Getting closer to Prudhoe Bay

Today Brad and I rode 586 miles - buy the way - Joe and his sickly bike made it to Prince Rupert yesterday and should almost be arriving at Port Hardy, Victoria Island right about now -- 10:45 Canada time.  We had a few hundred miles of bad road in the Yukon Territory; lots of frost heaves. 

The bridge is by the berg of Teslin, Yukon Territory and was a lot prettier in person.  The paddle Wheel was in WhiteHorse, the capital of the territory - about 22,000 people with only 35,000 people in all all of the Yukon.  These folks don't have a lot of money or many ways to make money.  Good people though. Everything is expensive here plus there is a 12% sales tax. 

More to come.

And on the seventh day.....................

Sunday was the 7th day of the trip and we rode 488 miles through some beautiful country.  I tried to post this last evening but the hampster running on the wheel to power the internet in the YukonTerrirory must have been tired.  We went to the Sign Forest in Watson Lake and it was worth the 30 mile detour - Watson lake was a bit of an armpit.

The Moose was running along side of me before he ducked into the forest - they are a lot bigger than this one looks in the picture - taken while I was riding about 60 MPH.

A few pictures around Hyder, AK

Hyder is the closest townsite in Alaska that you can drive to from the lower 48.  In 1998 a guy named Ron Ayers rode a motorcycle theu all lower 48 states then up to Hyder in 7 days and 10 minutes arriving in Hyder the last weekend of May.  Ever since then on the last weekend of May a group of mostly long distance riders have gatheres for a function called Hyder Seek.  This year there were only around 100 riders, down from close to 200 in the past - probably due to the economy. 

Hyder is not an official town, has no local government or law and less than 100 permanent residents.  One of the pictures you will see is an observation walkway where people stand and watch the bears fish - this happens in later June usually.  There is also a picture of me at the entrance to Hyder and one of me standing on a dock with the fjord and beautiful mountain in the background.  The fjord is about 90 miles inland from the ocean and with 18 foot tides the currents can be around 6 MPH as the water flows out or in. 

Joe preparing to head South

Both Joes are heading South tomorrow - Brad and I are heading North.  I hope to pick up another tracking device in either the Yukon or Alaska so you can follow me.  I will leave it tracking Joe until I have my own so you can see if he is getting farther South.

A few pictures on the way to Hyder, Alaska

Here are a few pictutes of todays journey.  The picture of me by McDonalds is in Smithers, BC.  The glacier in the background is called Bear Glacier.  When we got to Hyder it was about 75 degrees - so nice after the last few days.  Here they are:

A day with no rain and sun - YEA!!

We set the alarm for 5:00 AM and we were on the road by 6:00 AM.  It was a little under 50 degrees but I have an electric jacket liner that I plug into the bike and it keeps me toasty.  It is like an electric blanket but formed into a jacket liner.  This will be the last day  that you can follow me for a while as Joe DeRyke and the other Joe that had a transmitter are not going to be Going to Prudhoe Bay with Brad and I.

Joe DeRyke had a problem with his bike so he and the other Joe are heading South Sunday morning.  I am going to try to pick up another SPOT device (tracking thing) once we get to Fairbanks so hopefully I will have maps for you to follow again.

This is todays map.

A FEW PICTURES

Better but not Hawaii

This is the map of todays ride - about 450 miles and very little moisture  - or sun.  Once again very few pictures because I had to wear rain gloves.  If I was in a car there would have been some great photos because the clouds were hugging the mountains and it was very picturesque.

Same day Different Map

This map is from one of the guys I am riding with that didn't lose his tracking transmiter.  I am going to try to link it to my blog that same as I did with mine since we are traveling together you can still see where we are.

The only thing I should have packed that I forgot was an underwater camera.  That's all for today.  Riding in 50 degree rain all day takes it out of us old people.

Another day in the rain

Another Day of riding in the rain - hence no pictures.  The map above shows where the tracking device fell off of my bike in the rain going around 70 MPH and being hit/run over by who knows how many cars.

I am actually in Hope, British Columbia and the sun actually poked out for about 5 minutes but I think we are in for another wet day tomorrow.

Day 2

Above ---This is heading North on I - 5 and it gives you an idea of the weather we are about to hit.  We rode 595 miles today and about 400 miles were in the rain - remind me, why do I like this motorcycling?

The picture below is Joe DeRyke.  Yesterday Joe was riding his bike and he had his visor up and got hit by a bee at around 60 MPH.  Needless to say he only saw 1/2 of what I saw today.  Hopefully it starts getting

 less swollen tomorrow.

Map of day 2

Leaving Las Vegas

Another friend (Brad) that lives in Vegas decided to join us and we were on the road a little after 6:00 AM It wasn't long before the temperature dropped to the low 40's - great way to start. Oh did I forget to mention we hade about a 30 MPH headwind. We wer in the middle of nowhere on the way to San Jose, CA and we were surroundrd by oil pumps - I would just like to own a few of them.

A little ways down the road we were surrounded by miles and miles of fruit trees, all lined up in very neat rows.  By this time the wind had settled down and it was almost 60 degrees.

If you have never been to Gilroy,CA you have missed the Garlic Capital of the world.  By the time you ride through it you can almost speak fluent Italian. 

Just a few more days.

I bought this bike about a year ago specifically for this Alaska trip and for the trip to South America that I will start in Jan 2011. It has taken this much time to add all of the accessories to the bike. I had just installed new tires plus I changed the oil and filter so I was ready to start packing when I received a factory recall to fix a vent hose last Monday. The dealer said they could get me in and out in about 30 minutes so I rode out to the BMW dealer on Tuesday and got the repair done.

On the way home I stopped to fill the bike with gas so I would be ready to leave early Monday the 24th. After filling my bike it wouldn't start. Long story short I push started the bike, did as much trouble shooting as I could on this computer on 2 wheels and called the dealer. I push started the bike on Wednesday and rode it to the BMW shop - they had never seen anything like my problem on any bike. The Alaska trip wasn't looking so good all of a sudden. Their computer said nothing was wrong with my bike and of course computers don't lie. After over 2 hours of old fashion trouble shooting they finally figured out a way that I can start my bike even though they didn't actually solve the real problem.


I am back on track for a Monday departure. Here are a few photos.

The bottom picture is how it looks from the seat.  The thing on the left is the CB radio so I can talk with Joe.  The orange thing is the sending unit that sends signals to the tracking system so you can see where I am and the thing on the right is my GPS - it is alot easier to use a GPS than unfolding a road map going down the road on a bike - Ha.

In case you are wondering, the "IBA" on my license plate stands for "Iron Butt Association"  I hope I have enough iron in mine for this trip.  More to come once I am on the road.