Stage 5 HARTS D RANCH to TOK. Destination: TOK Distance: 104 Kms Total Dist to Date 533km Road Condition: v good Weather: Mostly good and a little warmer. Time in Saddle: 4..5 hours Speed: av 228 kph. Av Cadence 62 rpm Elevation: 586 m up; T

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Stage 5 HARTS D RANCH to TOK. Destination: TOKDistance: 104 Kms Total Dist to Date 533km Road Condition: v good Weather: Mostly good and a little warmer. Time in Saddle: 4..5 hours Speed: av 228 kph. Av Cadence 62 rpm Elevation: 586 m up; Total up to Date 4600 m; 730 m down. Total down to date 3590 m. After yesterdays' rain it was good to wake to cloudy skies only! Rode all morning and no rain. Tonight is start of a rest day in a motel. On arrival put tent gear out to dry, amazing how much larger wet gear is in your bag. Then off to the laundry- clean clothes. Knees and hips aching. Will need to adjust seat and perhaps pedals tomorrow. Voltaren Tabs a necessity this afternoon, will apply Voltaren cream to areas before bed. Tok is 80 miles from the Canadian border. Literally a T Junction around with 2 Motels, a shop. and a garage have opened. Nearest bank is 100 kms away! Internet is again lousy. Willl investigate an ATT Data card for the iPhone. Will wait to Canada. Before lunch the scenery was mountainous and fast rivers and lots of green trees. After lunch, 10 am!, scenery was long and flat with paper timber trees. A little bland. Heard Eagles and spied them from a distance and 2 Squirrels. Otherwise we must have scared all animals away! Tonight we fend for ourselves food wise. Ate a BBQ pork roll whilst doing laundry, disgusting, however the best coffee so far in the USA. So expectations are mixed! REST DAY. TOK. Warm and mostly sunny, as you would expect, not complaining mind you! Today i tested my mechanical and cleaning skills on the bike. Hopefully it wont fall apart tomorrow!! Found some other washing to do. Otherwise nothing happened in a very lacklustre village. Back on the road tomorrow and border crossing the next day. Wonder whether the food will be tastier! Stage 6. TOK. to DEAD MANS LAKE Destination: DEAD MANS LAKE Distance: 103.71 Kms Total Dist to Date 636 km Road Condition: v good Weather: Blue sky and sunny. Cold start, but a little warmer overall.Time in Saddle: 4.47 hours Speed: av 21.6 kph. Av Cadence 68 rpm Elevation: 800 m up; Total up to Date 5400 m; 750 m down. Total down to date 4740 m. A cool start due to a largely cloudless sky. Amazing how blue sky lifted my spirit. Also a full night sleep being in a room other than a tent!! The highway was more scenic dotted with lakes and mountains packed with birch and spruce trees. Apparently spruce is largely unusable, either for timber or paper, birch? Its a pretty campsite by Dead Mans Lake in the Teton NP. Park run by the native population- The Athurkatchwan? The Navajo broke from this tribe. Attended a talk by the local tribal leader who explained the history of the region and its people and how they use birch park to make baskets and baby cribs. The weather here sounds harsh for a minimum 6 months of the year! In the lake there is pike fish, sharp teeth, beaver and assorted bird life. Park home to moose, wolf, fox and bear, although haven't seen any and hope not to see any tonight!! Stage 6. DEAD MANS LAKE to HISTORICAL MILE 1169 Yukon Canada. Destination: HISTORICAL MILE 1169Distance: 130.00 Kms Total Dist to Date 766 km Road Condition: v good in USA, crap in Yukon,Canada. Weather: rain in USA, clearing clouds in Canada. Cold start.STRONG HEADWINDS. Time in Saddle: 7.14 hours Speed: av 18 kph. Av Cadence 67 rpm Elevation: 950 m up; Total up to Date 6350 m; 750 m down. Total down to date 5450 m. Today we crossed the border from Alaska, USA to Yukon, CANADA. Scenery remained consistent but the road surface deteriorated dramatically. Being charitable, perhaps Canada is rebuilding the road, BUT there was no sign of workmen, machinery or a plan. The scenery had also deteriorated! Endless Spruce, no lakes, no animals, no fun! I also have injured my knees. No fall, just swollen and a constant ache. I also can't bend them when walking, so i look like a stickman. Don't know the reason as i haven't experienced this before. But OMG its painful. Adjusted the seat position with the bike mechanic this evening and will pop a few VOLTAREN AND IBUPROFEN this evening. Its a monster day tomorrow, so may only ride half!! The wifi and mobile coverage has been non existent for the past two days and will probably be non existent for the next two. Not many people in this part of the world, be it American or Canadian. Much like away from the coastline in Australian!! Its a scenic campsite with good facilities, lots of Harley Davidsons' with trailers, lage converted buses and mega vans and our row of 22 multi coloured tents. Apparently bear season has started this week, the camp owner is non plused by bears wandering through when they feel like it. An interesting night possibly! No other news today! Stage 8 HISTORICAL MILE 1169 to COTTONWOOD. Yukon Canada. Destination: COTTONWOOD. Distance 99 Kms Total Dist to Date 864m Road Condition: average. Weather: Cold and clear start. BRUTAL HEADWINDS. Warmer later, although i needed Jackets on against the wind chill! Time in Saddle: 5.34 hours Speed: av 17.7 kph. Av Cadence 67 rpm Elevation: 850 m up; Total up to Date 7200 m; 750 m down. Total down to date 6200 m. Awoke with knee feeling much better. Must have been the medication. A cold night. We are up by 5.15 am, collapse and pack tent and camping gear, breakfast and on the road by about 6.45. Very bright light at that time of day. On the road early and rode bike in lower gears so the pedals would spin more with less pressure on the knees. Worked in a fashion, however we had very strong headwind all day, i needed to 'grind out' the kms, if not at a fast pace!! After about 60 kms the ache started, so ate lunch in a petrol station cafe, not bad really, and the 40 minute rest out of the wind worked a miracle. Finished in adequate shape. The road was monotonous today, long and straight with few interesting sites. Equate it to driving the Nullabor!! The campsite is in a pretty place on the banks of a large lake, named Destruction Bay. The water is freezing. The winds have continued to blow hard creating dust storms reminiscent of China last year!! An early night beckons as we have another 112 kms tomorrow. Supposedly the winds are to abate overnight? Fingers are crossed! Stage 9 COTTONWOOD to OTTO FALLS Yukon Canada. Destination: OTTO FALLS Distance 127 Kms Total Dist to Date 920 kms Road Condition: Good Weather: Cold and clear start. Warmer later. Time in Saddle: 6 hours Speed: av 21.2 kph. Av Cadence 72 rpm Elevation: 1005 m up; Total up to Date 8205 m; 800 m down. Total down to date 7000 m. Today was a long day in the saddle, not helped by a 15km detour taken by accident by me. AND made worse by it being STEEP uphill. Luckily I realised it sooner than later!! Uneventful day, no animals, just mountains and trees! !What was I thinking, most others thinking the same. Whilst riding endless kms, I have been thinking AGAIN, that short rides with greater scenery variation and cultural differences are what I will in future focus on!! Also the same issue as with Silk Route, a long time sitting in camp from 2pm until bed at 9 pm with little to do. Perhaps could ride slower but the fear is the head winds come up in the afternoon! Very basic camp. For some reason my Gmail accounts will now not open. So i cant tell if the blog is going out! Wifi and Phone Reception is minimal and will likely be non existent for the next few weeks apparently. Who would have guessed, but there are very few people living here in the north, and like Australia, the cost of service supply is high. Stage 9 OTTO FALLS to WHITEHORSE, the Capital of The Yukon Canada. Destination: WHITEHORSE Distance 122 Kms Total Dist to Date 1114 kms Road Condition: A erage with 40%!r(MISSING)ough road. Weather: Cold and clear start. Warmer later. Time in Saddle: 5.12 hours Speed: av 23.4 kph. Av Cadence 71 rpm Elevation: 620 m up; Total up to Date 8825 m; 660m down. Total down to date 7660 m. Today a similar day to past days, mountains and trees and no animals. Rode through a 25 km section where Elk apparently are plentiful. Not one. Even the road sign was of a horse and not an Elk. Legs are feeling better. Readjusting the seat seems to have made a positive difference. Hope it continues. A rest day starts. Rest days we look after our own food. There is a plethora of fast food places, each equally unappealing. Had a few Yukon beers, tasted good going down, but left me with a raging headache, so lesson learned. When will the lessons cease!!! Hotel room tonight and the excitement was getting the clothes washed. Small mind! What I do like about these hotels is the guest laundry. Destination. WHITEHORSE REST DAY. Today is our rest day so a day spent initially wandering around town, then cleaning and oiling the bike and repacking the bags, fun fun. Whitehorse is the capital of the Yukon and the centre for wilderness adventure. Most is out of town, unfortunately TDA skirts this action and scenic spots. It is an expedition after all, from point A to B. As one of the local people on the ride said to me, i will need to return on holiday to see the more interesting sites! This was similar to the China ride experience.

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Comments

[Annette]

Great to read the blog
Hi Roger. Great to read what you've been doing. Really descriptive and it takes us on the journey with you (well, not quite!). Safe travels and look forward to hearing more. Annette and co xx

[BKKCYCLIST]

On a journey
Hi Annette& family. Thanksfornote. Hard work. Maybe my second to last loooong ride. All thebest for the big scan. Will be thinking of you on the day, if i cant message closer. Wifi and phone service is SPARCE at best! Cheers Roger