Advertisement
Published: September 14th 2007
Edit Blog Post
With near perfect timing as soon as I had finished, my travelblog crashed. I have now finally got round to fixing it and reposted it. Sorry for the delay. By way of an added bonus here are some photos covering my travels across Alaska and Canada in August and September.
Alain and I rode south from Fairbanks down to a very damp Blue Grass music festival in Talkeetna. Weather and music quite disappointing. Lots and lots and lots of rain listening to ropey Eagles covers. Not quite the Northern Exposure counter-culture experience I had been hoping for. Still we have been really lucky with weather all July in Alaska so guess we had to get wet at some point. Committed the cardinal sin of riding past Denali National Park. In cycle touring terms this is an almost unforgiveable heresy. Meant to be extremely beautiful place lots of mountains, trees, lakes, bears and other fun outdoor stuff. Another time perhaps. Could easily spend another month (or two) riding around Alaska
Had heard on the cyclist grapevine that in Anchorage there was a hostel run by an Argentinian couple, Sebastian and Marcella, who had cycled up from Argentina three years ago.
Alfonso and Javier Latin Bikers
Ran into a lot of Spanish speakers in Alaska, including Alfonso from Chihuahua, Mexico and Javier from Spain. On this basis decided to pay the Hostel on 26th Street a visit. Plan was to spend a day or so there before going down the Kenai peninsula to Homer. Never made it. Instead spent several days toasting the cultural beauty of the ancient Spanish city of Cuenca, the hometown of fellow guest Jesus, and debating the deeper philosophical implications of Maradona's controversial "hand of god" goal against England.
After Anchorage I bade farewell to my trusty Swiss riding partner, Alain and took a couple of ferries down the Alaska Marine Highway to Prince Rupert, in British Columbia. Broke my journey for a couple of days in the capital of Alaska, Juneau. Quaint wooden buildings on steep sloping streets. Not your typical US state capital. You can't drive there, you have to either fly or sail in. Right outside town is a huge glacier and as I rode over a small bridge I looked down and see a lot of dead and half dead salmon flopping around in a shallow river.
At Prince Rupert, British Columbia picked up my VIA rail pass (12 days travel in a 30 day period) and took a train to Prince George.Thnk you
Sebastian, Jesus, Marcella, Alain and me
Spent 4 very relaxing days off the bike relaxing at the hostel run by Sebastian and Marcella from Argentina on 26th Street. v much AMy and Matt for puting me up in PG. Then hopped back on my bike and spent two weeks riding to Jasper in the Canadian Rockies. Stayed in some really cool little rustic hostels along the way (rustic means limited facilities in amazing places). Joint favourites were Squilax (3 old Railway cabooses converted into a hostel and Whiskey Jack in Yoho National Park (hostel next to an amazing waterfall).
Despite saying adios to Alain, has been another very sociable period. Sailed down the Alaska Marine Highway with Matt and Scott 2 US riders heading for Argentina and Jamie from Australia. Later I met AJ from North Carolina, and Marie from Czechoslovakia both riding south from Deadhorse Alaska. The rivers that Alain and I bathed, washed and frolicked in when we were on the Dalton Highway in July were frozen when AJ rode past them in June. Also met Isao again in Lake Louise, a Japanese cyclist that I first bumped into in Fairbanks, Alaska. Finally finished my cycling in Canada riding with Todd and Marie from Denver. One of the really nice things about riding in Alaska and Canada is that despite the huge vast space you
tend to meet people that you've either already met or people who have ridden with people that you have met hundreds of kilometres ago. AJ and Marie rode with Marcus a German with wheel problems that I met in Fairbanks and Todd and Marie had met Isao and Jamie. V funky networking indeed.
The train from Jasper to Toronto is delayed by 7 hours and takes almost three days. Spend this time sewing patches on my cycling shorts watching the prairie skies slide by. Who needs reality when you have 35 patches on your shorts? Fortuitously the Toronto International Film Festival is in town when I arrive and I get to see a Gala perfomance of Peter Greenway's "Nightwatching". (Synopsis Tim from the Office, aka Martin Freeman, plays Rembrandt and in addition to doing Office style mock interviews with the camera explaing his emotional development and artistic motiviation does quite a bit of tastefully lit highbrow shagging.)
Currently in Montreal due to leave tomorrow on a freight boat, the Canadian Senator, for Genoa,Italy. Atlantic crossing is supposed to take 14 days. The crew of the ship are all German apparently, so am looking forward to using the many
Goodbye Alain!
Alain and I break up for a second time after Anchorage. He is going to travel across Russia on the Trans Siberian railway and then cycle home through the Baltic states and get to Switzerland in time for Christmas. Suerte amigo! useful German phrases and expressions that Alain taught me. I am sure will help to ease my passage. After Genoa am intending to ride through Italy, Switzerland and France on my way back to England. Hoping to reach Albion's fine shores sometime late next month.
Due to the technical problems with my travelblog in August/September I have extended my justgiving page, so if you would like to make a donation to Medecins Sans Frontieres, you still can. Please visit my website www.pushonnorth.com for details on how to make a donation over a secure internet link.
Push on
Tim
Advertisement
Tot: 0.092s; Tpl: 0.014s; cc: 14; qc: 31; dbt: 0.0587s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb