The End of the Line...

Jaz called the trip just north of the Arctic Circle. Although I still had ability, and my bike had more to offer, as well as Jaz... her bike had given everything it could give. We had a hug at the arctic circle and agreed to turn around... 195 mile short of our 1000 mile goal.

Being reasonable girls... we decided that the last 195 miles were not worth paying the price others were paying. There were 13 motorcycles on the Dempster these last 3 days, including us. We were the only women. 5 riders crashed, only 1 was able to continue riding their bike.


Me standing at the Arctic Circle...

The road was a huge challenge. I had one close call... I think the insides of my thighs are bruised from squeezing the tank and trying to regain control of the massive fishtails I got pushed into. I recovered, but barely... Jaz had enough close calls that it prompted her to lay face up on the picnic table recuperating at the Arctic Circle for several minutes.

We turned around and I added this road to the list "Things left undone... that require another attempt"... enuff said on that.


600 miles of dirt road in 3 days!


The road kept us guessing...


The mud was like sheet-rock paste...

No sooner did we return to Eagle Plain, gas up again, did we run into Chuck from Idaho. Chuk, we suspect, like some of the other boys... was going just a little to fast for the road conditions. He unfortunately paid with his bike... but he was okay. We chatted with him for a little bit. He was heading north when he hit a patch of that dreaded "black mud" and before he knew it he was fish tailing... and could not regain control of it. He went down hard. The bike engine guard got pushed into the head of his BMW1200 and cracked the case... he leaked all his oil out. He flew off the bike into the bushes and thought he cracked his collarbone and hurt his ankle. He destroyed the front and rear ends of his bike and had a nice little pile of items such as dash, tail lights, speedometer... It looked like a very expensive pile. He let me take photos for my blog...


Cracked engine...


Front damage...


Chuck's expensive pile....


Chuck recouping from his fall...

See the thing is... the black mud was like sheet-rock paste. It filled your tire treads and made your tires completely smooth... so you had no tracking or control. The mud was sooo heavy, it was like cement... At least knobby tires had a better chance, but her tires, as well as Chucks didn't stand a chance. If you are going to do this road... make sure you have the right tires for the job. That will make or break whether you get to the end!

Second... don't pack top heavy. Jaz made it as far as she did because she has such a low center of gravity. We saw three folks in Dawson tonight getting ready to start the road tomorrow... two of them were pretty top heavy. Finally, make sure you have extra days in case the weather goes bad and you have to wait it out. Don't rush.

We are sitting around in Dawson recovering now. We are one day ahead of schedule now... we are trying to decide what to do with that.

I just wanted everyone to know we are off the Dempster.