Jaz and I headed out of Anchorage with Southeast Alaska on
our mind. Two countries, two boats and roughly 1800 miles (boat and road) over
a week and 2 weekends – this should be exciting!
No sooner did I get on the freeway before I discovered I had
an incredibly frightening wobble in my front end when I hit 65 mph. I slowed
down to 60 and tried to figure out what was going on. I had the tire balanced
and seated correctly, so I knew the tires were fine. This trip, since Michael
was not coming along, I was packing all the tools – a lot more weight then I
usually carry. I figured I hadn’t packed the weight well. We stopped in Palmer
and I redistributed the weight, breaking up the tool kit to a more balanced
load. It helped, but there was still a wobble.
At the Matanuska Glacier I moved the tools to my tank bag, distributing
weight more forward – this corrected most of the issue. Finally, I tied the
espresso machine to the tank… (just kidding).
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Gear ready to go... apparently I am carrying heavy stuff on this trip. |
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Resting and having a snack at the Matanuska Glacier |
While stopped at the Matsu Glacier, I decided to text
Michael to confirm the safest way to slow the bike down quickly with a front
end wobble (rear tire I figured, but wasn’t completely sure). I was allowing the
bike to coast down on it’ own rather than risk increasing the wobble. I was
hoping to get an affirmative on the back brake before I considered touching the
front brake when it was occurring. The Matsu Glacier rest stop has outhouses –
the deep pit style. So here I sat in an outhouse texting Michael about my bike
issues. I mean… I use the Iphone on the toilet at home… what’s the big deal?
As I am texting away, I feel something in the outhouse
crawling on my butt… then I realize, whoa.. this is NOT RIGHT! I jump from the outhouse fast then you can
say “OH SHIT”! My phone goes flying, and I am smacking my ass trying to get the
creepy crawlers off my ass! Lesson
learned! Use the outhouse fast and get out of there!
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Outhouse surrounded by Fireweed, Not the outhouse I scrambled out of... |
With the wobble mostly gone, I could focus on the road. Everything
is green and lovely and all the flowers are out. We topped off gas in the Holy
Sity (Glennallen) and grabbed some hamburger and chili to cook at the cabin for
dinner. Never Never Never eat in Glennallen.
We rolled into Red Eagle Lodge in Chistochina, cooked up a dinner and went
for a walk. I like the Red Eagle, friendly people, off the beaten path… quiet. It also nice to check out all the things that collect in the woods in Alaska...
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Outhouse at Red Eagle... |
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Busy firewood pile |
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Nice plane on my walk |
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Perhaps duct tape on plane is not a good idea? |
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Pac Trac |
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Inside of Pac Trac |
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Sunset |
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Rusty tricycle |
Tomorrow we plan to stay near Kluane in the Yukon Territory,
eh.
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