The Americas 2013

We went to pick the bike up following its service from the Outpost at midday however on arrival, it was still as filthy as she was when I dropped her there on Friday morning and had oil all over the place! This unfortunately did not instil much confidence in the $400 service that had just been completed! I appreciate that they guys have been busy but I have NEVER had a bike returned to me following a service looking like this so I insisted they wash her down as it would be the only way for me to tell if there were any oil or other fluid leaks within the first few kilometres of leaving the dealer…fortunately there wasn’t and I managed to get on the road to Coldfoot by about 14h30!

The road from Fairbanks to the start of the Dalton highway is approximately 130km of regular paved road running through MORE beautiful Alaskan countryside! Think mountains and forest for as far as the eye can see and then suddenly you’re upon it! The paved road turns to dirt albeit fantastic in that its hard-packed and super easy to ride! I hit a few patches of rain that turn the road into mud and although a little on the slippery side very, very easy to manage with the right tyres!

At the start of the Dalton…note the nice clean bike that has only just been washed!!!

The essential addition to the pole at the sign of the Dalton!!

…and after 2 hours of Dalton mud!!

On route, other than crossing north into the arctic circle for the second time in a week, I came across a lone white wolf sitting at the side of the road that contemplated me for just long enough to not enable a photo! Bugger! Needless to say it was fantastic to encounter as they are apparently super rare to see!

This is a great picture that shows just how far north I currently am and inside the arctic circle! The 3 red dots represent where I have been and where I currently am!

The Dalton is considered a haul road built specifically to connect the oil fields of Prudhoe bay with Fairbanks and as a result the truck drivers along this route are infamous, in fact, the TV Series, “Ice Truckers” is a series about the trucks that go up and down this very road because of how beautiful and yet dangerous it is!

In the picture you can see the oil pipeline running alongside the road which it does for almost the entire length of the Dalton.

Although I was originally planning on spending the night in Wiseman, I only got into Coldfoot really late, cold and hungry and the idea of riding another half an hour when there was an available room (with its own private bathroom, versus the communal bathrooms which are common in these parts) at the motel, I snapped it up and hit the sack not too long after.

What $200 (R2000) buys you in Coldfoot for 1 night!!!

Tomorrow I ride to Prudhoe bay which is a massive milestone in my journey in that although its not quite the end of the trip, it is the northern most point I will have ridden to.