July 10
We leave friday. Our site is up in a limited sense. We'll get there, just you wait.
--Jason
July 11th
Hola amigos y familia!! After 5 or 6 weeks in Alaska Jason and I are finally ready to go. We will be flying to Deadhorse, Alaska where we will proceed to jump naked into the Arctic Ocean, dry off, eat some dinner, sleep, and then get on our bicycles for a ride in which the only certainty is our cardinal direction; SOUTH. Our website is a hillarious work in progress but from here we hope to share our adventures, our methods and our thoughts. For the first part of the trip from Deadhorse to Fairbanks, we will be joined by Fish, Kayla and Ben. They are awesome, enough said. The ride to Fairbanks is 500 miles of wild Alaska. Musk oxen, raptors, bears and Caribou; large expanses of tundra and 24 hours of daylight. Much love to everyone who reads these words. You are all a part of us as we expand and travel. photos should be up once in a while.
-Nico
July 27th Fairbanks, AK
wowww... that road from deadhorse was hardcore, but very, very beautiful. we have been very lazy here in Fairbanks and have not yet gotten this website going but thanks to Jason's mom, Sandy, we will have something going soon enough with interesting content and what not. for now, here is a link to some fotos from the first 650 miles of our trip.
http://s259.photobucket.com/albums/hh319/hippotour/
July 20 Jason
The hills have been heel and I’ve been in a bad spot the last few weeks. The repetition has been good though. We’ve been on the road a week and a half and everything keeps changing. The mosquitoes though are finally getting better. When I dig my morning hole I don’t have to fear 30 itching bites on my soft tenders. Only five or ten. It seems at the beginning of any tour I always question my motives and ability. Am I doing this to prove something to the cats back home? Is it just to show my parents that I can? Or is this for myself? I’m still not sure, but I finally know I am in it for the long haul.
After we passed Antiquin Pass the roads were better. They started grading that is. It was still a muddy slop full of holes and pinch flat, side-wall tearing rocks. But filling in the gap between two large hills so there is only an eight percent instead of a twelve percent incline helps the knees out a lot.
Yesterday we hit pavement and some sustained hilly climbs, not the two miles straight up and then back down shit. I could use my momentum to carry over to the next climb. Near the top, elated and inflated, god-like, perched over the land. Birds fly-bellow or beside, water pools into ponds, rivers, creeks, marsh, or tundra. It all changes as we move south.
The down hill is crushing typically gravel or mud. I have to swerve to avoid huge pot holes and rocks. At the bottom the hills are high above. Before the tree line it was just course granite, rough, natural, intimidating. Now it’s soft with trees, but intimidating still applies. The climb ahead is long and will take some time. Now that we are out of the tundra the mosquitoes don’t swarm as you slow down to a three mile an hour crawl-climb. Things are better, different.
I got pancakes today. Had them four days ago in cold-foot too. I call them my creature comforts. I can do without a bed, house, toilet, or shower, but sometimes I just need fast carbs. Fairbanks is only a couple days away and I’ll be able to buy some cabbage and have a beer.
The last eleven days the sun hasn’t set, just spun around over our heads, behind a thick fog-cloud. Today that fog cleared and the sun came out and dried off my panniers and clothes and then promptly set at 12:30 am; only to rise again a few hours later. In a month time I’m sure I will see starts and the good old month and I’ve missed it the last two months. It helps me keep track of time. Keeps me out of the timeless limbo feeling I’ve been trapped in while in Alaska. Regulates me sleep. It’s hard to find time to sleep when it never gets dark.
It’s time for me to go. Head south. I want the hot sun and the dark nights. No more fifty degree days, it’s July. Come on. It’s time to go. It’s a long hard, and try8ing road south but I’m in. I’m ready. I have some ghosts in my handle-bar bag, but I’m ready to fight them. I’m ready to figure this out. I don’t know the answer, hell I’m not even sure of the questions, but I’m ready. It’s time to head south dam it. I’m full speed-a-head.
August 21st
Well, I am not in Alaska anymore and unfortunately I could not get through Canada because of a DWAI that I have so now I am in Washinton state having a great time exploring the many islands and unique ecosystems that exist in this state. After being turned away from the border I went back to Fairbanks where I hung out for about a week with the kind and fun people I met there. Maja Pederson, thank you for all the hospitality and good times. If I wasnt with Maja and running around doing all sorts of things with her, I was chilling with Jessie the dog musher in the woods, or the bogs or anywhere else we could feel free in with his 25+ dogs. I learned all sorts of things about dog mushing the old way, living off the land and train hopping! haha. Jessie is from Alabama, train hopped his way up to the Yukon Territories and now lives in Fairbanks where he has become a reputable dog musher. but the real way. no fancy smancy stuff. He loves his dogs and wants them to be happy as much as crazy and fast. Training for him means living in the bush in a wall tent or a squatter cabin running trap lines and exploring the winter wilderness of Alaska. I spent about 3 months in Alaska this summer and that time spent is full of stories and people like Jessie from all walks of life. I felt very much at home there and am happy that I can leave knowing that I will always be welcome back and that I have close friends to greet me.
Nico (from Port Townsend, Washington)