Fall Bike to Girdwood

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We had an amazing summer this year and I was not ready to admit that fall was on its way (or more accurately had actually arrived). There were a few trips I still had on my list for the summer and the bike ride from Anchorage to Girdwood and back was at the top of that list. Easily enough I convinced my Tour De Beer Partner, Chad, to join me on a fine Friday afternoon post work.

The Seward Highway, especially on the Turnagain arm is probably on someone’s list of most scenic routes in the world. The road curves along the Chugach National Park and Mountain Range on the left, while the right side of the road opens up into the calm Turnagain Arm. Across this enormous body of continuous moving water is another large mountain range. Couples sneak off to watch the sunsets on pullouts, locals and tourists unite during migration season to see whales swim through, and every now and then you will see the occasional parasailor and hang glider. Right where the mountains begin to run parallel, the ocean’s mouth opens up. This is where our journey begins.

We gathered all of our gear, including neon attire and set off on our adventure from Potter’s Marsh (if we are going to bike 60 miles both ways to enjoy the pristine nature of AK, there is no need to bike through the city as well). The first 15 miles of the bike is a long a two lane highway where speeding rednecks and trucks with deadlines take over the road. The month previous to our trip, there was a several week period where major car accidents had taken place, thanks to careless and risky drivers. These took several lives and many people avoided driving on the Seward HWY if they could. Even people I told at work looked at me horrified as they mentioned some friend or the other who was nicked by a truck and lucky to get away with their arm, much less their life. Chad heard similar stories. Still, we did not let this deter us. We were fearless…well, actually more so determined.

The day was perfect. We were anticipating a strong head wind and were lucky to find only a calm breeze. Despite the fact that it was after work hours, the traffic was not too bad. We still felt the gust of air with each passing vehicle and even the powerful pull from passing semi’s. After an hour or so, we stopped for our packed goodies of smoke salmon and fruit. Though there were no whales, we did see a Dhal sheep and some eagles.

It was incredible to be able to take in every mile of this route. On each pullout we would pass the cars full of people who would explore the scenery of Alaska through the glare of a car window. Taking in this new perspective was so awakening. I had driven this road so many times, but there were numerous waterfalls, secret hiking trails and unexplored berry patches along the way that I had missed before.
When we finally arrived in Indian, we hopped on the bike path that ran parallel to the Seward Highway. Immediately the environment changed as we wheeled further from the road and into a series of overlooks and campgrounds. The paved concrete trail was littered with fallen leaves and the setting sun seared through branches as it passed over the mountain range and began to set into the body of water where the Turnagain arm moseyed into the Ocean.

The sun fell quickly. We got a late start considering that the summer sun was no longer greeting us at all hours of the night. Right at night fall we found out that the bike path elevated into a massive hill that ran at a much higher elevation than the road itself. The path seemed to go up endlessly while dark bushes hovered on either side of us. There are not street lights on the Seward, and with that no lighting on the path. We were more worried about charging moose and wondering bears than we were about biking in the dark with one pitiful headlamp. To warn the wildlife away, Chad and I sang in rounds and harmonized like you would not believe. By the time we hit downhill, the only way we could tell we were on the bike path was because it was a few shades lighter then the surrounding brush. When the brush ended, floodlights hit our eyes and it was a battle to tell where the path lead. The temperature had dropped drastically with the sun, and now that we weren’t breaking a sweat on the uphill, we were beginning to feel it.

We finally arrived in Girdwood around 9:30pm and we met up with our friend Bill and went for dinner and beers at a local spot. We ended up crashing at a coworker of mine’s place. It was pretty awesome and we made a new furry friend.
We got up the next morning and had a nice warm breakfast and were on our way. The bike back was leisurely and pleasant. It was another stunning day and again we were lucky to not have a heavy head wind.

A perfect induction to fall.

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