AK1 Conclusion

Conclusion:

I’ve ridden motorcycles off and on since I was 14 years old. I will be 65 years old this coming October 2012. That is 50+ years of having a love relationship with motorcycles. The longest motorcycle trip I had made prior to this trip was 1,300 miles in 3 days when I was in my late 20’s (Las Vegas to Oklahoma City). I had lots of doubts prior to starting this trip about being able to ride day after day for long distances. I no longer have those doubts. There isn’t any place in the US or Canada that I would hesitate to ride to given the opportunity. I learned that 400- to 700- (or more) mile days are possible and not that much of a pain. I learned that you experience the country on a motorcycle and only see it from the inside of an automobile. This was a great trip and even though we didn’t get to Alaska (this time) no fault of our own, there will be another opportunity in 2014!!

28 Feb 2014 addition – I am now planning for our next attempt (AK2) that will start 1 Jun 2014. I will start a new blog for the preparation phase and another one for the trip itself. Hope you enjoyed reading this trip report, posting it here made me remember the good times and now I’m really excited to get started on AK2.

AK1 Lessons Learned

1 Do not over pack; cut in half the number of clothes you think you will need.

2 Pack for all kinds of weather and temperature; some days were extremely hot while we almost froze at other times.

3 Rain is a given, it is going to rain. Have a good-quality and easy-to-get-on/off rain suit.

4 Electric jacket liner and gloves are a great investment.

5 Waterproof your boots and gloves; then you can cut back on extra boots.

6 Take comfortable shoes to wear at end of day; tennis shoes.

7 Conversion of Canadian to USA dollars is a pain in the ____.

8 Use credit card as much as possible, they do the conversion for you and no hassle with carrying lots of Canadian money.

9 Carry extra credit cards and several hundred dollars of cash; keep separate from billfold.

10 Don’t leave your driver’s license or credit cards at hotel or gas station; PAY ATTENTION TO THIS!!

11 Roads in Canada are not nearly as good as USA; expect rough stretches and slower speeds.

12 Fuel is NOT easily available the further north you go in Canada; always fill up when half empty.

13 On the ALCAN you cannot count on fuel being available; plan carefully and have back-up plan.

14 Animals are everywhere up north. We saw BIG brown bear by the road, black bears, elk, deer, big horn sheep, buffalo, caribou, and a Bald Eagle setting on a fence post 10 feet from the road. You have to drive at a speed that will let you miss them. This is usually slower than the speed limit and the speed semi-trucks want to drive.

15 Expect anything on the road; when a sign says loose gravel on a 2-lane paved road they mean 3 inches of gravel covering the road for a 100 feet!!!

16 Up north you are a LONG way from everything especially help. Drive defensively and pay attention. 17 Roads are slick with rain, trees are close to the road (animal surprises) and roads do not always have shoulders. Roads are built on 8-10 foot berm so going off the road is going to hurt and you won’t be able to get bike back on the road without a crane.

18 Know basic first-aid and carry a first-aid kit. You may be the first to reach someone hurt in an accident. Make sure your travelling companion has the same knowledge for your benefit.

19 Carry a satellite locator; it may not be real fast for getting help but at least they will eventually find you. If you go off the road you could very well be unseen from the road.

20 Cell service is non-existent up north except close to settlements and they can be over  100 miles apart.

21 There is no radar weather coverage up north so you cannot expect to see where the weather fronts are located like you can in the USA; plan on wet and you can’t go wrong.

22 People are real friendly and always asked about our trip; had great time every evening in local pubs talking to strangers; P.S. don’t party too much, next morning you WILL regret it.

23 Go in the off season; we had Jasper National Park to ourselves and very little traffic in Yellowstone and none on the Chief Joseph Scenic Highway.

24 Use sun screen!

25 Stay off Interstates as much as possible; much more to see and enjoy on the side roads. Of course if you have to make miles you have to use the interstates between the good spots.

26 Be flexible. You may have to reroute or change your destination totally as we did.

27 We only made a couple of hard hotel reservations especially on the ALCAN. Everywhere else we always found lodging when we were ready to stop.

28 We had wireless at every hotel so carry an iPad (like I did) or a netbook to check email, upload to Facebook and to check weather at next destination.

29 Practice packing prior to departure. Items not to be used regularly should be put in saddle bags. Items that need access easily should be put in a bag that can be opened without untying your gear.

30 Make sure bags are waterproof or put plastic bags inside the main bag.

31 Carry windshield/face shield cleaner in easy- to-access location. Bugs are terrible up north and you will use the cleaner at every fuel stop.

32 CB between riders was critical; coordinate rest/fuel stops, traffic advisories, eliminated boredom, confirmed routes from 2 GPS, discussed weather options, etc.

33 Talk to other bikers; latest road conditions, road closures, weather up ahead, places to go. We heard about the Jasper Nation Park from a biker stranded at Ft Nelson with us. On our return south we diverted to this park and it was one of the high points of the trip.

34 A lot of Best Western hotels have a place to wash motorcycles under an agreement with Harley Owners Association (HOG); real nice after riding in the rain.

35 Most paved roads up north and especially in Canada have dust/sand on the roads that continually gets in your eyes. This is especially true if you are riding behind another bike or vehicle. When it rains, like it does often, this dust becomes a milky coating on your windshield and facemask that restricts viewing. Use windshield that is short enough to look over instead of through and it will still partially protect the face.

36 Wear a helmet with a facemask (see previous item)

37 Most parking lots at gas stations and even hotels are not paved the further north you travel; easier snow removal I guess. Expect gravel and mud holes.

38 Expect bridges with steel grate driving surface up north; again easier snow removal. This will be an exciting ride on a motorcycle so keep the speed up and let the bike dart as it will with only loose hold of the handlebars.

39 Expect bridges with wood plank driving surface up north. These can be very slick when wet since they will also be covered with dirt/sand that becomes slimy mud when wet.

40 Big bugs and rocks will hit you as you ride. I got hit on the leg by something and it hurt for an hour.

41 Don’t ride at sunrise or sunset if it can be helped; large animals! Up north the sun is up many more hours than it is in Arkansas area.

42 For trips of this magnitude it is important to be compatible with your riding partner. You must agree on a number of key factors or after a few days trouble will begin:

42a Departure times (early verse late sleepers will be the issue) (we were both early risers and were usually packed and on the road by 6 am every morning.  A late departure was considered to be 7 am)

42b Stop for lunch or eat snacks at gas stops (we both ate snacks with a big dinner as the main meal)

42c Range between rest room breaks (I drank 2 cups of coffee every morning so you can guess who needed to stop most)

42d Miles to travel each day (we both expected 400-600 to be the normal day)

42e Quality of hotels (economy or luxury) (we both agreed not to go cheap but to use Super 8 type hotels where possible)

42f Smoking or non-smoking (I am non-smoker but Jim smokes. He would go outside to smoke and this never became a problem)

42g Share room to save cost or separate rooms (We agreed to reduce cost by sharing the hotel room as long as we could stand it. It never became an issue and we shared a hotel room for the whole trip)

42h Snoring if sharing room (Neither of us snore)

42i Temperature of room if sharing (both agreed that a cool room was good)

42j Camping or hotels/motels (No question, hotels only)

42k Drinking or non-drinking (we both looked forward to a cold beer after a long days ride)

43 Do a couple of practice rides prior to the big trip to work out the bugs listed in item 42. In addition, work out the routine for spacing and procedure while in heavy traffic and on the open highway.  In traffic I stayed close so we could move as one in the flow but on the open highway I would hang back so I could relax and use my cruise control without having to adjust speed continually.

44 Without cruise control your right wrist will not last through a long multi-day trip. My wrist even with cruise control hurt more than my butt, especially on sections with lots of turns or in heavy traffic where cruise control could not be used.

45 Have bike equipped with highway pegs so you can stretch out and adjust seating position. I also added passenger foot pegs that let me put my feet behind me at times. This will greatly extend your riding range.

46 Have access to water bottle while riding, especially in the HOT sections like the Dakotas.

AK1 Stats

Total Mileage    
348 Day 1
459 Day 2
588 Day 3
709 Day 4
288 Day 5
363 Day 6
100 Day 7
606 Day 8
426 Day 9
392 Day 10
486 Day 11
452 Day 12
565 Day 13
535 Day 14
191 Day 15
6508 Total

Trip meter on my bike from driveway to driveway at my house was 6814.8 miles. We did a number of side trips that were not accounted for in the mapping program route distances listed above and these side trips accounts for the additional mileage. As a comparison, this is the same as riding from New York City, NY to Las Angeles, CA then returning to NYC and THEN riding to Palm Beach, Florida!
 
As for what we did NOT accomplish. From our furthest point on the ALCAN to:
Yukon border                  236 miles
Alaska border          851 miles
Fairbanks, AK        1144 miles
Ferry East of Anchorage, AK 1317 miles

Trip covered 2 countries (USA and Canada) 13 USA states and 4 Canadian Territories

Special items carried:
1 gallon of extra gas in saddlebag tank
1 quart of extra oil
Tool bag
Tire air pressure gage
Shock air pump
Front brake lock
Spare light bulbs and fuses
Spare clutch cable
Bike cover
First-aid kit, including survival items to stay out in wilderness overnight

Total weight of bags, clothes and misc equipment – 140 lbs.

Fuel used – 165 gallons obtained in 51 fuel stops (41.2 miles per gallon average)
Fuel obtained from 87 to 94 octane (bikes require 91 or better).  Some fuel in Canada was 94 octane with no Ethanol. This burned hotter and gave us great MPG while some fuel gave us terrible MPG (low octane with Ethanol)

Approximate cost: Food $750
         Fuel $725
    Lodging $950
        Misc $500
                   -----
                 $2,925

AK1 Day 15

MS Day 15 – 18 Jun 12, Monday

Poplar Bluff, Missouri to North Little Rock, Arkansas

Mileage – 191

WX – sunny and hot

States – Missouri, Arkansas

Hwy 67

Note 1: The ride home was uneventful. As I pulled into the driveway of my home at 11:00 am I took a picture of the motorcycle trip meter and it read 6,814.8 miles. This is the total miles I rode in 15 days. This made the total miles on my bike at 23,000 miles in 15 months since I bought it new on 29 Jan 2011.

AK1 Day 14

MS Day 14 – 17 Jun 12, Sunday

Milwaukee, Wisconsin to Poplar Bluff, Missouri

Mileage – 535

WX – sunny and hot

States – Wisconsin, Illinois, Missouri

I-94, I-894, I-43, I-90/39 (toll road), I-39, I-55, I-255, I-55, Hwy 67

Note 1: The next morning we packed up and planned to ride to one more Harley Davidson plant we had missed the day before (just for a HOG picture). As we were packing I determined that I had lost my iPad. I swore I must have left it in the hotel in Mitchell, SD and that combined with way too much celebration the night before caused me to not do a very good search in the Iron Horse Hotel room for the iPad (where it actually was).  This put me in a very dark mood since the iPad had all my trip pictures and passwords in it plus it was a Christmas gift from Liz. I did not look forward to telling Liz I had lost it. Only several hours later on the way to St Louis and after I had talked to the Mitchell SD hotel folks and found out they couldn’t find it did we get a call from the Iron Horse that they found it. This improved my mood significantly and I did get it back several days later. I now have it in a bright red cover rather than the previous black one.

Note 2: After getting the Milwaukee Harley Davidson Plant HOG Picture we went to the HD Museum and it is worth the side trip if you love Harley Davidson motorcycles. Lots of history in that building.

Note 3: We finally headed south to Jim’s home and the end of the trip for him. The ride through Illinois is boring and not much to see. The original plan was for me to stay the night with Jim and his wife Pam but as we got closer Jim said over the CB “I know what you are thinking but you won’t get home before 11 pm”. He had me nailed because I had already decided that I was going to continue on home. This would make it a 700+ mile day for me but I felt I could do it based on the past 2 weeks. We got to Jim’s around 5:30 pm. We took a final picture together and I took off for the trip south to Arkansas. I did not want to have to ride through Monday morning rush hour the next morning so even if I didn’t make it home I would at least get away from St Louis.

Note 4: I was tired of riding on interstates so as soon as I cleared St Louis I got on Hwy 67, which was 4 lane to the Arkansas border but with much less traffic. At a fuel stop I called Liz and told her my plans but she had concerns of my riding into the night after a full day ride from Milwaukee. I promised that if I got tired I would stop but really I had no intentions to stop if I could help it.

Note 5: As I neared the Arkansas border, the sun was getting low and I was hungry. I then remembered that we had not ridden after dark on any portion of this trip due to the ever present danger of animals coming out at sunset. I also knew that Hwy 67 becomes 2 lanes in Arkansas until 100 miles from Little Rock. This was enough to make me decide to stop at Poplar Bluff, MO for my last night on the road.

AK1 Day 13

MS Day 13 – 16 Jun 12, Saturday

Mitchell, South Dakota to Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Mileage – 565

WX – sunny and hot with scattered rain showers

States – South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin

I-90, I-90/I-94, I-90/I-94/I-39. I-94

Note 1: When we left Mitchell, SD we could see that there were rain showers along our route but at least the wind had stopped blowing. We shortly crossed I-29 at Sioux Falls thus completing a full circle from our starting point a week earlier. I used the XM Weather feature of my Garmin zumo 665 GPS to identify where the rain was. It works very well in the USA but there is no coverage in Canada. I had brought only a heavy rain suit that was entirely too hot to wear in the heat of the mid west. I picked up a lighter rain suit at a Harley Davidson dealer and put it on just in time to ride through rain showers on our way to Milwaukee, WI.

Note 2: There were only a few times I did not enjoy riding my bike on this trip. One of them was riding in the traffic in Milwaukee. This was a Saturday so we expected light traffic as we found our way into downtown and the Iron Horse Hotel. The traffic was hell and the drivers very aggressive. Several times I thought I would get clipped by drivers who were not willing to give us adequate room to change lanes. I’ve ridden a lot in heavy traffic in a number of large cities but I rate this town as one of the bad ones.

Note 3: Before going to the hotel we rode to several of the Harley Davidson manufacturing facilities in the Milwaukee area so we could get HOG pictures. During this time I was pretty low on gas so when we finally got to the hotel I was sucking fumes. Next morning, which was Sunday, we had to go to several gas stations to find one open. I expected to have to use my back-up saddlebag gas for the first time but finally found one open.

Note 4: We had selected the Iron Horse Hotel even though it was very expensive because it was our last night on the road together and it was just across a canal from the Harley Davidson museum which we were going to tour the next morning.

Note 5: Because of the traffic in Milwaukee, both Jim and I were ready for a beer immediately after dropping off our bags in the room. We went to the bar and didn’t leave until it was time to go to sleep. This was another one of those “what was I thinking” evenings. I say this because the next morning I left my iPad in the hotel room.

AK1 Day 12

MS Day 12 – 15 Jun 12, Friday

Gillette, Wyoming to Mitchell, South Dakota

Mileage – 452

WX – sunny and very hot with strong cross wind from the right

States – Wyoming, South Dakota

I-90, Hwy 14, Hwy 24 Devils Tower, Hwy 111, I-90, Hwy 85 Deadwood, Hwy 14 Sturgis, I-90

Note 1: The ride from Gillette to Devils Tower was short and a good ride after we got off I-90 and onto the back roads. When you finally see Devils Tower as you come over one of the many hills it is an amazing sight or at least it was for me because I’ve always wanted to see it ever since the movie “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.” We rode up to the entrance to the park and got the required HOG pictures. This is one of the places I’ll take Liz and do a lot more exploring.

Note 2: We then headed toward South Dakota on I-90 and turned off onto Hwy 85 to ride through Deadwood, SD. If you ever saw the HBO series “Deadwood” you would want to see this town. We had hoped to go through the center of town but they had it closed off for construction in preparation for the upcoming tourist season. Seems to be a constant theme; i.e. CLOSED. Still we saw what we wanted and headed for Sturgis.

Note 3: From Deadwood we rode direct to Sturgis, SD. This is the Mecca for motorcycles due to the annual rally. It is definitely different from being in Sturgis during the rally but I wanted to see it for the first time while I could actually ride my bike and not fight crowds.

Note 4: We had planned to go to Mount Rushmore from Sturgis but we decided to skip that side trip and head straight to Rapid City HD dealer so Jim could get his oil changed for the warranty. We knew we had miles to make across South Dakota to try and reach Sioux Falls, SD today. We spent 3 hours at the Rapid City HD shop so got a late start for Sioux Falls.

Note 5: This was one of the most miserable parts of the trip. It was extremely hot and the wind was gusting extremely hard from the right the whole way. I’ve ridden this bike in strong cross winds but this was the worst. It was like being on a bucking horse the way the bike would jump between wind gusts and while passing semi-trucks. Several times I thought I was going to be sucked under a semi-truck’s trailer as it blocked the wind then I’d be blasted by the wind and the truck’s bow wave as I came past the cab. We finally decided to give up just short of Sioux Falls at a town called Mitchell, SD. We both were ready to get off the bikes and have a beer after that run across SD.

AK1 Day 11

MS Day 11 – 14 Jun 12, Thursday

Ennis, Montana to Gillette, Wyoming

Mileage – 486

WX – sunny but cold, especially at 9,400 ft

States – Montana, Wyoming

Hwy 287, 287/191, 20/191/287, Hwy 89 Grand Loop Rd, Norris Canyon Rd, Hwy 212 NE Entrance Rd, Chief Joseph Scenic Hwy 296, Hwy 120, 20/14/16, Hwy 14, I-90

Note 1: We entered Yellowstone from the west and departed using the Northeast Entrance Road exit. We used the Norris Canyon Road to cut across Yellowstone and there are some fantastic side roads off the main road that give you some excellent views of waterfalls. On one side road it was barely wide enough for a car and the outside edge was crumbling. I’m trying to stop and take picture while at the same time I am way too close to the drop-off to suit me. I was glad to get moving again and off that ledge.

Note 2: While in Yellowstone we come upon a herd (20-30) of buffalo with several in the middle of the road. We were in front of several cars but we were not going to ride up to those buffalo on motorcycles so we just stopped and waited. Finally a pickup with yellow lights came around us and pushed his way through the herd. We quickly rode through the gap before they could decide to take out a motorcycle.

Note 3: As we left Yellowstone we used Highway 212 to Chief Joseph Scenic Highway. This is a fantastic motorcycle ride that rivals anything we had seen up to now. I enjoyed this almost as much as Jasper National Park, and really more than Yellowstone.

Note 4: During this day’s ride we crossed 3 mountain ranges with 2 in the 8000+ feet range and one up to 9400 feet. It was the coldest I had been on the trip. I had my electric jacket liner and gloves on for 2 of the 3 crossings and wish I had kept them on for the 3^rd. I had thought we were out of the mountains so took them off just before crossing the 3^rd range on our way to hitting I-90.

Note 5: Once on I-90 we made miles getting to Gillette, WY so we would be staged to hit Devils Tower, Deadwood and Sturgis the next morning.

AK1 Day 10

MS Day 10 – 13 Jun 12, Wednesday

Whitefish, Montana to Ennis, Montana

Mileage – 392

WX – rain for first couple of hours then cloudy and cold

States – Montana, Idaho

Hwy 93, Hwy 43, Hwy 278, Hwy 41, Hwy 287

Note 1: Our plan and reason for coming to the west side of Glacier National Park was so that we could cross the Rockies via Hwy 2 which crosses through the middle of Glacier National Park. As our luck seemed to continue to be bad, the road was closed due to an unexpected snow storm!! We had to then go to plan “whatever.” We pulled out the maps and decided to go south to the Idaho border (HOG Pic) then cut east and stop just short of the west entrance to Yellowstone.

Note 2: We took the back roads through “Big Hole National Battlefield” to get to Ennis, MT. It is amazing the beautiful country you get to see from a motorcycle if you take the scenic highways. This is truly off the normal traffic lanes but was well worth the effort to approach the Rockies from this point.

Note 3: Ennis was a neat little town with some great bars. This was the 2^nd time I drank way too much and did not feel at my best when we pulled out the next morning.

AK1 Day 9

MS Day 9 – 12 Jun 12, Tuesday

Jasper, Alberta to Whitefish, Montana

Mileage – 426

WX – cold until afternoon, scattered rain showers

States – Alberta, British Columbia, Montana

CA 16, PH 93, Hwy 93

Note 1: Rode through the Jasper National Park and it is fantastic with high mountains on both sides of the roads which take your breath away. We were at times the only ones on the highway in either direction. Good 2-lane road. Fuel stops are long distant apart (100 miles or more) so fuel up every chance you can. This road is just east of and runs parallel to the Continental Divide for several hundred miles through the middle of the Canadian Rockies.

Note 2: Came upon a herd of Big Horn Sheep blocking the road so we stopped and watched them for a while until they finally decided to move off the road.

Note 3: As we left the Jasper National Park we crossed the Continental Divide Westbound. Just as we crossed the divide and about 100 yards from a sign marking the spot we saw a large brown bear next to the road walking in the ditch. This bear was huge and I would say it could possibly have been a grizzly considering the size of its head.  As we stopped at the sign for our HOG ABC picture I kept an eye up the road to see if this bear was going to come our way. My back up plan was to get into an outhouse nearby but not sure it would have stopped that bear.

Note 4: As we continued down the road we passed black bears on 2 different occasions playing not far from the edge of the road. These black bears were so much smaller than the previous brown bear that they didn’t seem to even be a threat.

Note 5: We continued southbound on a barely used 2-lane road towards the USA border crossing at Roosville, MT. A quarter mile from the crossing we passed an adult bald eagle setting on top of a fence post not 20 feet from the road. I never saw one that close before and it was not at all intimidated by the sound of the motorcycles. I took this as a good sign of our return to the USA until it started to rain on us shortly thereafter; thanks once again Canada.

Note 6: The border crossing at Roosville, MT was just a bump in the road but had 3 border guards who were very friendly and asked about our trip. They said that we were not the first to cross the border with the same story of the ALCAN closure causing a change in travel plans. We continued to our next stop just east of Glacier National Park at Whitefish MT. 

AK1 Day 8

MS Day 8 – 11 Jun 12, Monday

Fort Nelson, British Columbia to Jasper, Alberta

Mileage – 606

WX – rain showers and cold until afternoon

States – British Columbia, Alberta

CA 97 ALCAN, CA 43, CA 40, CA 16

Note 1: By the 2^nd day in Ft Nelson we had decided we did not have the flexibility to wait an extended amount of time for the ALCAN to open to Alaska. In addition, there were a large number of trucks and SUVs in all the hotels/camping grounds from the closure to Ft Nelson that would be in front of us when the road did open. We were also informed that the road repairs were very crude meaning a single lane of gravel/mud and a pilot car would be used to lead a small number of vehicles both ways meaning it could be hours if not days of waiting in a queue line in the rain waiting for our turn to go. We decided it was time to backtrack and take a southern route back to the USA.

Note 2: We talked to a biker in our hotel who stated he had come up from the Washington area through the beautiful Canadian Jasper National Park and it was worth seeing if we were going south.

Note 3: Our plan B was to head south through Prince George and pick up our return trip somewhere in the Washington/Idaho area. We were then advised that the roads through Prince George were flooded and being diverted. That caused us to make plan C which was to go back to Grande Prairie then turn south to the Jasper National Park then into the USA just west of Glacier National Park.

Note 4: We made the trip to the entrance of the Jasper National Park and stopped for the night. The town Jasper is your typical tourist town with lots of hotels and bars. We ended up at the De’d Dog Saloon and spent a great evening with the local town folks including the manager of the hotel where we were staying. Had way too much to drink and regretted it the next morning.