Distance: 76.3 miles
Avg speed: 13.2 mph
Max speed: 29.8 mph
Ascent: 2186 ft
Saddle time: 05:47

Today was filled with many challenges both mechanical and mental. I was too pooped to write last night so I intend to revisit this and the other posts later. However, I figured it was nice to at least provide some photos with captions for now!

I tossed and turned all night and awoke before my 7:00AM alarm. I got everything organized and went to the restaurant for breakfast. I sort of over did it this time. I had the skillet with avacado egg substitute. I the ordered a side of has browns and toast. I was concerned about the lack of services so wanted to really fuel up.

I talked with two guys from Anchorage at the table next to mine about any Intel on my route. The one guy is in land planning and moved here 3 years ago from LA and he loves it. The other guy is an anchorage native and they work together. I had mentioned my tire issue and asked how often do state troopers drive the road or how likely is it that someone will stop to help. They said most people would stop if I waved them down as they understand how remote I was. They said they would offer me a ride as they were heading to Anchorage but their place pickup is full of equipment. Speaking with them put me a bit at ease. I headed back to the room, loaded the bike and headed out.

I had a rest break and when getting ready to leave I noticed the rear tire was almost flat. Damn! I immediately checked the sidewall and it seemed fine. I have two spare tubes so I quickly swapped it out. It is tough getting the proper pressure into these tires using a small hand pump but she held air and seemed fine.

Some time later a squeak and grind noise began to happen when pedalling. It didn’t happen on every revolution but is periodic in nature. It is especially bad under load. I cannot tell if it is the crank, rear cassette or rear hub. It is totally fine when coasting which makes it tough to debug…especially on the side of the road with speeding traffic. I’ll just need to continue on and hope she stays together…

I finally reached the Byers Lake Campground and rolled down entry road. A sign said ‘path to cabins 1,2 and 3’. I figured okay I’ll walk my bike. It started off fine but then got really really thick. I could tell by my bike computer that another entrance road was up ahead. It was too late to go back and don’t think i could rotate the bike 180 degrees if tried. So, after some time bushwhacking with my bike I ended up on the road that I was supposed to turn down (my navigational blunder)

I then took the dirt road to my cabin and it felt like a scene from a movie. It was much better than I ever imagined. I was totally dehydrated as I ran out of water a few miles back and took an unintended hike to get here so water filtration was priority number one. It took about 20 minute to Sawyer squeeze filter several liters. I then downed one! I could tell I really needed this water as I was actually a little dizzy..

So many times today I questioned why I am doing this. The headwinds were pesky. The crazy highway traffic. The massive trucks. A bike that is hurting. A body that is tired… But, I somehow kept it together and managed to reach my destination. I pretty much relaxed and planned for a early departure to tomorrow.