Alaska-The long trip to the start.

Finally I have found an Internet connection, but all you sticklers for spelling will have to grin and bear it as I have no time to spell check this! On arriving at Anchorage after a tediously long 48 hours involving a travel tavern in Vancouver airport I managed to collect my bike. Mostly all was well but it had no number plate or insurance. After wasting a day and with a bit of moaning both came through. Anchorage looks pretty amazing on landing and I came to the conclusion that everything in Alaska has to be BIG, the state is huge, the animals are huge (as I was greeted by a 15 ft stuffed bear at the airport) and even the local mens mustaches are impressively large. I finally set off towards Fairbanks on the bike leaving behind Anchorage and the pain of WalMart where I chose to equip myself. The weather was cold ish but not too bad. On the way up I met several people who were fascinated by what I am doing and kept trying to offer me a place to stay, which would have been good but they were always back the way I had just come. After about 170 miles I was tired so decided to find somewhere to stay, on the search I found a man on a broken down motorbike. After a bit of help it was fixed which let to another offer of a room, in Anchorage!! useless. So instead I camped by the road side. This was OK, but I was bricking it about Brown bears as several had been shot in the local vicinity. All was OK though as I fell asleep very fast.
In the morning it was freezing (below zero in fact as my bike was frozen, so with much disgust I hauled myself out of my tent. After packing up I moved on. The scenery was awsome as I drove past mt Macinley, I then saw my first piece of exotic wildlife, which also almost became my 1st road kill. This huge lump starting waddling out in front of me, i braked hard shouting various phrases of surprise at what this monster was. It turns out it was a porcupine, and it was a mother of a porcupine, looking  more like a very spikey large family dog. Anyway I found it all quite amusing.
I arrived at Fairbanks where it was so dam hot would you believe, so after much sweating and getting lost I decided to escape, so I went north east 70 miles to some hot springs to chill out. It was OK here but the mosquito's decided I was there favorite meal so the novelty quickly wore off, however on the way I saw wildlife no 2, a moose or should I say a moose and two mouslets, it was bloody huge, about the size of a large horse, on top of that i also looked quite amusing too.
So now we are up to yesterday, where the fun really started. I was setting off up to coldfoot on the Dalton highway, so I bought spares, extra fuel and water and off I went. This was a really really tough day. I covered about 350 miles, of which about 200 were on dirt, and by dirt I mean seriously tough riding. I almost fell off twice but managed to hold it. Halfway through I caught up with two other riders who I was with for a few hours but I wanted to move faster so left them. The views and the mountains were spectacular, prob the most amazing I have seen. I was in true isolation but the road was getting worse and worse. I arrived at Coldfoot in the evening to pitch my tent in a hedge near some huskies as I was told they would keep the bears away. I slept like a log.
Today I got up feeling much better, today was the attempt to get to Deadhorse on the Arctic Ocean (260 miles of dirt) I left in high spirits and was able to average 40 miles per hour on the dirt, but then the rain came, this made the road feel like someone had smeared the whole lot with snot and the results of a bad curry. it was AWFUL, sometime I was down to 10mph. Getting annoyed I trudged on, in dry patches lorries going the other way covered me in dust and rocks, and in the rain it was curry sauce! The suddenly I noticed something on my right.... YES A BEAR! I saw a Brown bear, it was sooooo cool, and once again bloody huge! It moved under cover before I got a photo, but as I looked at it it looked well cuddly, but I thought I shouldn't try giving it some loving. So anyway I was well chuffed.

I carried on through the Attigan Pass, which again was so amazing the view and the landscape was something I could never even explain. Truly incredible. I stopped for lunch with about 160 miles to go to dead horse, all was good. After some soup and a cup of tea I moved off again. The problem with the road is the inconsistency of it, one min its OK gravel, then its potholed tarmac, then its mud, then its deep gravel. The concentration needed is immense and really tiring, so my speed was suffering.
After reaching the North slope which is the flat dull area that leads to the Arctic Ocean the temp drop was amazing. I was FREEZING! As I continued getting ever more tired the temp got lower and lower until the moisture on my visa was freezing, thus making it hard to see the holes! However the views were ever changing and once again amazing. This was true Arctic that you normally see on the telly. Massive ice shelfs, geese, tundra and lots of water, and even my final species spot, a herd of Caribou! The final section to deadhorse felt like forever. The road was horrendous, the worst I had seen, and I was so tired. By this stage I was sick of it all, then to add insult to injury my bike stopped. I was in the middle of nowhere and hadn't seen a vehicle for hours. I sat there for a bit thinking and fiddling then it decided to start again. By the time I arrived in Deadhorse it had done it 3 more times. A bit of concern for me really but I'm too tired to look at it not.
Deadhorse is so miserable. Really foggy and lots of snow and ice, for those of you who have seen the film called 'the thing' I am staying in a place just like that as they wouldn't allow camping due to the Polar bears!!! (a couple of years back someone got their leg eaten off by one before he could shoot it!) So instead I'm staying in 'the things' local habitat for $90. What a rip off, but better than being Polar bear lunch I suppose.
Tomorrow I head back to Coldfoot and the long leg to the Yukon. I would like to say the bike is going well, and it was until just before Deadhorse, but we shall see. I am sorry I cannot load photos right now as the rules here forbid ever thing except large mustaches. Sorry but i will try load them in a few days.
I'm sure I forgotten lots more but my hand hurts and this is costing Deadhorse Internet rates which suck!
big love,
Mendus