The planning continues. Latest email from the Organizer
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Gents,
Here is the game plan so far.
Depart from CA: 4 June
Return to CA: 29 June
25 days of riding and relaxing..
I sent the proposed route via sepcor
Conops:
Preparations:
1. Tires: should be new, bring spare for the Dempster.plus tools to change the tire on the road, including a cigarette adapter for a pump
2. Towing: Should be available all along the route, but can get very expensive. Dempster does have towing, but make sure you have a plan like BMW or AMA or MOA that will respond
3. I will carry a SPOT device for GPS emergencies.
4. Make sure your medical will work in Canada, bring pertinent data, e.g. blood type, authorization numbers for hospitals to call for insurance purposes
5. Dempster has a legitimate town at the end in Inuvik.so we will have a place to stay.
6. Accommodations:
a. I will be camping and staying at hotels..usually depending upon the weather, a cool rain is enough to drive me inside
b. In most cases there will be a place to rent a room.but they may be filled up along the Al-Can Highway, so calling ahead based on progress is a good idea
7. Weather, could be freezing in the AM, but usually in the high 50s, and in Inuvik the mid 30s in the AM with warming during the day. Rain will happen, our experience is that it was not a hard driving rain but more steady. Make sure you have waterproof everything.
8. Bikes and their cleanliness: uh, you are going to get dirty, end of story.
9. Road Conditions:
1. Al-Can Highway is mostly paved, however the summer season is the season to make repairs and resurface the road, so there will be stops for convoys and a lead truck to get us through the work zones. Speeds are limited to a max of 20 but frequently slower. The Al-Cans bridges have grated surfaces, which Im sure all of you have done before, they just get a little squiggly. You may find yourself riding in ruts.
2. Dempster highway, is a dirt and rock road, and we will have about 900 miles on it. When wet it is slicker than snot on a doorknob. This however, is manageable through speed. You may find ruts and standing water, as well as shale on the road. Again here, there will be maintenance to keep the road hard packed with whatever the name is of that chemical that hardens the surface (but alternatively makes it slick too)
3. Top of the World Highway: Not really maintained as well as the Dempster, but none the less a very enjoyable ride. Does have some ruts on the road outside of Chicken, but the scenery is outstanding.
10. Customs and Immigration:
1. US side, just officious, carry your passport and no problem
2. Canada: Professional pricks, do not under any circumstances bring a firearm, if they think you have one, you will have to tear your bike apart, especially at the station bordering the Top of the World Highway and into and out of Skagway.
11. Wildlife:
1. Bears, yes, sometimes along side the road, they look uninterested, but could charge at any time. Only saw black bears on the road, grizz could be anywhere at any timeavoid, rule for them is to view over 150 meters away, carry bear spray
2. Moose: Yes, they are dumber than a box of hammers, but kick forward, they have low attention spans, so avoid
3. Wolves: Yes, no real issue here
4. Bison: Yes, they will be on the road in BC, sometimes causing a traffic jamdo not provoke, these are huge animals
5. Musk Ox: Probably on the Dempster only.same rules apply
6. Mosquitoes: Yes, more than you have ever seen before, cover up, get spray, can become very thick at the Arctic Circle.I will have netting with me to wear over my face
7. Elk: Yes, dont provoke
8. Small Critters, yes, provoke all you want
12. Communications:
1. Expect spotty cell coverage, mostly around towns, assume not all of Dempster is covered. Prep your phone plan to either accept data or not, if you are roaming without a plan read about a 20K nightmare some guy had.
13. Fuel:
1. Will vary as you head north, remember that Canada charges by the liter, and the availability of premium and mid grade may be spotty as well. Payment is ok with credit, but there is always the possibility that the single pump is down for credit purchases, or "our computer is down", whatever that means. If you require premium, fill your extra canister with it at the first opportunity.
2. Probably likely that you will need an extra fuel canister on the Dempster. We did on the Dalton and used every drop of it. However, since the Dempster is a tad shorter and has a town or two, there may be fuel, but bring an extra can is a good idea.
14. Ferries
1. We will have two ferry rides as part of the trip plan I sent, those ferries are free. If you want to break off and take either a BC ferry or the Alaska Marine Highway Ferry, that will cost two ways, the bike and your accommodation, reservations for that should be made by January.perhaps earlier. You will have to google the Alaska Marine Highway and BC Ferries to get data for that.
Riding:
If there are five of us, we will take turns in the lead. Last time, we pushed it a little, but I have no problem stopping to stretch or prevent sleepiness. I started drinking 5-Hour Energy Drinks and that helps me stay awake. I was thinking that a 12 hour day is a good way to plan, but that will be modified based on weather, progress due to road conditions, rider fatigue or breakdowns. You cant go wrong bringing extra tools.
If you have an idea of things you want to do, lets get it out in the open so that we dont miss things. For example, I want to see the original bridges on the Alaska Highway, and some of those are a couple of clicks from the current road. As we get closer to the date we can work all of that out.
Liberty Ports:
This is a lot of riding, but we should spend a day mucking about in several spots. My preference would be Dawson City, and the Dust to Dawson event. There is a saloon and gambling hall, with dancers, we must stay for the late show, wink nod, with the Dust to Dawson Crowd. Also, Skagway seems like a spot to enjoy. Most of the towns along the way, are one light towns, so not a tremendous R and R opportunity.just lots of riding and then chillaxin later on. Whitehorse may be a good stop as well. Need to do some research on that. (We stopped for a few hours previously).
Cash:
Most places will exchange USD for CAD, I will probably load up on CAD and loonies.
Mechanical:
Aside from tires, if you have parts that are known to fail, bring a replacement with you.and the appropriate tools.
Packing:
1. This is what you have to prepare for: Cool temps, Rain, and the appropriate change of clothes so that the stink wont kill your fellow riders. It is possible, that on the Dempter we stage our excess equipment not needed on the Dempster in Dawson for retrival upon our return.
2. Clothing should do several things, keep you warm, and that may mean an investment in a heated jacket. I will be taking three sets of gloves.just in case. If you use Gore-Tex, it does work up there.
3. With the extra gas can, and perhaps tires, you will have an unusual load, half the fun is preparing for this it seems, so while keeping the packing light and throwing out 30 percent after you figure it out, dont assume you wont need something if it is really critical.
4. Bring camping gear, even if you assume you will be staying in the hotel.you just never know. You wont need to bring a tent, Kip and I have that covered.
Intercepts:
1. Kip will be coming from Alamosa, CO, and I assume John and Burt from Spearfish. Kip can meet me around Boise, and the rest of us can RDVU near the US-Canada border I would say, on the 7th or 8th. We should always plan on this to be ahead of PIM, so the earlier the better.
END MSG
Addendum:
This is going to be a huge amount of fun and challenging for us 60 year olds.
Here is the Dust to Dawson data; 15-17 June..and a link:
https://dawsoncity.ca/event/dust-2-dawson-motorcycle-ride-rally/
Im sure there is more that we need to cover, but the best reference for stuff along the way is www.themilepost.com, the 2017 edition has not yet been released.
Current ride route/plan is here:
https://rideplanner.harley-davidson.com/rideplanner/road.jsp?roadId=845650&locale=en_US
