It was raining when we got to Fairbanks yesterday, and raining when we left. A fairly miserable day on the bike to start. I've, once again, learned alot about cycling on this trip. The weather conditions here are so incredibly variable. You must, literally, be prepared for everything.
It was raining and 40 degrees when we left the hotel this morning, and continued to rain for the first 50. Even after that there were showers, but not the steady, persistent preciptation of earlier. When we pulled into the motel tonight (Alaska 7 Motel), the sun was shining. According to the ride leaders (native Alaskans) the mountains create their own weather. It's no wonder you can't watch a weather forecast and understand what's going to happen.
On the bike, it means carrying everything. I was soaked by the time we got to lunch, and by that time my hands were numb. I learned that I should have brought my booties, even if they don't keep your feet dry. At least they would be warm. I learned that I should have put on my glove liners, for the same reason as the booties. And I learned that an extra pair of dry shorts and socks in the van would have been really useful. Oh well.
There's an Air Force base in Fairbanks. According to the local news, there are military training operations in progress this week involving all branches of the military. Only those that are or have been in the military probably understand what that really means, but seems to be very newsworthy and pretty awesome to those not from a military background. It was quite an impressive sight as we pulled into town yesterday to see the B-52's and F-15 fighters all sitting on the tarmack. Even more impressive was being able to see one of the B-52's take off as we went by. Wow!
Interestingly enough as we rode out today, there were no fighters nor B-52's at the base. The Alaska highway runs right along the base for many miles. The B-52's started coming in over our heads to land as we rode and you could here the fighters above all day. Gives you some perspective how small you really are.
We're in Delta Junction tonight. The ride leader told us during orientation that this motel would be the low point of the ride. The bar was set pretty low. But, here I am connected to free wireless internet, something I could not do in Anchorage. We had hot water, and the rooms are clean. It appears that there is only one room that isn't being used by the tour. Just a small local mom and pop place, that typically doesn't survive in our area.
We saw several moose today, and the Alaskan pipeline. No additional bear sightings.
The day lived up to the hype and was compounded by rain. We're off toward Denali tomorrow. We will be crossing two passes (Isabell and Thompson I think. I may have to corrrect myself on the next post), so I expect more climbing. Have I mentioned that I really miss my bike? The bikes provided by the tour are Cannondales and are well equipped for the Alaska roads. I underestimated, though, what it would mean to go from a lightweight carbon fiber frame built for climbing to a steel frame, wide tires and a panier built for Alaska. Although, I'm sure I there would have been multiple flats on the Trek on the first day due to road conditions.
We'll hope for, at least, better weather tomorrow; although the rain seems to be following us since it's sprinkling here now.
~ Lisa
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