Ferry Godmother

Look how skinny he is! At least he remembered his rain jacket. The blue jacket is Jill, the "fan" Ed met on the road. She was riding to the ferry also, but was freezing and bundled up. A guy in a truck came upon Ed and told him there was some "Russian guy on a bike" behind them and maybe Ed should wait for the guy and ride with him, just in case.

Well, it turned out to be Jill and after the two bike nuts swapped gear lore, Jill said "I'm headed to Juneau." and Ed said, "I'm headed to Denver."

So Jill said, "Oh, you're THAT guy - I've been following your wife's blog!" Her comments are on Sunday's post.

Now that Ed's on the ferry, here's the last Map point he sent me this morning:

CLICK HERE FOR THE MAP LINK, YA BIG FREAKS

Comments straight from Ed
ON THE FERRY:
Against Ferry:

• Cussedness of doing it as planned no matter.
• Much of anything that ever happened in this part of the world is from plain stubborn cussedness. This almost won the day.
• Jasper\Banff. The other end of the overland route. Problem is, with elevation, by the time I get there, same problem with snow in the passes already getting here in the north.

For Ferry:

• Mancation is fundamentally a pleasure trip.
• Better to board ferry of my own volition than be forced to load the bike in the back of a Mountie's vehicle or onto a Greyhound across a thousand miles of Canadian prairie.
• Never been on Haines road or seen southeast Alaska. Road spectacular, we will see about the ferry passage.

A SHOUT-OUT
A StoLat to the Cooks of White River Yukon Territories (see "Smarty Pants" post). It was a privilege to sit by their stove. They have been in the area since 1969 and I am sure there are travelers all over the world that share this sentiment.
Among their comments:
“Need some gas?”
“I suppose your wife's new boyfriend in Denver lent you the bike.”
“Take care, there are Lions.”

ON TRIP PHASES:
It seems the trip has developed into three distinct phases:
1. Spectacle Headwinds [just completed]
2. Passage No Berth [about to begin]
3. East in the West [in development]


ON PICTURES:
If you get any at all, they will be coming from an unknown email address at the giftshoppassportphotoplacewithcopymachine. I had to pick some, print actual pictures, and now they are supposedly going to scan prints and email. I kid you not.

I’m sure there was a better way, but was in no position to argue.

I did try to group them by location or theme such as the Yukon, or Cold Enough for you, but no telling how and if you will get them, and of course you will have to make up your own captions as I was unable to attach my wiseass expert commentary. I have many more, but will have to wait for next opportunity. Raining, rain, rain, here. Will call while loitering at ferry terminal for hours this evening.

So here are some pictures, without captions, so how about this: Give us YOUR captions in the comments section.

BOOMER! and the bear

Yesterday was a great day for Ed and for Sooner football. Since we are both University of Oklahoma alumni, and I was born and raised in Norman, we are football nuts. We helped start the OU club of Alaska, which is still going strong, and one of the first things I did in Denver was join the OU Club of Colorado.

On this bike trek, Ed has been wearing his OU bike jersey ("Wherever you go, there you hate Texas") and he has encountered some Texans along the way (see previous posts). Last Thursday, he was miraculously able to see the USC-Oregon State game and we talked and texted back and forth as the Trojans bit it hard. USC cannot lose enough for me - they could lose every day and I would not be satisfied.

Anyway, as Ed trudged toward Haines on Saturday, he saw a roadhouse some miles outside of town. His general rule is that wherever he encounters a place offering food, he stops in. You never know when you'll have a chance again to have something besides freeze dried spaghetti...

While eating his BLT at Roadhouse 33, he watched NASCAR on the lone TV above the bar. He saw the scrolling scores on the screen and noticed a pattern: Top 5 teams losing and the Sooners holding tough against TCU. He asked the bartender if he could switch the TV to football. In true Alaska fashion, he said no.

"The cable box is in Joe's cabin up the hill, and Joe's not in now, so we're stuck with NASCAR," was his explanation.

Thoughts raced through Ed's mind: "Florida Lost, Roll Tide - BOOMER SOONER! We're gonna be #1 - must...see...game!"

So, the time trial to Haines began. He had 33 miles to pedal and he decided to haul it to see the second half of the game. With fully loaded panniers, he started the race to Haines for glory. The pace up to this point had been leisurely - but this was about football not cycling, and he was going for it.

The first hill was a tough climb and to add to his final humiliation in Alaska, he encountered head winds. But the Sooners were going to be #1 and he could not stop just because of a strong breeze. So he stood on the pedals and rode harder.

Then he saw it - a small black bear on the side of the road. BUT --- he saw the bear AFTER he passed it. The little thing was LEAVING the road. That's when Ed realized something: he had charged a bear and didn't even know it. When he passed the bear, he was so close he could have slapped it. The poor bear probably saw the fire of victory in Ed's eyes and ran off.

Still, Ed didn't stop. He still thought he could make it to town in time for at least the 4th quarter. He pedaled harder. That's how strong Sooner football fans can be.

Unfortunately, he couldn't find access to the game on TV when he arrived in Haines. So he fired up the cell phone and watched the play summaries on the tiny phone screen. When we talked later, he told me the bear story, and now I'm telling it to all of you.

HERE'S THE MAP LINK - CLICK HERE YA BIG FREAKS

Tomorrow: Ed meets a fan on the road.

The Snow Wins

He's made his reservations on the ferry from Haines and will leave Monday - it will take about 5 days to get to Bellingham and who knows how long to get to Denver. So much about this is a great idea:

• No more worrying about the weather - no anxiety about having to take a Greyhound through Canada or trying to flag down a mounty to strap his bike to the horse and hope for the best
• A chance to see a part of Alaska he's never seen: southeast (he can see Russia from the ferry, so now has foreign policy experience; well, okay, he can see Russians probably ON the ferry, but you know)
• He may get to Denver earlier

Since it's not a Princess Cruise but a mode of transportation, the cost for a stateroom is outrageous, so he will do like most ferry riders and camp out on the deck or inside the covered porch. No doubt there will be some backpackers with guitars and a few prison escapees, but that's how we build community.

As a side note, while riding through the Yukon Territory, Ed is remembering how much we liked Canadians the first time we went through there 14 years ago.

"They're nice, clean and smart," is what we remember. For example, the litter problem is almost nonexistent in Canada.

"I can tell you, because I've ridden on border roads where one side was Canada and one side was Alaska," Ed told me last night. "There's trash on only ONE side of the road, and it's not Canada."

Last night, he was in Haines Junction, YT, which is still a two-day ride from Haines, Alaska.

CLICK HERE FOR THE MAP LINK, YA BIG FREAKS

Hopefully he can upload more pictures in Haines. But for now, just picture him riding through sunny Canada and back in to Alaska, hopping on the ferry and hunkering down for a slow scenic ride to Washington.