Today we started at 8am and finished riding at 4pm. We did 310 miles approx down a main road for as I said previously there aren’t really any other options here apart from trekking through forest paths! We have traveled to Vanderhoof – our last stop in BC before going to Hyder in Alaska tomorrow.
When we first set of today the scenery was pretty desolate and I wondered if this is how it is going to be the more North we go, but after about 50 miles we started riding in a rich, verdant plain with a sprinkling of farms along the way. And that’s how it’s been all the way to Vanderhoof.
For the last 100 odd miles I chose to ride alone and enjoyed doing so. However as hard as I looked I didn’t see any bears or caribou (there were quite a few beware signs for these large creatures).
The motel we’re booked into is pretty good and but there were no good restaurants local so my room-mate and I went for a burger at a local take away (not a McDonalds!).
Everybody’s putting a brave face on it but the prospect of the distances we have to complete over the next few days is daunting to most and it will be interesting to see how things pan out. I’ll definitely go to Fairbanks – but I’ve got an open mind about doing the next 500 miles to Prudhoe Bay. Not because the road is difficult but more because Prudhoe is a real dump where you aren’t allowed to get to the sea and the place is swarming with mosquitoes. However it is the most Northerly point of the continent and many in the group will feel duty bound to do the last leg as they’ve come this far. I don’t share that compunction. However, if I’m feeling fit and the weather is good I may go the whole way. A day at a time …………..