Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Drame vélo et des bosses sur la Alcan

Bike Drama and Bumps On The Alcan

Kluane Lake B & B, breakfast isn’t till 8:00. It’s Yukon time, no need to be in a hurry. I make us koffee in my French press. Do not leave home without one! Taking in our little cabin it strikes me that it is very similar to my shed, except it has a bed instead of lawn mowers and snow blowers. My shed has more lights and electrical outlets. Huckleberry and I traveling need a lots of electrical outlets. I have camera batteries to recharge, laptop needs power, and the phone.  Huckleberry seems to have more gadgets to charge.  My next bike will have a power port in the Tour Pack, and I will charge as I go. Maybe I will take in gadgets to charge on the way. Gas money for gadget power.

Dust Blowing From The Shores Of Kluane Lake
Breakfast was wonderful. Lucille did a great job, even having seat assignments for some of her guests.

We pull out right after eating. Huckleberry leading, and me the star of her movie. Did that plywood police car really make her slow down? At Talbot Arms we stop for petrol. This is the only gas station anywhere in Canada that I have been that makes you pre pay for gas. From here to Tok the road gets rough. Lots of frost heaves dips tears, and some construction. We see two small black bears along the way, and several road signs that have lost their message. They are covered in black plastic and forced to stand where then once warned travelers of dangers.
Signs With Lost Meaning

We learned that whenever you came across these ghost signs it was best to slow up as the road was usually in poor shape.
When we went to go after taking that photo. Huckleberry’s bike was dead.  Dead on the Alcan where large hungry, pissed off at humans  omnivores roam. Should I give her the bear spray and get the hell out of here was my first thought, then that whole biker creed that I actually believe in of  riding as one no matter how many, and doing the right thing because it is the right thing to do. That raced through my mind. So should I take the safety off the bear spray then get the hell out of here? Huckleberry was eyeing my bike. She knew I was close enough to it with the fob so she could get the hell away.
Riding as one is really  something to believe in, so we worked as one. I had a fuse, she had tape. I had Phillip’s screwdriver and she had Allen’s wrench. People in cars that still believe in the code of the north, not to leave a traveler stranded stopped to make sure we were ok. A BMW rider with Northwest Territories plate turned around and not only made sure we were ok but even called us Alaskan Jewels.

Battery cables tightened we rolled up to the line at the Canadian amerika border. The land yachts ambled up to inspection while we chatted up other riders and a fellow from Idaho,  who was shooting the Alaska Marine Highway vessels and was on his way to Valdez. So much for local hire.

Beaver Creek is always a tough border crossing, and this time was no exception. The Guard came outside, and wanted us to stop at his shoe. He made us take off our sun glasses. Oh no we both have major goggle eyes going on. Will we be turned back? Forced to work for the koch brothers and carl rove dismantling the socialist Canadian health care system?  Lucky for the Canadians we get to put our dark glasses back on, cleared into  Tok.
Golden Bear has gotten so rider friendly that the propertrior brings us and the rider next door  freshly laundered  towels for our bikes. We park under the eaves, and that is a good thing as the morning brings our only day of rain. Breakfast at Fast Eddies and gas at the place where the card readers in the pump actually work and print a receipt.

Suited up and riding in a downpour that stops aboot 20 miles out of Tok. We tour Mentasta. Children smile and wave at us 
 Several miles away from the holy city, she who has no trunk NOAA  connection comes on with some good news. Eureka reporting 48 and cloudy. Sutton 50 something cloudy and Palmer 64 cloudy. Looks like we  won’t have to ride in the rain after all. Now all I got to do is get out of holiday mode…
One last strange sight from the holy city.


Do they know that this is not Tok. Or do they just believe its Tok?
That holy city a good place to avoid and do not eat the food.

1 comment:

  1. Sounds as if this adventure is ending ... will look forward to the next one, as always. French press coffee is awesome - we have a press at our house and the beverages it produces always get high marks from visitors.

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