Days 15-17 (July 14-16, 2013)
The
ride from Coldfoot to Fairbanks was very enjoyable; it was still quite hot but
not excruciating like the day before. We got a good night’s rest, so we were
ready to finish this day off strong and complete the Dalton Hwy.
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| Looking back toward Coldfoot |
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| Red Carpet Treatment at the Arctic Circle |
Ever since we had left Prudhoe bay, we have been playing
leap frog with a van full of tourists...they all flew up to Prudhoe bay and a
tour guide drives them back. We began form a pretty good relationship with
them. They all really liked the idea of a father-son riding together. They had
passed us for a while in the morning then we caught back up with them and
passed them we rode all the way down to the Arctic Circle boundary. We rested
and took a break off the bikes there to get some more pics and rest our butts.
Several minutes after stopping, the with all the tourists pulls up, they were
very excited to see us and glad we made it. The guide to the tourists brought
out what they called the "red carpet" she unrolled it in front of the
Arctic Circle sign, and got pictures with everyone...then they were taking
videos of the older couples dancing along the red carpet. When they were all
finished with their pictures and videos, they invited my dad and I to roll the
bikes over the carpet and get our pictures taken there. It was very kind of
them, and we got several good pics in front of the sign.
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| Even the tourists from the touring company got in on the action |
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| The "Kid" |
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| Only 174 miles to Fairbanks |
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| Animal bike collision |
On our way back to the Yukon River crossing, something very
odd and also very funny happened. We were on a long straight away so we were
able to pick up the pace for a little bit...then the unexpected happened, a
small bird somehow managed to fly just behind my dad's bike, and hit me right
in the crotch...going about 60 miles an hour. The pain was excruciating...I'm
very surprised that I didn't dump the bike at that moment, I managed to pull
over safely and let the throbbing calm down before we went on...poor bird dying
from fling into my crotch...what a depressing way to die.
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| This bird struck Johann in the crotch... It didn't feel good for either one of them |
Only a few miles before the Yukon crossing was a place
called "The Hotspot Cafe" this place was awesome!! We had burgers as
big as the plate, nice shaded area to sit in when eating, we were also able to
listen to a couple truckers just talk about the trucking life of the Dalton
Hwy. This was a unique stop, and was well worth the time spent there.
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| Giant hamburger at the Hot Spot Cafe |
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| Nearly off the Dalton |
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| One last hurrah before we leave |
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| Dirty Deeds doen dirt cheap |
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| GrizzLee's triple brown limited edition GSA |
We
made the last 100 mile stretch back to Fairbanks rather quickly...it was really
nice since it was later in the day, so it started cooling off.
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| Baked on calcium chloride... yummm!! |
We made it back to Fairbanks and my dad really wanted to wash
the bikes...so we went to a local car wash (one that was very close to the
university) and sprayed off the bikes...my dad was being quite aggressive with
the pressure washer and managed to get a lot of the dirt off the bikes. One
major problem though...my dad's bike, Gretchen, is scared of water. He tried
starting it up and it wouldn't start, he got very worried then...we pushed his
bike out of the stall and around the corner. We decided that I ride the Dakar
(which started up perfectly by the way) back up to the University parking lot,
and then I would come back and carry the gear out of the bike back up the
university. This was a long process, but we made it happen. We got checked into
our room, and almost immediately my dad started looking for places that would
run a diagnostics check on the bike. The next day, my dad rode down to the
local Harley Davidson dealership to get his bike fixed...it took several hours,
but we got it done and the bike was back up and running again.
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| Somewhere between Delta Junction and Tok |
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| A touring group from MotoQuest |
On our way down to Tok the following morning, a few things had happened…other
than that it was a rather un-eventful ride. We ran into the Moto quest group on
their way up to Prudhoe Bay, we talked to a bunch of the rider for a while. They
were all from Europe. We also had another scare shortly thereafter, maybe just
30 miles away from Tok. We stopped at a rest stop to witness the wildfire that
was very close by. We were ready to move on when suddenly my dad notices a
puddle of oil underneath the engine of the bike…he thought I may have cracked
something to cause the leak, if so, the trip would be over. We opened up the
cover that was covering the chain; it was just a false alarm. With all of the
chain lube we used, it built up in the case and was melting from the heat of the
engine causing for it to drip. While it was uncovered, we decided it would be a
good idea to clean right there…which took about an hour in its own. We took care
of that issue and moved on. We pulled into Tok and got a room. Ate at Fast
Eddies for the night, then turned in to bed.
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| The support vehicle known as Jethro |
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| Yep, that's his name.. Cool |
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| The Tanana River |
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| $0 miles before Tok we came across a major fire. |
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| We noticed oil leaking from the Dakar |
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Fortunately it was only built up mud that absorbed the oil
Johann went to work to clean it up. |
Until Next Time....
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