21 May 2017
(written by Dave)
The day has come, tomorrow we ride. We are currently at 64.8 degrees north and that’s as far as we’ll go – it’s all south from down here. Someone said it’s all downhill but I’ve checked the profile and it looks uphill to me, if only gently. Forecast for Monday is a “clearing shower”. We are hoping that it will clear by the time we start – we’ll see. If not, we’ve got 20ish hours of sun – all day if needed. We are planning 50 miles or so.
Chris arrived this morning. We got his bike together with only one bent skewer and a single stripped eyelet as damage – we worked out solutions for both issues. So for the next 2 weeks to Whitehorse, we’ll be a gang of four – Mark, Chris, Nancy and me.
Mark
Mark
Chris
Mark
And just to see if Nancy and I age any between here and the bottom of South America, here are starting photos of us as well.
Nancy
Nancy and a bear claw – nice
Dave
Dave – what bears?
We’ve had a good couple days in Fairbanks. It is an interesting town. Our AirBnB is new and nice. It’s not in the higher end of town but I think 6 months of snow makes every building look rough this time of year – everything around us needs a fresh coat of paint. We are so far north that it never gets dark. Mark and I are both sleeping with eye pads. I was awake at 2AM the first night and could read without a light on.
In our Fairbanks travels, we hit the Fairbanks Visitor Center – they’ve done a great job with interpretive displays and had lots maps. There was also a ranger with a table full of animal pelts (yes, he had a grizzly pelt). He was full of information about bears and how to be safe. Some highlights included that we should NOT ride past bears we encounter on the roadside. We now will either wait for them to meander off, or wait for a car (most likely a large double sized truck – every car seems big here). We have our bear spray mounted on the handle bars of our bikes and come what may, we’ll get through.
Yup – that’s a bear claw
Moose antler arch
Alaska WWII monument
Polar monument
Fairbanks bike share
Visitor centre mask
For the foodies reading the blog, we had our first proper Alaskan cafe brekkie today – at The Cookie Jar. Yes, the food is massive. We certainly won’t go hungry, so long as we find a similar cafe every third day or so. Nancy managed to eat about ½ of her food but perhaps that’s because we all shared a diner plate sized cinnamon role as a starter. No photo of the cinnamon role but brekkie shots are noted below.
In our wanders of Fairbanks we snapped a few more photos. We won’t see another city of this size for at least two weeks. Actually, it’s probably 6 weeks until we get to Prince George, which is the first real city of similar size. We have lots of food packed, hoping to survive on a combination packed food, roadhouse fry ups and the odd cafe. Updates to follow but for now, here we go!
For our Aussie friends – yes all the cars have one to heat the engine
Cool building
Leave Without Pay 
Nice to hear from you and wonderful you have started the journey. I also. Following a wild and spontaneous idea, I am bike packing on Isabella, that’s the Surly Deluxe from Barcelona to Léran in France and back again, over different sections of the Pyrenees,. You can follow my blog at bsayshi.wordpress.com
From b
Go B – you’re amazing! Thanks for continuing to inspire us!
Mom has been looking for this second entry all day (well asking her friends if there was one while talking on the phone), so I just called her to tell her that it was up. She said she has been trying to get on the internet this afternoon to no avail. So, she is going to call you in a little while to wish you, “Happy Trails!” Make that ditto from me! Have fun!
Thanks Pam – We are really excited.
I’m so excited to read about your adventures! With four of you, I bet the bears stay away. Have a great ride and see you on down the road!
You boys all look like brothers! Have fun! Be safe! 🐻 got nothing on your crew!
Good idea, we are changing our blog name – Three bears and Goldie Locks!
I just looking on google maps. It said it was only a 2 day by bike to Whitehorse from Fairbanks! That would be a 244 miles each day ….. crazy calculation. Happy travels and hope everything runs smooth.
Thanks Kirti – the boys were not overly impressed with the 244 miles per day idea. We’ll see how we go.
Holy cow! Have you seen how much luggage we have brought?
We’re trying to figure out where steamer trucks should be mounted on the bikes.
Happy riding! I promise not to send you any more bear stories.
Your food looks enticing & filling! Happy Trails! Love, Mom Jan
Good luck tomorrow. Keep safe and I look forward to reading the next update. What an amazing adventure. Have fun!!! oxo
Thanks Sue!!
Enjoy the travels Dave and Nancy, I am envious just from post 2.
Safe Journey. Looking forward to my next History lesson.
David I can’t seem to get a message sent from the “Comment” box so i am sending you this thru your e=mail and hope you get it. I am thrilled to start reading your blogs. thank you for including me. I hope you have a safe rip and am glad you have two beautiful men to help you thru Alaska with the BEARS actually i oly hope yu see them from afar!!! they are beautiful creatures, but have sharp claws….. The rose that is riding with you is a strong woman… and it always looks like she is having fun. Good riding, Nancy… you have 3 hunks to take care of you for awhile…David. Happy Trails to you. love AP
Right behind you in july
I hope the food gets better. That looked awful.