Day 2

3 from Yosemite



San Francisco, who I'd like to meet

July

California coast and Canadian laundromat all in the same month.

Shiner

First taste in over 2 months. Just outside Denali National Park

Finally

Since I was a kid I begged my parents to get me a dirt bike, but they insisted that I would kill myself. After a few close calls while riding my cousins' bikes and my friend's 4wheeler, I realized they were probably right. Now that I'm a little bit older and slightly less stupid (relative to my childhood I've come around a bit, relative to sane people, I'm still crazy), I decided it's time for me to have a bike. I'm starting small so that I run out of throttle before I can get too wild, but I can barely contain myself from waking up early to go for a ride, when normally I'm not functional before 10am.

Andy and I have done some work on the bike, and I feel like it represents my character quite well. My bike and I together have a personality that demands attention, so it's fun to see people stop and stare out of the corner of my eye as I ride past them. Here she is before


And after

Below are some new posts. I wrote about 3 of the last days of the trip this summer. If you care to read them, it will make more sense if you read them in order since these 3 go together. So scroll down the one titled "Tok, Alaska..." and read up from there. Enjoy.

Nelchina, Alaska, Day 68, Aug 8th

Today brought to reality a whole new reason I should be sacred to have ridden alone those 180 miles. After taking a long break in Glenallen for lunch we were riding up the road until we came up on most of the team pulled over on the side of the road. One of our riders was sitting on the ground in shock after some mother fucker had stopped her and tried to pull her off into the woods, all the while hitting her in the face. We were all thoroughly shaken up and stuck around until we were told by the police that the troopers had caught the bastard. I thought I was going to have to hold Amy from going back to torture the piece of shit.

We're all procrastinating in the morning now; I think we're all trying to prolong being together, despite being sick of a few people. We got chased by a dog on the road just as we left this morning. He was dragging a big ass chain from his collar, and I think he just wanted to play, but none of us wanted to get pulled off our bikes onto the pavement so we scooted on by him.

Amy and I kept up the pace from there with a little help from a tailwind. I really enjoy riding with her. I realize what I missed out on for most of the summer by not riding people, but it wasn't like I could ride with Amy all summer since she was on the Rockies route. I am having so much fun with her, Marlowe and Walker. It takes me back to Day 2 when we parted ways with them, and I immediately felt a gap and that I had chosen the wrong route. I know now that's not the case, but nevertheless it would have been great to spend teh summer with them. I am relieved by the fact that I will still hang out with Amy in Austin, and that Walker and Marlowe are going back to NY so I won't see them anyway.

I rode in some freezing rain toward the end of the day and am glad I didn't have to do so when I was more sick since it hurts so bad to cough today and I can't seem to stop coughing.

At the little RV park store where we're staying there's a man sitting in the corner of the porch when I roll up, but I can't tell if he's a real man or one carved out of wood until he saws hello to me. Apparently he lives back in the woods somewhere.

We have a big dinner then some ice cream sandwiches. While we're stalking seconds of pasta in the mosquito tent, Miguel and "Boris" (Vitek) are drinking 40s of "Steel Reserve" beer. Quickly after eating we build a fire in a barrel and hobo up to keep warm. So fitting with the 40s. The owner let his dogs out so Winchester--an extremely friendly Golden--and Priscilla--a confused Saint Bernard--provided the night's entertainment. It was pretty funny watching a drunken Boris yell at Priscilla and try to convince her to sit down at his feet.

The next morning is the last time we'll fix breakfast. Since Jon and I are driving, we make as many pancakes as possible, but decide in the end that the BIGGEST pancakes possible is a better approach.

Chistochina, Alaska Day 67, Aug 7th

We rode a few miles down to Sourdough in the rain for the pancake breakfast they've planned for us. We're already wet and freezing--it's 55 degrees and raining--and no one wants to ride. Again I feel like riding in this weather will be detrimental to my health, and I'd rather ride 180 miles tomorrow to catch up with the team than make myself more sick riding in this all day. As the rest of the team is reluctantly heading off, I am unpacking my bag and refilling it with the necessary essentials to get me those 180 miles unsupported, hoping desperately that the weather will be better tomorrow. Oleg decided at the same time that he was going to try to ride for 24 hours straight the remaining 328 miles to Anchorage and arrive there 2 days early. If it wasn't for this damn weather, I would love to present myself with that challenge, but I'll have to do this 180 challenge instead. I've been sitting in the cafe here at the Sourdough Camp since mid morning and now it's 4:30. The RVers have been coming and going, and most of them are speaking foreign languages.

I have no concept of time anymore, or whether I'm riding up a hill or down since we always have a headwind. Being out in the Yukon was strange. I was so far away from anywhere I've ever been before, would ride all day and see the same hills and far-off mountains, but rarely any people. It seems like I'm moving myself as hard as I can all day long and getting nowhere. I hadn't talked to anyone from home in weeks, and when I was riding by myself sometimes I would be nearly overcome with feelings of abandonment and desolation. It got so bad at times that I would often think of Kelly. Further contributing to my disorientation was the fact that I was wearing my sunglasses at 10 o'clock at night and had to force myself to go to sleep when it was light at night. We left the bar in Destruction Bay at 11:30 and the sun was just setting.

So after sitting in the cafe for about 7 hours or so, the lady who owns it gave me some tea and reindeer chili in a sourdough bread bowl which was very tasty. Not too long after Jody's grandmom (her grandparents had planned their trip so they would be in Tok at the same time as us) came to get me after hearing of how I stayed behind. They took me to their trailer to sleep, fed me roast stew and scotch before I headed to bed. Not too long after being asleep, I heard a knock then Jordan, Daniel, and Oleg's voices. They hadn't taken me and Oleg seriously until they got to Chistochina and realized we weren't there. So J & D drove up 70 or so miles to get Oleg (he rode 170 miles before they caught him), then drove back 170 miles to pick me up. Then we drove the 90 scheduled miles for that day to the community center in Chistochina and arrived at 12:30 in the morning. Everyone was asleep when we got there, and I confused the cute boy on the floor (there were a couple of other people staying there too) for someone on our team who had decided to clean themselves up. Oleg and I raided the place and found some ice cream to eat before sacking out. On the way to Chistochina we saw a white fox on the road which made me realize I would have had to deal with possible wildlife encounters--bears and moose and whatnot--riding by myself in the middle of nowhere as I left at 3:30 in the morning to ride those 180 miles.

During breakfast the next morning we had another Darlene scare. As she was lighting the stove the gas had built up pressure, released and blown up into her face. After checking her over for melting flesh we saw only some fried hair, but no major deformations.

Tok, Alaska Day 66. Aug. 6th

I wake up feeling ill at 5 and then 7 am after tossing all night. It's raining and no one wants to get on the bike today. It's a short 50 mile day, but I'm torn over whether to ride & get more sick or sag for the day. At the last minute I decide to sag, and it's a good thing because as soon as I got in the car I passed out, exhausted. When I wake up there's a massive headwind which would have undoubtedly made me cry, and with my current absence of energy, I would never have made it into Tok. Rambo, Mike & I went ahead into Tok & arranged for us to stay at a church instead of the Sourdough Camp where we were supposed to stay since storms were on their way. Not long after getting to the church I ate dinner and laid down. I fell asleep at 7:44pm and woke up the next morning still feeling ill, with a scheduled 90 miles, and it's raining.

*There are no pictures from this day. Because of the rain, I didn't carry my camera.