Nenana to Healy

Day 2--Saturday, July 20, 2002, 61.28 miles

Got up at my usual 6:30 and bicycled up the road to a gas station/ convenience store to get fuel for the stove and to mail my web report to Scott. Many places have no true phone service or electricity, but use a generator. I got lucky because they had a pay phone—but no fuel other than propane bottles for a different kind of stove.

On the way to Healy; notice the double rumble strips

 With no fuel, we could not fix breakfast, so after saying farewell to Floyd (our shirtless, muscle-bound, tattooed, bald, 50-something host for the evening), we returned to the convenience store and made a paltry breakfast of string cheese, sweet rolls, and coffee before getting on our way.

Read the Fairbanks newspaper over breakfast and learned that the Wheelchair Olympians were expected to arrive today. They will be racing from Fairbanks to Anchorage. Just cannot imagine piloting a wheelchair over some of the terrain we'd covered the day before.

A young guy came in asking who owned the Litespeed. He warned us about the frost heaved shoulders for the first fifteen miles or so out of Nenana. The shoulders were full of parallel cracks and had sunk down in places. We had to be constantly alert and ride in the road in places. Then we lost the paved shoulder and had 35 miles of wide gravel shoulder. When the shoulder returned, it had two rumble strips—the one closest to the road was deep and narrow, and the other one shallow and wide. Had to again ride in the road most of the time.

We came upon the Clear Lodge (a typical Alaska log road house and nothing like a lodge) about 5 miles beyond Clear AFB and about halfway to Healy. Stopped there for lunch.

When we started off again I was pursued by a persistent gull that flew just over my head and tried to light on BOB. Just as I was about to call for help on the walkie-talkie, it flew to a roadside pond that coincidentally also was occupied by some red necked grebes.

Though the road today was fairly flat for the first 35 miles, we had a stiff headwind and rough or poor road surface, combined with another day in the mid eighties. (What's with this? I came to Alaska to get away from the heat.) Anyway the three H's (heat, headwind, and hills) beat us up but good. We were exhausted when we got here.

The hill out of Healy

The hill into Healy

Scares us, too, when we think of what's to come, though we know we'll get stronger with each passing day. Jess collapsed into bed an hour ago (8 p.m.) and when I finish this I will follow shortly.

We have 11 short miles tomorrow (though we must begin them with a climb) to our outfitters and river rafting adventure and then 13 to our Savage River campsite in Denali National Park. So we can grocery shop and relax tomorrow a.m.