< Day one, Fairbanks to Delta Junction
Day two – 68.9 miles
We knew that day two was a lower mileage day, and that lower mileage meant climbing (a destination name like “Top of the World Camp” was a good indicator too.) We broke camp in cold rain at 5:45. We learned that when it’s raining, you don’t set foot outside your tent until you’re fully clothed with bags packed. Our shoes, gloves and helmets were still wet from the day before, but our clothing, though cold, was dry underneath our rain suits. After packing up the tent and ground cloth, we had breakfast and headed out.
On the road, we discovered extreme butt pain. Worse than the hurt though, was the fear that it would be that way for the next 5 days. It wouldn’t. After 10 miles or so it got a lot better, allowing us to refocus on dealing with the weather. We had followed good council and dressed in layers, put neoprene booties over our shoes, and wore various combinations of hats, hoods and balaclavas. Through all this, we discovered the basic paradigm of trying to stay warm in rain – if you wear something that keeps water out, it also keeps sweat in… either way you’re wet. By the time we were warmed up, we were a little sweaty, and we couldn’t stop for very long without getting cold. The temperature was thirty something and it was still raining. If we kept moving we were warm enough, and that was the plan.
As it became more and more clear that we could count on adversity from Mother Nature, I had a call of the wild of a more personal type, with no outpost in sight. So we kept our eyes open for shrubbery appropriate for such duty. The road had leveled off and we found ourselves hoping for a climb to keep warm. On the brief descents we’d had over the last few miles, we came to associate downhill with cold in a profound way. As we had hoped, we found both the welcome climb and the appropriate shrubbery. The rain was turning to snow.
We had stopped at an unpaved roadside turnout with about five or six other bikes, marveling at the snow, the mountains and the plain fact that we were actually riding in Alaska! But it was too cold to stop for long, so I took care of business and we kept moving. As we approached the second outpost, there were many more people than at any outpost from the day before. The cold was taking its toll.
Under the med tent were riders with Mylar blankets wrapped around them to stay warm. Other riders were taking scissors to the Mylar and putting it in their shoes, under jerseys, anywhere it seemed might help. We did the same, cutting out large squares and putting them between our socks and shoes and putting foot warmers in too. We ate and decided to keep going.
When we tried to leave, ride officials stopped us. We missed the sweep time while we were at the outpost. Our day was done. We waited for the SAG bus with the others, walking around to keep the edge off the cold. Later it would be called the mylar mingle, but our “keep moving-stay warm” plan had been thwarted, and we were not amused. On the ride to camp we slept a little, and for the most part left our disappointment on the bus.
Day two we camped at the foot of the Gulkana Glacier. In the orientation meeting they described sleeping there as “standing in front of an open freezer without any clothes on.”
Since we rode the SAG (support and gear) bus in, we had more time than usual and we found a way to dry off our stuff. The heater for the med tent had a large exhaust pipe and people were holding clothes in front of it. We did this too for a while, and then decided we could do better. Behind the same tent was a generator, with a metal grating covering the cooling vent. We put our shoes and gloves on the grating, and this worked nicely, though it did impart an odor not unlike truck exhaust.
Day three: Top of the World Camp to Gulkana Airport >
