PowerCycle

06/27 Busy today but some great steak (AAA New York) and cold beer made it all worthwhile (Alley Kat Amber–brewed in Alberta and very tasty). I have to find a way to pack more meat products for when I’m on the road. Maybe some beef jerky. Pasta just isn’t cutting it anymore. The only problem is cooking it in bear country. They probably like meat too.

The day couldn’t have started off any better. When the thing that wakes me up in the morning is the sun warming my tent vs. the sound of rain beating down on it you can’t do better than that.

So it’s been about 8 days since I saw/read the news last. Everybody died! Holy crap! MJ! Will my red, zippered jacket be worth more now? (too soon?). And Farah and Ed! I was in a coffee shop this afternoon uploading the latest web site stuff when I started going through my CNN and Drudge alerts. I wanted to yell out, “MJ died!” but it was like 2 days ago now so it would have been weird. This was at the Coco’s Cafe. Everyone there was really cool. Great place to hang out if you are in Jasper. I really hate not knowing what’s going on in the world. Then again maybe not knowing is one of the reasons why I haven’t had a non-beer headache or heartburn in 4 months, both of which I would get regularly.

Took the bike in to Freewheel Cycle for a pre-Alaska Highway tune-up. The chain was filthy but I knew that. They cleaned it all up, adjusted the brakes and gave it the seal of approval. The wheels didn’t even need trueing. Only charged me $20 for everything which was a shock. Also very cool guys working there. They recommended the coffee place and the place I ate dinner. Dinner was at the Fiddler Restaurant. Good food but these days I think all the portions I get are too small. They also suggested I head over to the tourist info building and get a list of approved accommodations for the town. So off I went. Robert there pointed me to Gloria’s house so I called and for $50 I could have a bed for the night (and a shower!!!). Her place was only 5 minutes so I unloaded all my gear and headed back into town for some shopping.

One of the things I bought was the ugliest daypacks ever. The picture is below. I didn’t do anything to adjust the color. It really looks like someone got sick on it. It should keep people from stealing it though. It was only $18 at the Dollar Store and it is very lightweight. I was tempted to buy a $70 one at North Face but I exercised some self control. Its just a lot easier to carry that around when I make a side trip instead of having to unload a pannier and worry about someone walking off with it.

Also bought some camp fuel since I was almost out. I’m so happy they had white gas (aka camp fuel or Coleman fuel). I freaking hate kerosene. It leaves a nasty black soot on everything and it’s a pain to light. Regretfully I also bought a book called The Milepost. It’s a mile by mile guide of all the highways in the Yukon, Alaska, northern BC and Alberta. Basically everywhere I’m going to be. The problem is that its 5 pounds. I’m going to try and cut out some sections I know I won’t need to get it lighter. The book is very detailed and being able to see when I can buy food next will be somewhat helpful.

I spotted the 4 guys I mentioned yesterday in town. Their web site is www.4garsetuncanada.blogspot.com. Awesome guys. Hope they have safe trip back to Quebec.

I can’t see my web site now but I think my Trip Map section shows how I’m leaving Jasper. Basically I’ll be heading out on Hwy 16 NE until I get to Hwy 40 (which is paved–something I wasn’t sure about until tonight). Then I jump on Hwy 43 to Dawson Creek which is Mile 0 for the Alaska Highway. Once I leave Jasper I expect that my internet access will drop off a lot so don’t worry my family and friends–I’ll try to get updates out one way or another as often as I can.

GPX Track

This entry was posted on Sunday, June 28th, 2009 at 11:31 am and is filed under Leg 1. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.