Lessons Learned

I learned a few lessons along the way and had some things I already knew reinforced. I figure I would share a few with you.

1) Genchi Genbutsu and Gemba. If you have spent any time in Lean Manufacturing you have probably herd these terms. The first one means "go and see" and the second one means "the real place". In laymen's terms it means don't take other peoples word for it. Get off your ass, and go find out for yourself. I did tons of research and read conflicting reports about tires, brakes , road conditions, fuel and on an on . There were a lot of unknowns. There aren't any more.

2) Buy Once Cry Once. Buy the best gear you can afford. A leaky tent can ruin a trip. An ill fitting jacket can make you miserable. Wasting time trying to fix cheap gear only pisses you off. All my gear performed flawlessly because I researched it and bought quality .

3) Get a comfortable seat. If you can't crank out a few hundred miles with out your ass hurting, back pain or numbness you are either on the wrong bike for the trip or you need to change your seat. I never stopped riding because my ass hurt, Even with the 1200 mile day . The Russell Day Long seat is a god send.

4)There is no such thing as bad riding weather just bad riding gear. OK, that may be a little far fetched. Make sure that you have a good rain suit. The "Rev It" rain suit that Deb got me is awesome. It packs small and after riding for hours on end it keeps me completely dry.

5) If you're camping have a large dry bag and a dry wet bag that goes in it. Sitting around until 9 or 10 AM waiting on your tent to dry out waste valuable riding time. Wad the tent up and put it in the small bag. Put that bag in your big bag with everything else you need to camp IE Sleeping bag, Pillow, Air Mattress etc. strap it down and go

6) If you are on a shitty gravel road up north and see a sign that says warning loose gravel get ready.

7) A set of Heidenau K60 scouts will go the distance while a set of brake pads wont.

  

 

8) Riding up North and Riding down South are completely different. Camp sites in the South are not well marked while up north There are places to camp every where  and they are clearly marked. If you're planning a trip up north don't worry about having all your camp sites pre-determined.

 

9) Carry extra fuel. There may be fuel stations every 100 miles but they may not always be open. A lot of the places don't take credit cards so getting fuel at 4 AM is tough.

 

10)  Riding with a SPOT Tracker provides a piece of mind. I read a lot of reports about how poorly the SPOT performed (see #1). It worked great for me all the way up to the Arctic and back. I never had issues sending a signal .

 

11) If you see this sign you're about to be dodging sheep

 

 

12)It's good to Step out of your comfort zone but plan accordingly. I was really nervous about taking the trip alone. I wasn't 100% sure about my riding skills on the Dempster or other roads up north.  I had already determined that this was not a do or die ride. If things looked too bad I was ready to turn around. I also had plans incase something went south. The trip was awesome.

 

 

13) Don't take fruit into Canada.

 

 

14) I'm glad I'm not from Colorado. Every one knows where Texas is and has either visited there, lived there, or has friends or family there. I had a Texas shaped sticker on my bike and it resulted in more conversations than you can imagine. This only works with a handful of states. Slap a sticker in the shape of Colorado on your bike and you'll have people asking what part of Wyoming your from.

 

15) If you wait until everything is perfect you will never do anything. Most of the things I spent days or weeks worrying about never came up as an issue. I could have spent another month planning the trip or waited until I had weeks to take off but I am glad I didn't.

 

 

 



Wrapping up the last few days and headed home

The next few days would be spent riding in and out of the rain. My notes would get worse and now after being home for 2 weeks the last few days all run together. I would combine some camping with hotels , weather dependent. I had really wanted to ride Bear Tooth Pass which goes through Montana and Wyoming. So that is the direction I was headed. When I crossed the bordered I was glad to be back in the good ole USA.

 

The Canola flowers were in full bloom and smelled like a mix of play-dough and chocolate. It was horrible.

 

 

It wasn't long until I came up on this sign. I was just too tired to pull out the map and re-route . Challenge accepted.

 

I am glad that I had made the choice to ride the Bear Tooth Pass and the Chief Joseph Highway. It was beautiful. I did see 2 of the worst wrecks of my trip there though. One was an RV that ran down a pretty good embankment . I'm not sure how it didn't flip. I stopped but was told everyone was fine and help was on the way. I saw a teenager getting out and all I could think about was him sitting on the couch and playing video games when his mom fell asleep and ran off a 20 ft drop. I am guessing he got bounced around pretty good. The other wreck was a cruiser riding 2 up with a trailer. It was bad. One lady appeared unconscious. I slowed down to help but a large group had already gather and I could hear sirens. I didn't add to the mob and kept going. It was a reminder of how fast things could turn bad.

These little guys were everywhere. If you sat down they would jump in your lap thinking you had a treat for them.

 

 

The mountain side was covered with these wild goats. It was beautiful. It reminded me of pictures I had seen of Scotland.

 

 

There were hundreds of these guys running around. I asked a local and she said they were marmots. I looked it up and if I'm not mistaken we call them groundhogs. Watching them run is hilarious.

 

 

 

Passing through Kansas was a dreadful ride.I stopped at the scenic overlook. If you look close you can see the states only Tree. 

 

 

I followed my GPS and noticed I was headed for Oklahoma's I35. No way, Once a year is enough for me. I made a hard right turn just in time.

 

Too Close to stop so I headed on home. When I wrapped it up I had driven 9200 miles, visited 11 states, 2 Canadian provinces, 1 Canadian territory, one of the polar circles and had no major issues.  

 

It was a Hell of a trip!

 

 

 

 

 

NEXT DAY : Lessons Learned

Day 10: Back to Ft Nelson.

I got up in the morning refreshed and ready to put some miles behind me. The plan was to head down the ALCON towards Ft. Nelson. There weather was finally looking nice and I wanted to make sure that I gave myself enough time to find a good camp site. I was getting kind of bummed about the poor weather and all the hotel stays. The guys I had dinner with were loading up also and were going to stop for breakfast down the street. I wanted to get a few hours in before stopping. I fueled up and was on my way.

About 60 miles into a full tank I see a fuel stop but decide to keep going. It would come back to haunt me. For the next 185 miles every fuel stop was CLOSED. I don't mean like not open yet . I mean boarded up and shut down. Up to that point I had been seeing a lot of bear activity and wasn't too keen on stopping on the side of the road. I was looking for a rest stop or pull off for a good while and was really hoping I didn't run out of fuel in a turn , going up a hill, or near a bear. I saw a spot and pulled in about the time the bike started letting me know it was thirsty. I still had the can of fuel on the bike but I knew that wouldn't get me far. When I went to get it off the bike It was empty. Road debris had flung up and punctured a hole in the can. It had been dripping down on the chain for who knows how long. It was like a reverse chain oiler.

I pulled out the bear spray, my oil and my rag . I put the bike on the center stand to lube the chain. I flagged down the first vehicle I saw and asked if I could buy some fuel. They said they were running low too and couldn't help me out but wished me luck. No hard feelings. Awhile later a guy pulls up with an RV towing a jeep. He had stopped to take pictures. I told him my predicament and he said he always kept a few gallons on top of the jeep. He insisted I use it all and he wouldn't accept money. I told him to hold on, I dug through my bag and found the camp passes I acquired earlier in the trip .I went ahead and gave him those.  He was happy and I was saved.

 

 

 

By now I was hungry and still needed to top off my tank. Another 30 miles down the road I saw my chance. I topped of the bike and went inside to grab a BLT. All the tables were full. I asked a couple if I could join them and they said certainly. She had just retired and her husband was a retired Geologist. He still did research and They were headed north to get some rock samples. I ate and headed on down the road. At my next stop I ran into a couple of guys coming back from Inuvik. One was on a Tiger and one a KLR.   We chatted for awhile and I checked out his homemade mermite side cases. Pretty sweet. They had a truck and trailer parked at Ft Nelson. I asked if I could join the group. They said sure. Before we headed out a guy pulled up towing a pretty neat trailer.

 

 

 

We hit a lot of road construction and while waiting for the "follow me" truck we met a rider who had hit a moose. His bike looked fine but his face...Not so much. He's the guy on the front right. I didn't try to get a picture of his face.

 

It was getting late and If I hadn't of been following the guys I would have probably pulled over a little sooner. Once we got to Ft Nelson we went our separate ways. I found a nice RV campsite. I set up my tent, cooked some soup and began my normal rounds. I found a few Texas plates and tried to strike up a conversation. One couple was from England and just rented the RV in TX and the other couple didn't seem like talkers. I did manage to get out of her that her Family was from Deer Park. When I said I grew up there she could have cared less. I went back to my tent. Then I saw a rider pull up on a cruiser. I walked over to his tent and met Bill from Florida. We chatted it up awhile about our trip, gear, bikes and past adventures His girlfriend was from Vancouver Island and he highly recommended catching a multi day ferry ride up that way where you pitch your tent right on the deck of the ship. Sounds awesome. After we visited I called it a night.

 

 NEXT DAY Headed Home

Day 9: Top of the World Highway into Alaska

It rained most of the night and I had slept in. I went to the hotel diner to eat breakfast where I listened to locals talk about how much they hated working at a mine site where the show Gold Rush was being filmed. The locals just wanted to mine for gold and not have to worry about redoing things 3 or 4 times so the TV Crew could film it. I searched a few stores for Arctic Circle Post Cards, shot glasses or stickers and had no luck. Evidently not many people go that way for souvenirs. I couldn't even find a Dempster Sticker for the panniers.

The rain didn't look like it was finished so I went ahead and started the morning with my rain gear on. It was a smart move because as soon as I threw my leg over the saddle it started raining. I headed for the ferry crossing to take me across the Yukon river. The docking for the ferry was the equivalent of pulling your river boat up to any shore line along the bank. It was a mud pit and I was thinking in my head "When you transition from the mud pit to the wet metal ramp you are going to bust your ass and it's going to hurt" . Luckily , I made it up with out issue. I was hoping that the exit side was better but it wasn't . No issue there either.

Once I got off the ferry I continued down the "Top Of The World Highway". I had heard mixed stories about the condition of the roads. Every one said stay off it when it's wet but here I am. A mixture of rain , fog, and smoke from the wild fires limited my view but Not so much so that I couldn't see that the failure to negotiated a turn could end badly. I can only imagine how nice the view is when it's clear

 

 

 

 

I finally made it to the US border of Alaska, The most Northerly Land border port in the USA.  It was more of the same. Wet, foggy, and Smokey.

 

 

It eventually cleared up a bit but the road was still a wet mess. A few miles before I reached Chicken Alaska it started raining again. I saw some Goldwing riders headed towards Canada. I did my best to flag them down and tell them not to try it but they just waved and kept going. I had already seen a few ambulances with trucks following them. In the back of the trucks were wrecked BMW motorcycles. I really hoped the Wingers stopped or turned around because that road in that condition were no place for those bikes.

 

 

 

The road eventually turned to paved although it was filled with loose gravel. I bypassed Tok Alaska to the west and headed East back to British Columbia. I was pretty exhausted and again was contemplating a hotel rather than a tent . I found myself looking at a ram in the road in the middle of negotiating a turn in the loose gravel . I went for rear brake and came up empty. It was either hit the ram or use my front break on loose gravel. When I pulled my front break I thought for sure I would be finishing the turn on my back with the bike sliding beside me. Instead I almost slid into the rock wall . When I stopped I was a few inches from it. .  After I finished cursing and chasing the ram  I regained my composure and checked out the brakes. Not a pretty site.

 

I was defiantly going to have replace the rear brakes. Luckily I had read that the Dempster eats them up fast and was prepared. My original brakes were about half gone before the trip. I went ahead and changed them out anyways and threw the used ones in my pack, just in case. I pulled into the hotel /bar/restaurant for some dinner , a cold one and to work on the bike. I had planned on making a few more miles if I could do a quick brake swap. While I was drinking my beer the father and son from the circle pulled up on there KLRs. I invited them to have a seat. We ordered up some food and noticed $65 rooms. Everyone agreed it was a good place to stay the night.

 

I got a room and removed my gear from the bike. I put it on it's center stand to work on the brakes. The procedure was fresh on my mind since I had just done it a couple of weeks ago. I couldn't believe how worn they were. They had less than 6000 miles on them. When I was putting them back together I lost a safety plug that keeps the pin that holds the pads from backing out. They helped me look but I was working on gravel so no luck. I would just have to check the bolt regularly to make sure my pads didn't fly off the bike.

 

 

My bike was filthy and I was worried about my radiator and cooler being caked with days of mud . I had asked the waiter if there was a car wash around and he said we could use the water hose on the side of the building. After I washed the bike I went and showered and then headed down to the bar for some draft beer. Not a bad way to end the night. I took this picture before heading to bed. This is midnight up north.

 

 

 

 

 

NEXT DAY :Day 10

Day 8: Into the Arctic Circle

I got up sometime between 3-5 AM. The whole trip I was in and out of time zones  so I never really new what time it was. One time I asked Deb why she wasn't at work and she told me because it was 8PM. Going outside was no help either. It was continuous daylight. No one at the hotel was up and I figure I would head north and hit the Arctic Sign for a few quick pictures. Then I was going to head back to the hotel, catch another shower, eat breakfast and head back down the Dempster to Dawson City.

The road was nice and dry and the air was brisk on the way.

 

 

 

 

I took my time heading back to the hotel enjoying the morning. I stopped for a few more pics.

After I got back to the Hotel and showered I headed to the Diner for breakfast. A father and Son I had met last night in the bar area was finishing up breakfast and asked me to join them. After breakfast I jumped back on the bike and was headed to Dawson. I was able to stop and take a few more pictures.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The road and ride was much nicer dry . I had passed the Tombstone Territorial Park Interpretive center on my way up the Dempster with plans on stopping on the way back. I went in and took a quick tour and then I spoke with one of the employees in hopes of identifying a bird I saw on the side of the road. She told me it was most likely a Ptarmigan. Upon further research I would later conclude it was an Arctic Sharptail Grouse. Either way it was beautiful. I visited with  people who had stopped at the center. Most were turning around and going back towards Dawson or had plans on only going a few more miles down the road to see the Arctic Tundra. The tells of flat tires and muddy roads kept most people from venturing any further than Tombstone Park.  The clouds had been rolling in for awhile . It started to sprinkle and I grabbed my rain gear and headed for the center to put it on. I wanted to head south before the Dempster turned into a slip and slide. It wasn't long until it was a full blown gully washer. Here I was once again on the Dempster in the rain. When I finally made it to the bridge I was relieved. I pulled over at the unmanned gas station to get out of the rain.

 

 

 

 

 

Unfortunately sometime between yesterday and today the automated gas station went from working to out of order. I knew there was no way to make it to Dawson City. I used the 4 fuel cans I had been toting in the socks and saved the one strapped to the bike for later if needed. I figured that would get me to a station or at least closer to a station.  I had been riding in the rain the last few hours and really didn't feel like walking to find fuel. I found a station before Dawson. The lady asked me where I was headed and I told her I was hoping to find a hotel in Dawson but that I had heard there was a wedding and a river race going on and that there were no hotels available.  She told me she would be more than happy to call around for me and find me a place. I was grateful. She asked me what my preferences were for a hotel. That was easy, 4 walls a roof and bar in walking distance.

 

The lady at the Dawson Downtown Hotel said she had a room available for about $120 American but she was too busy to take a reservation to just come on down. I was exhausted and again $120 sounded like a steal, especially when I saw there was a hot tub, restaurant, and a bar in the hotel. The Bar seamed to be THE BAR in town. It was also home to the Sour Toe Cocktail. Google it. They pull a human toe out of a jar. You go to the bar and order a shot. Walk over to the table. Give the Toe handler $5 . He drops the Toe in your drink. You take the shot and the toe has to touch your lips. He gives you a certificate and he drops the toe in the next guys glass. I politely declined. I don't do well with severed Digits. I did partake in a few shot (minus the toe) then it was off to bed.

 

 NEXT DAY :Day 9