Mile eaters on the Cassiar

Its amazing what good company can do. Tom was off really early, with Curtis not too far behind, and Isobel still soundly asleep. I got all packed up before Isobel was up, but not by much. A relaxed coffee and a chat to workers and mates at home meant Isobel had a bit of a head start on me. After catching her we had a good chat. She'd been out for 2 months, most recently coming from Inuvik. An hour later and we'd also caught Curtis, who'd mentioned that we'd already passed Tom.

Tom passed whilst we were having a nature break, so it was just the 3 of us who came across another bear, who payed no attention. The tailwind was awesome. At the start of the day I'd noticed that there was a free camp about 170km away.



After reaching the Cassiar junction before 2pm this became a real possibility. Unfortunately Curtis was not feeling as fresh, so it was just myself and Isobel rolling the last few hours together. The Cassiar was such a breath of fresh air. As soon as we turned onto it everything changed, lane markings disappeared, as did the traffic, but the biggest thing was the road become a lot narrower with trees coming right up to the road. Fireweed had taken over.

Had my best encounter with a bear. Isobel says I was using her as a human shield, but I was doing the gentlemanly thing and riding on the traffic side. Because the foliage came right up to the road, Isobel only saw the bear when it was within a metre of her, and I only noticed after she screamed.

At camp we found a French cyclist, northbound, although it didn't seem like he was interested in a chat. Later a South African couple who'd been living in Vancouver for ages drove in. They'd toured, and he'd raced the Tour Divide, so we had a great night, including another free beer!

At 9pm Tom turned up, and he had a large packet of smoked salmon, which was delicious. We've come to realize that if we want more food we should start looking more like bums.



After our massive day, an easy day was due, but it was not today. Its actually surprising how fun it was despite how tough it was, although I guess thats mostly because the terrain was interesting.



Lunch and a coffee at Jade City kept me going. After lunch we had a lot of fun slowly losing all the altitude. Camp was down a nice steep path, which would make a nice warmup. We find it hard to say no to free food, so even though we were only just starting our own dinner we accepted a 2nd dinner.  Once again Tom turned up at 9pm.

I had a particularly lazy morning, so me and Tom rolled out 45 mins after Isobel, although Tom stopped immediately to fix his gear. 45 minutes of an extremely fun TT mode chase got me up to Isobel, although I was definitely feeling the effort.

At Dease Lake (not on the lake) was the first of many extremely long lunch breaks myself and Isobel would take. Its not very hard once you start chatting to various people. Olly, a German cyclist was also heading south, but he was taking a rest day. As we were leaving Tom turned up, as did Curtis.

The only thing better than a mountain pass is doing it with a full load of full. It wasn't so bad actually, generally remaining at reasonable gradients. Isobel had a good laugh at me struggling to get my bike back up the bank. Sustained climbing is always worth it, for the views, and the inevitable descent. One last climb and we were rolling into camp.

It was approaching 10pm, and we were sure that today would be the day that Tom would fall short, but at 10pm he skidded into camp, smiling. Trying out an MRE was an amusing process, we needed a 2nd though, to use the techniques  we learnt.

Early in the day I met Lorrie and Gary, who'd somehow missed Isobel. They were on their way up to the Dempster. After a few hours of cycling alone It was very relieving to finally make the catch. Soon enough we stopped for brunch.

Serving size has always been something I look for, and when our pancakes came out we new we were in for a challenge. over an hour later we were still eating when Tom turned up. Another hour or so and we were just starting to get going. We'd already decided to shorten the day.

Up to this point I'd actually never ridden with Tom, so whilst I knew he had great endurance it was good to see that he had great speed as well. The three of us had a great time riding together, although we did get a little silly, probably due to the amount of sugar we'd consumed.

The spot I'd picked was great. That was until 10pm when the truck traffic started. As we'd camped next to a metal grid it was extremely loud. It did die off though.



After our short day we were due an epic, and epic it was. The terrain was amazing. really steep hills on either side, and roads following the river.



I hope the above photo is silly enough for what the sign shows (note I believe its actually showing at least 100m short, but that still doesn't make it any less silly). After our amazing scenery it was a bit of letdown reaching Bell II and seeing that the amazing scenery had ended.



This was yet another of our long lunch breaks, mainly as we met Paul, and English cyclist. Paul had been cycling around various parts of the world. Tom caught us once again.

Most people would arrive at a nice spot to camp after 140km and call it a day. Not us. We decided to push on another 30km. This was both good and bad. The ride was great, but the end of the day left a sour taste in our mouth.

Partway into it the ride we met Louis, A Spanish cyclist. We arrived in Meziadin Junction, and heard about some wind turbine parts that were coming through, so of course we hung around and took a look.

Up to this point on the Cassiar we had free camped the entire time, in some amazing spots. Mostly they were even official campgrounds as well. Because it was late our willpower was gone so we went to the provincial park. Paying for a sterilized  car park amongst RV's was a really bad way to end an otherwise spectacular ride. The flies were also shocking.

Breakfast was the last time our trio was together, with myself and Isobel saying goodbye to Tom. Whilst chatting over the last few days we'd found out that myself and Tom had been in Dawson at the same time, and left in opposite directions on the same day, and Isobel had got into town the same afternoon. We've already had thoughts about catching up, possibly on the Icefields parkway. This was made possible as I've been convinced to come to Vancouver Island.



We took a side trip to Bear Glacier, a big hunk of rapidly melting old ice. The ride was meant to be all downhill, but was actually mostly uphill... Not a bad thing, just unexpected.



The weather was looking rather ominous. Dark clouds around, but still patches of clear sky. At one stage we thought we'd actually miss it completely, but as we approached camp the heavens opened. We were at camp within a couple of minutes and a few pine trees gave almost perfect cover, with only the very occasional drop making its way through. For once I nabbed the best spot, under the trees.

We'd been chatting about where Curtis was that night, coming to the conclusion he was likely a day behind, when in he comes after a 160km day! I'm astounded by finding 4 people all at once who are all reasonably similar endurance and wanting to do the same sort of days.

The mozzies were shocking, luckily they were outside the tent, at least in the beginning, but I went to sleep to the constant buzz. I was woken to the sound of a pot falling, and then a bear banger going off. For those who don't know a bear banger is a firecracker, designed to scare bears off. and they're loud!

Curtis was a very nervous camper it seems. I had a look around, as I was the only one with a light, but there was nothing, likely just a squirrel, or the wind. In the process of looking I let in dozens of mozzies. This necessitated a culling of the population, which is a rather messy job, with blood still on my tent.

Over night it had rained, as I was under a tree my tent was perfectly dry. The others weren't so lucky. Curtis was off first, we caught him in Kitwanga and said our final goodbyes. Whilst there Jason, Canada, rolled in. He was doing the reverse route as Isobel.



I'd seen that there was a camp 1km up a trail from a road, so we aimed for that. We got to the trail, and should have given up when we saw that it had a gain of over 150m in that 1km, but we didn't. Very quickly we gave up though, and just had a look up the top. It would have been a great spot, but we weren't up for a return trip so we just took our bikes down and setup at the trailhead. We did make our way up to a nice lookout and had dinner.

As for the title, we took 7 days to do the Cassiar, plus a bit. That was over 900km in those 7 days.

Larger than Life

12 miles of climbing was a great way to start  my day. I'm not complaining, as the terrain was actually interesting, rather than just having nice scenery. Generally good unsealed roads turned into excellent sealed roads around 10 miles from the border, still tough riding though, as there was a lot of altitude gain.



I'd never met any unfriendly cyclists, but when I came across two Canadian guys I was extremely happy they were heading the opposite direction. The big thing is they seemed to really resent being in the US.

My first land border crossing since I was a kid went fine. They probably figured I probably wasn't smuggling booze or cigarettes, although they did ask about any personal protection I had, which didn't include the bear spray. After loading up on water I headed off, and immediately got rained on. Thanks Canada.



Adam and Alice were a much better representation of the Canadians I'd meet along my trip. While chatting I got a massive shock when I looked at the time, I calmed down when I figured out the GPS had switched automatically.

It's interesting how cyclists and cars view road conditions very differently. Loose gravel is great for cars, especially if its just been graded, but is shocking for cyclists, whereas I don't mind potholes so much, up until it becomes a minefield of course. Its because of this that you almost expect the opposite of whatever a driver tells you.

This trip I've done a lot more of going on until I feel like stopping, so when I reached a point where I'd heard a decent camp could be found I decided to push on. Soon after I started hitting the slightly muddy surface, not bad enough to affect riding, but it did give myself and my bike a nice paint job.

The perfect end to a big day of climbing was with a 15km descent down to Dawson City. I went looking for Dave and Greg, found their bikes in town. From their account I looked a bit shell shocked, not surprisingly as I'd broken my record for time, distance and climbing whilst touring, and came in like that was the case. After using their shower I felt much better, there was definitely a satisfying amount of dirty water.

After 12 days of riding I needed a rest. My bike got a bit of a polish, and the day only went downhill from there. My phone was not working and I wasted far too long trying to fix it with tech support. Whilst shopping Sam came up to me and we got chatting, he was a local who'd done a bunch of bikepacking. It actually took most of a beer before we realized we hadn't introduced ourselves.

For anyone who is deciding between the Alcan, or the Top of the World hwy, I would say this. If you don't really like climbing, give the Top of the World a miss, as whilst you'll enjoy that section, you'll probably find its not worth the following 500km to Whitehorse. Of course I can't definitely say the Alcan is more enjoyable, but from others accounts its pretty good. If you do like climbing though I'd say go for it, as otherwise you're unlikely to find anything in Alaska that is challenging, unless you do more side trips.



It took me 5 days to get to Whitehorse, 3 of those were with headwinds. Chipseal was there in case you hadn't had enough already. The first 2 hours were fun, riding with Dennis from Belgium, sharing the effort. Later I met Stuart and Dan, a father and son from Wales.

It's easy to lose a lot of time chatting, although I won't say wasting, so when Dave at the Stuart Crossing info hut offered me coffee I was quite happy to stop and chat. That night I stayed in Pelly Crossing, could have been rather unpleasant but I got chatting with Alan and Jim, out on a bit of a trip. Some steak and drinks and company made the night great.

Another bear encounter had me reaching for the bearspray, but only because I got bored of trying to scare the bear away and decided to ride passed it. Barely a reaction from it. I had my first bad pass of the trip, deciding pass when the only oncoming vehicle in 5 mins was approaching. Not too shabby for 2 weeks actually.



I decided to skip a shower at camp, as my smell didn't bother me enough to pay an extra $3 on top of the $17.50 I'd already payed.

Its normal to meet cyclists heading the opposite direction, so I wasn't surprised when I met Laura from Switzerland. She was planning on heading up the Dempster. She did mention that there was a French couple a few hours ahead, and I made an educated guess that I might catch them in camp. After grabbing a massive cinnamon bun I headed to Fox Lakes campground, where sure enough I found other cyclists, but there were 3 of them. Nick was an Alaskan just out on a short trip, and Matthew and Florence were the French couple, who were definitely not on a short trip, going all the way to Argentina.

We got chatting, and Nick mentioned he likes to get going early, setting alarms. When I heard him packing up in the morning I figured he wouldn't just do a runner, but apparently I was wrong! The rest of us rolled together most of the way to Whitehorse, making the headwind not so much of a problem, if only for psychological reasons.

I had another Warmshowers host lined up in Whitehorse, Philipe. If you had something go wrong with your bike, chances are he'd be able to fix it. He could probably cobble together a fleet a touring bikes if he wanted with what he had in his backyard.

A not so restful day was spent running errands, although it wasn't so bad. One of the housemates fed me freshly caught fish, and he also had a rabbit for our dinner.



A late start and lethargic mood had me looking for nice options, the Jakes Corner diner settled it, I was already drawing about my 2nd breakfast. I took a punt and went 6km off the hwy to a rest area on a lake. This turned out to be a spectacular spot. Some Germans even drove in later, gave me a beer and a 2nd dinner as they'd cooked enough for a family of hungry cyclists.

The roll to breakfast was all uphill, but a big plate of french toast, eggs and bacon sorted me out, they even chucked in an extra slice of french toast! I few too many impatient drivers made the day a bit less enjoyable, but I was feeling great after already doing a good distance. Continuing on was a big mistake, as my day got really shitty in a hurry.

With 25km to go it started raining, getting reasonably heavy at one point. I was riding along and heard music blaring from down the bank. Turned out to be a fatal car crash. Chances are no-one would have noticed for a long time if I hadn't been around. An hour of hanging around in the rain waiting to give a statement to the police and I was off, very wet, but only a short distance from my planned camp.

I picked a great spot though, as an Aussie couple had tarps setup and a fire going, which got me feeling much better.

Another late start, this time due to rain. Occasionally it would clear up, but I did spend quite a while taking shelter in a toilet.

Later in the day I noticed my jockey wheel was squeaking. I didn't think much of it, until it seized up. I now have another item to check before a long tour! Clearing out the bearings and other debris actually made it surprising smooth, so I continued on, to my first continental divide crossing! It looked like the elevation sign had been nicked, so I had to settle for a rather less impressive info board.

Camping that night at the Continental Divide lodge was quite pleasant, even though I did have to wait for the hot water heaters to start working.

I was stubborn, and managed to ride another 27km, now with greased packed jockey wheel before I realized it was a silly idea and started trying to hitch a ride. Within 20 mins and RV stopped, their daughter had done similar trips so they had a soft spot. That got me back to Teslin, with an amusing stop at the lodge. Two mins after getting on the roadside in Teslin and I had another lift, all the way to the exit to downtown Whitehorse. I rocked up to Philipes, and no-one was home. House was unlocked so I made myself at home, with one of the housemates turning up a little later.

The next morning I did another shop, got my bike fixed and started hitching again. Its significantly harder to hitch away from a major town with a bike, as people don't feel as sorry for you. Three rides later, including one with a few beers, a pot smoker and a ride in the back of pickup and I was in Teslin. I was just about to give up and camp for the night when I saw a guy with a MTB on his roof getting gas. Ross turned out to be great and we managed to strap my bike to his bike and made our way up the road.

Just before the lodge we saw another cyclist heading the same direction, so we stopped and mentioned I was going to camp just a bit further. When I got there I met Isobel and Curtis, both Canadians doing a similar trip, and Tom from Sydney rocked up a little later. Turns out we are all heading down the Cassiar!

Alaska, the land of the flat mountain passes

The beginning of a tour can be an exciting time. Emelio and I rolled out of town with an escort from Burnice through the network of bike trails. It was great to get rolling, and we had perfect weather. Once the trails ended it got less pleasant as we were forced onto the motorway.

Emelio had a blowout, popping the tyre off. Emilio got it fixed.

I'd planned a big first day, and sort of pushed Emelio to come with me. In hindsight it would have been best to split it into two days as Emelio wasn't conditioned yet. In Wasilla we split up, with the possibility of catching up further along the road.

Even though I arrived after 9pm, Elaine, another warmshowers host met me with a beer and dinner! Also staying the night was Brigitte, from France who was also cycling north.

The morning was spent learning about sled dogs and mushing, as well as a bit of a tour of the local area. After lunch I headed off, feeling great despite my previous day. In Talkeetna I watched a free music concert and met up with Elaine and Brigitte, as well as Rich, who's place we ended up at that night.

I'm not particularly quick to get going in the morning, so I had a few hours of chasing before I caught Brigitte. This would become a common occurrence for the days we spent together. This particular day wasn't helped by catching up with Emelio, who was having a rest day near Talkeetna.

The riding was through mostly uninspiring terrain, every so often the trees would open up to reveal a bit of a view.

My first night camping at Byers was to become a fairly common experience for payed campgrounds, best described as a glorified carpark. Occasionally there would be a tent area, but in general everything is aimed at RV's.

My first bear sighting was a bit more interesting than I'd have liked. I was stopped and heard a rustling before a small black bear popped out on the other side. I decided to move on before being a good tourist and taking a photo.

My first mountain pass was a little disappointing. The views were great, its just hard to take a pass seriously when it's basically a false flat all the way. I met Dennis, a German cyclist, who due to his lack of camping gear had been averaging 110miles a day.

In Cantwell we stayed in our first RV park. Not terrible as it had free showers, but the tent sites were only just big enough for 2 tents, the overall experience was much worse than NZ holiday parks, although cheaper, as long as you can share the cost.

The Denali hwy had been on my list of roads to travel from the start, but I'd convinced myself that I didn't need to do it. Thankfully Brigitte made me change my mind. What followed was 3 days of great riding with prefect weather with awesome views of the Alaska range.

A tailwind gave us decent pace, but we stopped earlier than I'd have liked, but it was a nice spot. Overnight I had to get up in the night, and experienced as much dark as i'm likely to get for a while.

An overpriced beer and wifi at Mclaren River  in the middle of nowhere were great to end the day, and we were camped just across the road.

I woke up feeling a bit lightheaded, but after a great breakfast at the lodge across the road I felt much better. Brigitte had left before me, so I had a bit of chasing, climbing at my own pace felt great. It was great to have some proper climbs, as well as some fun descents.

At Paxson a northerly wind made our choice for us, so we headed to Paxson Lake. This was one of the best spots for tents, as they had lakefront spots just for tents, at only half the normal cost! 

That night I Skyped home, definitely felt strange doing it whilst being a long way from the closest town.

As we had decided to go south we knew food could be an issue so we'd planned to stop at a nearby roadhouse. Unfortunately the info at the campsite was 2 years old, and it had only just reopened and wasn't setup for food.

After coffee I decided to leave Brigitte, with only a little success. With different breaks we ended up rejoining, before finally splitting when I chose to push on another 30 miles. It was getting hot, only high 20's, but the constant sun made it tough. Arriving in Christochina to a reasonably priced tent site at the Red Eagle lodge with a shower was great, there was even a store in town!

An all you can eat breakfast was a great start to day, Brigitte had even stolen a march and had breakfast with me.

A 2nd hot day in a row was hard. After a few hours we parted ways. The night before I'd been told about a valley where an earthquake had shifted part of the road 18ft sideways. Knowing it was there made it very noticeable, others I'd met had no idea. Actually riding amongst mountains was great, I even had some shade which was a novelty. I even saw a bunch of moose.

At camp I asked some motorbikers if I could share their site. Ryan and Matt were great company, even sharing their booze. The next morning I left a bit before then. Soon enough they passed me, but with the aid for a great tailwind I covered 16 miles in 50 mins and caught them in Tok having breakfast.

Doing an overnight ride had been on my mind, and what better place to do it then about as far north as I was going to get. To prepare for this I took it very easy in Tok, which meant Brigitte caught me once again. 

Rolling out of Tok at 10pm felt very strange. Whilst it was definitely still light, and would be for a long time I could feel that it was not normal. On the main highway there was still a little traffic, but once I turned off towards the Top of the World HWY I only saw 3 cars for the rest of the ride.

I did end up turning my lights on, but this purely so others could see me. I ran out of water, and nearly froze when the temperature dropped to 2 degrees whilst refilling. On sunrise I stopped at a rest area, had a quick snack and slept on a deck for a few hours.

Lack of sleep made the following day hard. The morning wasn't so bad, but after a good lunch and a free cinnamon bun from the Chicken Cafe the fatigue really kicked in. It was great to finally have some challenging terrain though, even if I wasn't in the best state to enjoy it fully.

Rolling into camp I was invited over for beers, and offered pot by an Eskimo, and Indian and a white guy, apparently a rather unusual group. It may have just been talk, but they were making themselves out to be a bit of a rough bunch, at least in their youths. Not the usual people I'd hang around but I figured why not.

Ended up camping with another pair of bikers, Dave and Greg. They even pulled out some throwing axes.

This would be my last night in Alaska, only 11.5 days, a bunch of miles, and far too little seen. I definitely want to come back, I'd love to see the country through the changing of seasons.