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Friday, August 17, 2007

Greetings from sunny Skagway

Date: Aug. 15-17
Mileage: 371.5
August mileage: 686.6
Temperature upon departure: Scorching
Inches of rain: 0"!!

My pinky fingers are numb, so it is hard to type right now.

I am killing some time in Skagway while I wait for my ferry. I rolled in at 12;51 p.m. this afternoon. I left the Haines ferry terminal at 12;38 p.m. Wednesday, which means I ~almost~ made it in 48 hours.

It's true, though, that 48 hours and two days are not the same thing. I divided this ride into three pretty equal days ... 140 on Wednesday, 120 on Thursday, 110 today.

I might have made my self-imposed time cutoff, but I stayed up late hanging out at a Whitehorse barbeque and slept in ... a little. (It was still as dark as the massive dark night when I left at 4;30 a.m. Yukon time)

Everything went about as well as I could have hoped for. Wednesday and today were two of the most beautiful bike rides I have ever experienced. Thursday doled out the heaping helping of suffering I was hoping for at least a dose of - 120 miles of mostly Alaska Highway, into an unrelenting 15-25 mph headwind all day long, ran out of water twice, with temperatures that climbed to 30 degrees Celcius (what is that? Like 90? Ouch.)

I have some good pictures to post when I am back in juneau. I definitely recommend this bicycle touring route to anyone. I used to think that riding Moab to Hanksville, Utah, via the San Juan Mountains and Highway 95 was the most beautiful road bicycle route in North America. I think I may have changed my mind about that.

I brought way too much food.

And too little water.

But I think my knee held up well, which is definitely encouraging. If it weren't for my pinky fingers and the red welts across my skin (an allergic reaction to the sun, I think ... not sunburn, actual welts) ... I'd be the picture of health.

Well, my Internet minutes are nearly up. Thanks everyone for the well wishes. Luck definitely smiled on me this weekend.

14 comments:

  1. Congrats! Glad you enjoyed the ride.

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  2. Way to go Jill!!! Can't wait to hear the details and see the pictures. I'm also interested in the pinky fingers. I'm getting rid of my Ergon Grips because my pinky fingers go numb from them. I think those grips are over-hyped.

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  3. What kind of surface is the road? All paved? I hope you might post a small map of the route at some point. Sounds like something I'd like to ride.

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  4. Interested also to hear where you stayed (camped?) south of Haines Junction, or what you thought might be good places to camp had you not biked so many miles on all three days. Nice ride !

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  5. Great to hear it was even better than you'd expected!

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  6. I thought about you, while you were out there and I had a good feeling:)
    Jill is having a good time, I thought and you did indeed!!
    GOOD FOR YOU!!! A great accomplishment for you:)

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  7. Nice going Jill, Sounds like you had a great time. Even the suffering part. Can't wait to see the pictures.

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  8. oh what a lovely bit of jill snack tonight!

    too much food!?!?!?!?!

    better too much then too little. =)

    was little worried about your water but didn't want to say anything....

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  9. Congrats, Jill! Good for you. It seems that your preparation paid off. Now we shall hear all the goodies and details. Sounds terrific!

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  10. Congratulations Jill on the success of your adventure/vacation. You should come to nebraska and we will ride from Lincoln to Valentine. Nebraska is actually really beautiful once you get away from the interstate, which is hideous. I cannot wait to see your pictures.

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  11. Sounds awesome! I'm not going to be able to do a 3-to-4-day Sept tour w/ my buddies this year, like I usually do, as my wife will be giving birth to twins then, so I've enjoyed reading about yours, and can't wait to see the pics and hear more details about it.

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