North to Alaska and Day 1

Saturday, June 22, 2019

Today was a leisurely morning, then a flight to Anchorage.  Having arrived here, I have now been in all 50 states, but it won’t be until tomorrow that I will add state number 32 to my bicycle list.  Should be a good day to bike. The temperature this evening upon arrival was 65 degrees and it will only go down to the high 50’s tonight (I guess having sunlight all night has something to do with that!)  It’s supposed to go into the mid 60’s again tomorrow.

The flight up was on one of Alaska Airlines specially painted planes—this one honoring veterans.  Most of the three and a half hour flight was above the clouds but upon approach there were snow covered mountains (although the guy at the window blocked the view as he took lots of pictures…by the time I could get a clear shot from my aisle seat, the mountains had snow, but were not covered.)

Sunday, June 23, 2019

We met at 7:00 a.m. in the hotel lobby in Anchorage this morning.  Our group consists of 7 riders--a couple from Georgia, a mother from Connecticut and her son who recently graduated from Rice University, two retirees (me and a man from Kentucky) and a man who flew all the way from Thailand to take this tour.  Alaskabike has two staff members--the owner's son and a professor from the University of Wisconsin who is working as a tour guide this summer.  The two staff members take turns switching on and off between driving the van and riding on a bike as the sweeper behind the last riders.

After loading the van and driving through Anchorage we headed up the Parks Highway to Hurricane Gulch, a drive of about three hours.  Everyone's bikes were then prepared for the ride, with virtually everyone having brought their own pedals and saddles from home.  Then it was off onto the Parks Highway for a 50-mile ride north.  Unfortunately, the winds which were supposed to be out of the south decided to come the other way so it was a long day of struggling against the wind.  Two riders, myself and the woman from the Georgia couple, both had their gears foul up just as we hit the first big hill of the day.  My cable slipped and I could not get out of the high gear, although fortunately I could switch to a smaller chain ring.  The other rider had the opposite, and more difficult problem.  She got stuck in the large (high gear) chainring on front which made for an even worse uphill struggle.  Both problems were taken care of at the first sag stop.

But all is well that ends well, and we all reached the Perch Restaurant and Cabins near the entrance to Denali Park before having a very well prepared dinner at the restaurant.  Here's the day in pictures followed by the data for those who are interested in that.

The van with the bikes ready to be brought done and prepared for us to ride

Here's our happy crew ready to go!

Lunch stop!

The bikes wait while lunch continues.

Crossed many full streams from summer melting and runoff.

The igloo was supposed to be a hotel. It isn't!

Me with my new Maryland jersey in front of the Igloo.

Alaskabike riders head north while tour buses head south
from Denali back to the ships at Whittier or Seward.

Our destination for the night.

No hotel tonight. Just small cabins.

Earlier in the day while still riding in the vans we stopped south of Hurricane Gulch because even though were clouds at the middle, the peak of Denali (also formerly known as Mt. McKinley), the largest mountain in North America was visible.  Being able to photograph the peak was a treat, because it is often shrouded by clouds.  The point at the top of the picture is NOT a cloud.  It's Denali's peak!

Here's the link to the data:
https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/3778558066

Tomorrow it's off to Fairbanks!

Bruce