm as I had hoped.
Alaska had a stretch of warm weather this year that was most uncommon for summer and broke the high record temps for many places. Of course the high temps and lightning storms were the cause for a lot of wild fires which was a real pain. On the good side was that I did not get one mosquito bit or for the most part was not even bothered by them, probably due to the high temps, smoke and the very dry weather.
Actual Route
date - our overnight - miles ridden - where we stayed
- 6-15 to Seattle David flew and I took Amtrak - Stayed with our friend Scott on Bainbridge Island
- 6-16 to Port Townsend - 66 miles - hostel
- 6-17 to Anacortes - 51 miles - camped
- 6-18 to Bellingham - 42 miles - camped on ferry (yes, put up our tents on deck)
- 6-19 Alaska State Ferry to Skagway - camped on ferry
- 6-20 Alaska State Ferry to Skagway - camped on ferry
- 6-21 arrive in Skagway - got our grubstake and mining equipment.
- 6-21 Skagway - rode 27 miles around town - hostel
- 6-22 Carcross - 70 miles - camped
- 6-23 Whitehorse - 53 miles - hostel
- 6-24 Haines Jct. - 102 miles - motel
- 6-25 Burwash Landing - 80 miles - motel
- 6-26 Pine Valley - 53 miles - cabin
- 6-27 Beaver Creek - 58 miles - motel
- 6-28 Northway - 70 miles - motel
- 6-29 Tok - 63 miles - hostel
- 6-30 Siana - 77 miles - B&B; (a must stop)
- 7-1 Glennallen - 80 miles - motel (Pipeline)
- 7-2 Sheep Mt. Lodge - 75 miles - hostel
- 7-3 Palmer - 68 miles - motel
- 7-4 Anchorage - 90 miles around town - hostel
- 7-5 Anchorage - 42 miles around town - hostel
- 7-6 Girdwood - 63 miles - hostel
- 7-7 Hope - 69 miles - B&B;
- 7-8 Seward - 81 miles - hostel
- 7-9 Seward - 43 miles around town - ferry to Homer, tent on ferry
- 7-10 Ferry to Homer with a stop at Kodiak Island, slept behind a building
- 7-11 Ninilchik - 54 miles - hostel (a must stop)
- 7-12 Copper Landing - 87 miles - Gwin’s Lodge
- 7-13 Seward - 59 miles - train to Anchorage - hostel
- 7-14 Wasilla - 57 miles - motel
- 7-15 Talkeetna - 82 miles - hostel
- 7-16 Denali State Park, milepost 134.5 - 61 miles - motel
- 7-17 Denali Nat’l Park, milepost 224.5 - 91 miles - hostel
- 7-18 Healy - 47 miles - motel (Pipeline)
- 7-19 Nenana - 65 miles - motel (Pipeline)
- 7-20 Fairbanks - 65 miles - hostel
- 7-21 Delta Junction - 105 miles - motel (Pipeline)
- 7-22 Paxson - 82 miles - motel
- 7-23 Sourdough - 54 miles - motel
- 7-24 Copper Center - 54 miles motel (Pipeline)
- 7-25 Tiekel River - 53 miles - cabin
- 7-26 Valdez - 64 miles - B&B;
- 7-27 Valdez - no miles - B&B;
- 7-28 Valdez - no miles - B&B;
- 7-29 Anchorage - 6 miles (ferry to Whittier - train to Anchorage) - rode to hostel
- 7-30 Anchorage - 54 miles around town - hostel
- 7-31 Palmer - 72 miles - motel
- 8-1 Anchorage - 66 miles around town - hostel
- 8-2 Anchorage - 56 miles around town - hostel
- 8-3 Anchorage - 74 miles around town - hostel
- 8-4 Fly home - 15 miles - my bed in Portland, Oregon
Legend
Black line = where we rode our bikes
Arrows = our direction to travel
Black dotted line = ferry ride
Red dotted line - train ride