June 26: No Cold Feet Here!
Wow! What an epic day! I am so grateful I overcame several obstacles this morning – a failed phone, problems with the bags that could have resulted in my spare gas cans exploding, and a dead battery. That was before even hitting the Dalton! But after several arduous but thrilling hours I did indeed reach Coldfoot camp, the halfway point between Fairbanks and the Arctic Ocean.
Late last night I faced the unfortunate reality that my cell phone was on its last legs. The stress of all the riding up to Fairbanks had caused the camera to stop functioning properly and the phone itself was emitting a buzzing noise every time I tried to take a picture. Although I knew I could make it up to the Arctic without navigation, I really didn’t want to get all the way up there and not be able to take a picture of it. So this morning instead of hitting the road to head north instead I headed over to the ATT store to upgrade my phone.
Two hours later when I left the store with a new phone to get on the bike, I noticed that a portion my right-side panier bag was resting on the exhaust, melting the bag right in the spot where I was carrying my spare gas cans. I had already cinched up the bags as high as they could go with the straps provided. Thankfully Dan and Carol Schwietert, my host family from the night before, offered to help. Dan came up with the ingenious solution of riveting a piece of sheet metal with brackets to the bag, creating a space between the exhaust and the bag for air to flow and keeping the gas cans from overheating and exploding.
I had been so caught up in fixing the exhaust problem that I had forgotten to remove the key from the ignition while we were working on the bike. So, before I could actually head out, we needed to charge up the bike’s battery to get the bike to start. What a morning! I am so grateful that Dan and Carol made it possible for me to safely get back on the road.
I was so thrilled to finally get on the Dalton! The road is like no other, partially because of the primitive nature of the road itself and also because of all the trucks carrying loads back and forth. Although there were some sections of paved road it often included cracks and fissures big enough for a chihuahua to get lost in. And I quickly learned it was important not to get complacent on the pavement. It could turn to loose gravel with no notice, even right after cresting a large hill, making it necessary to try to shift down and brake on a steep grade.
One of the key technical challenges of the road is learning to navigate the varying road conditions while at the same time being hit by the dirt, mud, and rocks thrown up by passing trucks. The road consists of a series of steep inclines and downgrades unlike any I have seen since I was a little girl driving on the roads of San Francisco in the back of my mom’s VW wagon. Today I felt like I was riding an old roller coaster up and down a series of big hills through a variety of dust clouds and water features.
One of my most challenging moments came when I was almost to the top of a large hill and a construction vehicle came over the rise right in front of me heading the wrong way down the highway. He was spreading a huge pile of loose dirt all over the road, including the spot where I had been heading. I barely managed to keep the bike upright as I hit the brakes and avoided the fresh mound of soft dirt materializing right in front of me.
Another potentially serious situation occurred when I noticed that the hills next to me were on fire. I could literally see several walls of flames shooting down the hill towards me and as I progressed down the road, the flames were just a few yards away from me. I became concerned that someone might appear in my path and tell me to turn around. After all I have done to make the trip to the Arctic possible, I didn’t want to have to turn away because of fire. Thankfully no one blocked the road, and the bike outran the flames.
Needless to say, I was thrilled to arrive in Coldfoot, gas up the bike, and check in for the night. The hotel here is more expensive than I would normally pay but worth every penny. I just finished polishing off three plates of food at the rudimentary but delicious all-you-can-eat buffet. I can wait to take on the last 240 miles of the Dalton tomorrow and hopefully make it to the Arctic.
