Alaska Ride

Alaska 2006

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Start date: Friday, July 21, 2006	End date: Sunday, August 06, 2006
Starting point: Franksville, WI, USA	Starting odometer: 69,361
Turn around point: Arctic Circle, North of Fairbanks, Alaska, USA	Ending odometer: 77,174
Destination: Franksville, WI, USA
	Gold Wing mileage: 7,813
	GPS mileage: 7,789

Day 5, we reached the beginning of the Alaska Highway

Day 9, Our ultimate goal is achieved.

Day 17, we return to our original starting point.
(2 out of 7 isn't bad)

The idea for this trip was first conceived in the fall of 2005. A ride from Wisconsin to Alaska (and back). It would be the trip of a lifetime!

Originally proposed as a one way ride, the trip quickly evolved into an exciting, round trip, cross country, marathon. Our group, all of whom still work full time, decided to plan the trip to fit within a brief two week time span (eventually expanding to 17 days).

The Group
Bill P. Gas Man Speedo Chief The Oil Sheik John	Dave D. Chemo Air Wick Air Wick Air Wick Air Wick Air Wick	Dave E. Carlton Morningwood III Moose Red EyeGottaGo PhotoOP MilkMan

2006 Harley Davidson Springer Classic	2006 Harley Davidson Ultra Classic	2003 Harley Davidson Ultra Classic

Gary H. Milburn K&G Cold Fingers	Jeff P. Winger Rubber Duck Big Bird Fish Finder Radar	Mike W. Big Shooter Wind Breaker The Salesman *Swamp Donkey*

2003 Harley Davidson Dyna Wide Glide	2003 Honda GoldWing	2005 Harley Davidson Ultra Classic

	Bob R. The One Legged Stalker Backdoor Bob Bob BIson Waldo Postal Commando CB

	2000 Chevrolet Pickup Truck
Each of us seems to earn a variety of new nicknames as the trip progresses. We will list them here in the order they are assigned. However, the reasons behind each nickname will forever be a closely guarded secret (what happens on the road, stays on the road).

The aggressive schedule did not deter us since we all enjoy sight seeing through the windshield as much as, or more so, than spending hours exploring on foot. A start date was picked and the call went out to let the planning begin.

Step one in the planning process was to acquire a current copy of The MILEPOST.
Step two was to choose a route.

Choosing a route turned out to be the hardest part of the planning process. Even though it was unanimously agreed that our ultimate goal was to ride North out of Fairbanks to the point where the James Dalton Highway crosses the Arctic Circle, there were far too many other incredible places from which to choose. Tough choices had to be made. We actually created 15 different routes before we found one that satisfied our needs for riding and sight seeing, and the demands of our tight schedule.

Our Route

Planned Route

Our route is planned so that we pass through or near many scenic and historic sights as we ride. Some of the highlights include (but are not limited to):

Glacier National Park and the Going to the Sun Highway
Banff and Jasper National Parks and the Icefield Parkway
Dawson Creek, BC, CA
ALCAN Highway
Signpost Forest
Watson Lake, YT, CA
Dawson City, YT, CA
Top of the World Highway
Chicken, Alaska
North Pole, Alaska
Fairbanks, Alaska
Arctic Circle
Alaska Pipeline
Mt. St. Helens
Historic US Route 30

Actual Route

Once the route was finished, we then needed to determine the availability of basic necessities in the more remote areas of the route. Food, fuel, lodging and emergency services were considered. Here is where The MILEPOST began to live up to its very large reputation. We had used MS Streets and Trips to plan the route, but we quickly learned that its large database does not include all of the available services. Using The MILEPOST, we found that all of the necessary services were readily available on our planned route. As long as we are careful not to skip a few critical stops, we are confident that food, fuel and lodging will not become an issue.

In fact, we decided to create a series of reference pages (services log) to help locate the various services along the way. Here is a sample page that lists the services we might need on one of the segments of our trip. There is a similar page for each of the segments.

Figure 1: Services Log, Top of the World Highway

Our daily itinerary is shown below. Each day is planned to include a rest stop approximately every two hours. It will be interesting to see if we are able to keep up the pace we have planned. Most of us have enough motorcycle road trip experience to know that it is not practical to expect to follow any such plan exactly as created. In anticipation of a few unexpected delays, our route planning included the creation of several contingency routes that will shorten our ride in the event that we are delayed on the way by weather, road conditions, mechanical problems, etc. Safety will be the primary determining factor in all decisions regarding our route and schedule.

Trip Itinerary
(planned)
Day	Overnight location	Daily Miles	Total Miles
1	Grand Forks, ND, USA	665	665
2	Havre, MT, USA	635	1,300
3	Banff, AB, CA	536	1,836
4	Dawson Creek, BC, CA	503	2,339
5	Watson Lake, YT, CA	599	2,938
6	Dawson City, YT, CA	605	3,543
7	Fairbanks, AK, USA	384	3,927
8	North Pole, AK, USA	399	4,326
9	Whitehorse, YT, USA	574	4,900
10	Dease Lake, BC, CA	407	5,307
11	Vanderhoof, BC, CA	541	5,848
12	Lynnwood, WA, USA	604	6,452
13	Mountain Home, ID, USA	668	7,120
14	Rawlins, WY, USA	563	7,683
15	Missouri Valley, IA, USA	660	8,343
16	Franksville, WI, USA	515	8,858
17	.	.	.
	Average miles per day:	554
	Shortest day:	384
	Longest day:	668

Trip Itinerary
(actual)
Day	Overnight location	Daily Miles	Total Miles
1	Grand Forks, ND, USA	672	672
2	Havre, MT, USA	651	1,323
3	Banff, AB, CA	535	1,858
4	Grande Prairie, AB, CA	441	2,299
5	Fort Nelson, BC, CA	367	2,666
6	Watson Lake, YT, CA	290	2,956
7	Beaver Creek, BC, CA	550	3,506
8	Fairbanks, AK, USA	317	3,823
9	Fairbanks, AK, USA	403	4,226
10	Chicken, AK, USA	285	4,511
11	Dawson City, YT, CA	105	4,616
12	Watson Lake, YT, CA	603	5,219
13	Sasquatch Crossing, BC, CA	457	5,676
14	.Edmonton, AB, CA	518	6,194
15	.Yorkton, SK, CA	519	6,713
16	.Fergus Falls, MN, USA	556	7,269
17	.end of trip	520	7,789
	Average miles per day:	458
	Shortest day:	105
	Longest day:	672

Navigation

Jeff P. was assigned the role of official trip navigator since he has a Global Positioning System installed on his motorcycle.

Our GPS is a Garmin StreetPilot 2610 with a 2 GB Compact Flash card with the entire North America map set loaded.

In the unlikely event that modern technology should fail us in any way, a backup form of navigation is waiting to be called into action.

Communication

Various forms of communication were discussed during the planning for the trip. We wanted some way to keep in touch with each other, our families, our friends, and our jobs during the trip.

CB Radio
Four of the motorcycles have CB radios for bike to bike communication.

Cell Phone
Each of us will carry our personal cell phone. There is some concern about the availability of cell phone service in some areas of our route.

Satellite Phone
One of our group discovered a place that rents satellite phones. We decided to rent one for the trip for emergencies.

Email
Since we plan to update the web site as we travel (internet access permitting), a computer will be along for the ride allowing access to our email from the road.

Bike Repairs
Day	Bike	Problem	Location
1	Harley Davidson, Ultra Classic	Highway peg vibrated loose
1	Honda, Goldwing	Low beam headlight burned out
2	Harley Davidson, Dyna Wide Glide	Tail light lens screw vibrated loose and was lost on the road	Grand Forks, ND, USA
2	Harley Davidson, Ultra Classic	Shifter linkage vibrated loose	Michigan, ND, USA
3	Harley Davidson, Ultra Classic	Heal / Toe shifter adjustment	Havre, MT, USA
4	Chevy truck	Loose tail pipe	Hinton, AB, CA
13	Harley Davidson, Ultra Classic	Broken drive belt	Watson Lake, YT, CA