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Published: July 11th 2015
Day 4 Day 1 Riding: 9.7.15 Destination: PINNACLE MOUNTAINDistance: 119.8 Kms Road Condition: 99 %!v(MISSING) good Weather: cold and overcast Av temp 14c. 8c on departure. Time in Saddle:
5.3 hours Speed: av 21.3 kph. Av Cadence 64 rpm Elevation: 800 m up; 500 m down Today was the first day on the road and everyone was keen to start. Cold morning, had all my clothes on, T shirt, then bike shirt, then winter jacket, then wind/rain jacket. Stayed in this gear all day. Mildly warm when climbing a few hills. Canadians/Americans/Germans all thought it was mild!! Decided I much prefer the warmer climes. The scenery, once out of Anchorage was cold river views, the water was whitish colour, carrying very fine powdery mountain silt. The cloud was grey, no sun or blue sky, the mountain peaks not shrouded in cloud were tall and craggy, and the trees were thick. Someone saw a Moose, i was focused on the white line. Maybe tomorrow. Camp site stony and slashed weed, but better than the best Silk Road camp!! Group a mix of men/women, nearly even numbers. Many know each other. Most only doing sections. About 11 riding to Mexico. People friendly.
4 Australians and a German/Australian which was surprising as I thought before arrival I was the only one. Not feeling to bad, but feel i may have pulled a muscle in my leg or back about 2 miles from the end. Hopefully sleep and medication will cure it. Day 2 Riding. 9.7.15. Slide Mountain Destination: SLIDE MOUNTAINDistance: 104 Kms Road Condition: 99 %!v(MISSING) good Weather: cold 8c a lot of the day, then 18 in afternoon. Time in Saddle: 5.25 hours
Speed: av 18.2 kph. Av Cadence 63 rpm Elevation: 1600 m up; 1000 m down Reasonable sleep, new tent enables me to stretch out. Warm at breakfast so rode out of camp in my jacket, but without rain jacket. Stopped 200 m later, freezing head wind. Riding in all the clothing creates a lot of heat on the hills, but the descents are freezing. Today cycled past two glaciers, heavily snow capped. Scenery was attractive, fast flowing rivers, high peaks, conifers, no animals though. Stopped at a coffee stop. Shop decorated with wall hangings of stuffed bears, moose and caribou antlers, wolverines and birds. Closest i have been to Alaskan wildlife. Campsite has plenty of grass, which means
rain, and the sky opened when my tent was half erected! Wifi is nonexistent to limited so posts will be intermittent.
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Tot: 0.575s; Tpl: 0.01s; cc: 15; qc: 57; dbt: 0.0897s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Peter Carson
non-member comment
He's Off !!
I enjoyed reading your blog and was shocked to learn that Alaska is cold! I was reading your stats and began to believe that my Lands End trip was comparable only of much shorter length that is until I say the picture of the tent! We stayed in 3 star B&B with en suite . We also had a brew van every 15 or 20 miles for tea and as much fruit and biscuits etc you could eat and every 30 miles for a pub meal so perhaps not that comparable after all. Actually your trip sounds great and I do hope you have an amazing time. I might be interested in doing part of it some time particularly the sections with limited camping !( really not up to doing all of it ) so looking forward to reading how you are getting on.