July 12 Day 21 Alaska Trip

We rode out from Fairbanks this morning for the Arctic Circle. This has an eerie sound to it, like one of those places where things go Bump in the Night! Actually, there is no Night, ...it has to do with that Equinox thing. June 21st is the longest day of the year, when the Sun never sets here. Today, the Sun set and 1hr., 57min. later it came back up! That's eerie! This is a real big deal for Alaskans, and they like to refer to their state as "The Land of the Midnight Sun". After about Mile 70, we ran outta pavement and for the next 80 miles we rode on dirt and gravel... I really wished I had a dual sport motorbike like Leroy's instead of the Wing for this stuff, but I guess you just gotta dance with the one that brung ya! Once I got used to how the bike slid on gravel, we were able to maintain about 55-60mph... the quicker speed seemed to help get over the roughest parts before they got to be trouble. This so-called road is courtesy of the Alaskan pipeline that runs from Dead Horse and the nearby oil fields by the Arctic Ocean all the way to the seaport city of Valdez on the southern coast. There is a lot more of the road past the Arctic Circle that is dirt and gravel, and it wouldn't be wise to go up that far on a street bike like the Wing. The parts of the road that is paved has frost heaves and potholes strategically placed on limited sight hilltops and blind curves. I like to look at names of roads and stuff along the way - One road was named "At Your Own Risk" and I saw a creek named "No Name Creek". Eventually, we crossed the Yukon River, fifth largest river in North America. We pulled into a gas pump/cafe/outpost on the north shore to fill up - our last one for 120 miles. After five hours of riding, we finaly got to the Arctic Circle at latitude 66 degrees, 33', there was a sign marking the spot - just a sign; no town, no nothing... Leroy and I got our picture taken with one of us in the Artic Circle and one of us somewhere south. A helpful volunteer awarded us official looking certificates proving we had indeed been there. I felt like I had done the first moon walk or discovered how to turn lead to gold. I felt like I had done something truly great! Jeez, I was floating on clouds! Anyway, we started the long, dusty ride back the same way we had came... Yep, those same 80 miles of dirt and gravel and unruly roads before winding up back at our Super 8 Hotel in Fairbanks. Total miles hard-ridden today was 400. When the rooster crows tomorrow, we ride out for Chicken, Alaska!