Alaska!

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A second red eye flight from awaii landed me in Achorage Alaska at 7am. Groggy as hell I made my way to my extremely modest hotel down near the local soup kitchen where I checked in and crashed for a few hours of real sleep. I woke, wandered around the snowy, 'spring' time town, picking up a restorative grilled cheese ruben and found the bike shop that would really make Anchorage special for me. It was run by a great guy called Pete who told me all the local points of interest (ok I mean bars) and rented me a bike. Not just any old thing but a bike with studded tires and fat wheels specially designed to ride on snow and ice. I was skeptical but headed off on the Tony Knowles Coastal trail - 15 miles of snow and ice running out of town along the shore, past the airport and through the woods. I was even more shocked when I first rode on ice and didn't fall on my ass. I started to really enjoy the ride - freezing air but sunlight made it surreal after the waves and heat of hawaii and Oz. The coast was stunning - the product of a 9.4 earth quake in the 70s. The trees had all grown back and as I headed out of town along the silent track I'd rarely encounter people - it was too early in the season for tourists (who would be that dumb really?!). After about 30 minutes of riding through the trees I spotted what looked like a cow through the trees - a wonky looking one - a moose!

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