Alaska Bike Trip!

tradja · Aug 15, 2009

A few weeks ago me and a bud rode our bikes 500 miles from Deadhorse, Alaska to Faribanks. There's not too much knife content, aside from a quick glamour shot of my Murray Carter neck knife halfway through, but check it out!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EP9F1oVHams

JCavSD · Aug 15, 2009

Nicely done...looks like it was a blast. Got tired just watching it...I think I'd want an engine between those two wheels.

mtnfolk mike · Aug 15, 2009

wow..

that was sooo cool John...:thumbup: i am super jealous...

the misses and I have been wanting to get to Alaska for years....

desmobob · Aug 15, 2009

Too cool!

I've done three one-week, 500-mile bike trips and had a lot of fun each time. But ALASKA... wow! Congratulations!

Stay sharp,
desmobob

sasha · Aug 15, 2009

Awsome trip.. What tires did you use??? As i guess getting a flat wont be much fun out there... How much weight did you carry with food and everything else..

Sasha

C Bryant · Aug 16, 2009

WOW that was a cool video! How long did it take you guys?

stingray4540 · Aug 16, 2009

Oh, bike as in bicycle! Now that is awesome!!!
Looks like it was a fun trip.

MrCoffee · Aug 16, 2009

mtnfolk mike said:
wow.. that was sooo cool John...:thumbup: i am super jealous... the misses and I have been wanting to get to Alaska for years....

+! for this, sigh, before children, my wife and I had it all planned out... oh well.

Looks like a wonderful trip!

tradja · Aug 16, 2009

JCavSD said:
Nicely done...looks like it was a blast. Got tired just watching it...I think I'd want an engine between those two wheels.

Thanks! It was a great trip.

mtnfolk mike said:
wow.. that was sooo cool John...:thumbup: i am super jealous... the misses and I have been wanting to get to Alaska for years....

Thanks Mike :thumbup: Yeah, I had wanted to get to AK as well, but didn't want to just go tourist around for a week. Kevin suggested this trip, and it seemed like a perfect way to do an "Intro to AK".

desmobob said:
Too cool!
I've done three one-week, 500-mile bike trips and had a lot of fun each time. But ALASKA... wow! Congratulations!

What were the trips? I've done a few solo, +buddy, and +wife bike tours and am always looking for good ideas.

sasha said:
Awsome trip.. What tires did you use??? As i guess getting a flat wont be much fun out there... How much weight did you carry with food and everything else..

I used 26" Geax Street Runner 1.6" tires. Kevin used some burly 700x38 touring tire.
Yes, a blown tire would have been a trip-ender, so in addition to the normal tubes and flat kits, we each brought a whole spare folding tire.

As far as weight, at the check-in counter, the box that contained the bike, all the camping gear, the Ruger .44Mag, and 5 days food weighed 79lbs.

C Bryant said:
WOW that was a cool video! How long did it take you guys?

10 days, with only about 15 easy miles the last day. We planned on 10 days x 50 miles, but due to suitable camping locations we did a little more than 50 each day.

stingray4540 said:
Oh, bike as in bicycle! Now that is awesome!!!
Looks like it was a fun trip.

MrCoffee said:
+! for this, sigh, before children, my wife and I had it all planned out... oh well.

Mrs. Tradja and I don't have kids, but I was pretty impressed with a YouTube video of a family that did this same ride with their kids!

desmobob · Aug 16, 2009

tradja said:
What were the trips? I've done a few solo, +buddy, and +wife bike tours and am always looking for good ideas.

My first long one was Biking Across Kansas. It's an organized, supported ride. A truck carts all your camping gear from town to town; you just ride your bike and enjoy the scenery! There are SAG stops every 20 miles or so for drinks and snacks. The year I did the ride (2006), the ride was across the southern part of the state. It was very nice... it started in the high desert at the CO line, through the high plains, chalk hills, clay hills, and down to the Missouri border in Mulberry. http://www.bak.org/2006/route06.html

This is a good family ride. I saw several families, including one on a custom bicycle-built-for-four. :thumbup: (A little ways down in the right column: http://www.bak.org/2006photos/Site/Photos 1.html) There were also a couple of three-seaters and loads of tandems.

The other two long trips were almost identical trips around Lake Champlain on the NY/VT border and into Cananda. These were unsupported rides. The first one was with a buddy and his teenage son; the second was with the same buddy, both his teenage sons, and his wife. We went to Montreal on the first trip and further east of Montreal on the second trip. A couple of nice side rides rounded out the mileage. Instead of using panniers, I towed a Croozer Cargo bike trailer both times... I like it a lot.

There is a great map of the route that also includes tons of recommended side trips along the main ride. http://www.champlainbikeways.org/ It is a beautiful ride... I live on the route (my buddy grew up in the same town) and we still wanted to make the trip a second time.

Ride safe,
desmobob

tradja · Aug 17, 2009

desmobob, thanks very much for the tour ideas. I've been thinking about the Lake Champlain ride for a while -- I was born in Plattsburgh and grew up in Chazy. Sounds like a great ride if you did it 2x!

LMT66 · Aug 17, 2009

That was a great video you put together! Lifelong memories from that trip! Were you carrying a sidearm or was that bear spray in the pouch?

desmobob · Aug 17, 2009

tradja said:
desmobob, thanks very much for the tour ideas. I've been thinking about the Lake Champlain ride for a while -- I was born in Plattsburgh and grew up in Chazy. Sounds like a great ride if you did it 2x!

You're welcome!

A northern NY native, eh? :thumbup: I live down at the very southern tip of the lake, in Whitehall.

Both times we made the trip, we scheduled for two nights in Plattsburgh. The Cumberland Bay state park is a little big/busy, but it has a big beach, there's a decent Indian restaurant in town, an ice cream place close by, and there are some good side rides out of town to the west.

Good riding,
desmobob

DWK2 · Aug 18, 2009

I drove and camped that route back in '93. It was supposed to be a closed road then but they had stopped manning the checkpoints so I got through. However, it was a little disturbing (and ironic) when I reached Deadhorse and found they had no gas station. They weren't quite set up for tourists!

What I remember most was the view north from Atigun Pass. It was a clear day and you could see what seemed like a hundred miles across the Arctic plateau.

Congrats on such a great adventure!

DancesWithKnives

j williams · Aug 18, 2009

The best trip thread ever!!!! Im in awe. What a great trip thank you for sharing.

Id love to do that someday. What a great way to see Alaska.

Surly bikes rule.

tradja · Aug 19, 2009

PorcupineMtns66 said:
Were you carrying a sidearm or was that bear spray in the pouch?

Kevin carried bear spray in his handlebar bag, or in his hand went he went into the bushes to take care of business. I carried a Ruger Redhawk .44Mag with Double Tap 330gr hardcast loads.

j williams said:
The best trip thread ever!!!! Im in awe. What a great trip thank you for sharing.

Id love to do that someday. What a great way to see Alaska.

Surly bikes rule.

Yeah, I really like my Kona but I was pretty impressed with Kevin's Surly. He's had it for a while but mostly used it as a townie to date. Great design and component set for the price. The closer you look, you see that they really nailed the small details.