Please READ this entire post. Don't just skim and look at photos!!!!

I was doing a lot of thinking after Kevin headed south.  I was thinking about my sister. How when we are kids we always have one toy that we cherish.  Just the one, and because we only have just one of that certain toy, we cherish it the most.  When we grow older and understand whats important in life, those same emotions manifest themselves towards the people in our life.  For myself and my two brothers, those emotions are for our sister.  She is our only sister and we love her without a doubt and cherish our time with her like no other.

That thought kept me rolling all morning.  It's 240 miles from Coldfoot to Deadhorse.  I had plenty of time to think about my sister and what I was riding for.  To know that I was trying to do what I could for the cause in a way that would challenge me and inspire others to do the same.  We are all in a very unique situation to help others through this website.  I hope that everyone that reads this will donate and then pass this along to a new person in their life and spread the word.  I hope that my ride has been an entertaining and inspiring event.

As for the ride, it was hard.  The Dalton is a very special highway, no doubt.  The road surface is terrible, the truck traffic is dangerous, the weather was completely awful.  The first day up to the Arctic Circle was ok, cold, windy, and a bit of rain.  By the time we reached Coldfoot, it was very cold and raining steady.  It rained all night and all morning in to Wednesday.  Our first attempt was rough to say the least.  You all saw the photos.  By the time we reached the Chandalar Shelf, it was raining hard and even the locals were not liking the weather and road conditions.  I had many people say they didn't know how we were making it through such awful conditions.  When Kevin told me he was ready to turn back, I was torn.  I knew that was the smart thing to do.  60 miles in 3 hours is not normal.  We were risking too much.

Thursday morning I was starting out alone.  I raced north to cover that 60 miles I had already ridden the day before.  The road was in better condition, a little dryer.  I rode to the top of the Shelf in a bit of rain.  About 8 miles further is Atigun Pass.  The road was one lane only and under construction.  It was also very wet and muddy.  I rode to the top and worked my way down the north slope.  When I reached Happy Valley I knew I would make it.  The weather had improved and the road was dry.  The road surface however, was terrible.  Pot holes everywhere.  It was slow going through this section.  I rode a ways and the valley opened up to huge expanses of tundra.  No trees, no shrubs, nothing but hard - very hard  - cross wind.  The road narrows here and the truck traffic was increasing.  Every obstacle you read about was there.  Poor road surface, wind, trucks.  Also construction and a ton of mud associated with it.  It was a difficult ride.  Many obstacles and just plain hard riding.  I will say it was some of the hardest motorcycling I have done to date.
 I did make it through.  I rode hard, stayed the course, and made it to Deadhorse.  It smelled different up there, it was cold and windy and you can see storms coming from miles out.  I looked back on the day's riding and knew I would have to ride right back through it all to get to Fairbanks.  I was tired and alone.

My sister has cancer and every week she has to go to chemo.  Much like what I had just ridden, she faces her own obstacles and hardships not just once, but every week!!!  Ask me if I'd ride the Dalton once a week and I'd laugh in your face.  There is the difference.  I have a choice.  For Kris and many others there is no choice to the road they have to travel every week.  They have to do it.  The only thing that makes it easier for her and anyone is her situation is the support from others.  The ones that cherish her.  For the comments on this post I want you folks to let Kris know that we are here to support her during her own battle.  That's what I'm asking of you today.

This photo is for my sister.

After making it up, I snapped these few photos and rode right back to where I started, another 240 miles that very same day.  Partly to push myself.  But mainly I just wanted to be heading towards home.

480 miles on the Dalton in one day.  Remember it never gets dark, I just kept riding until I reached that camp area.

I camped my final night on the Dalton at a BLM camp area.  I rode in very late, cooked up some dinner, set my tent, and layed down without any regrets or worries of rain or mud.  For if the weather worsened again, it didn't matter, at least I was headed home.

I arrived to Fairbanks today.  My work was not done.  I still had to swap tires again and clean my bike.  So back to Adventure Cycleworks to see Dan.   He is now one of my favorite people.  The guy is just plain nice and very informative on all things cool.

Dan went the extra mile.  He sold me a new set of tires for a deal and installed them for free.  Since my original set were no good to reuse, it was a very outstanding thing to do.  I now have my knobby set sitting in my hotel room awaiting shipment back home.  Believe it or not, they are still good.  Just not any good for regular highway use. Just "special" highways like the Dalton.

He simply stated, "For the cause, man."   He and his wife were very generous to do this for me and I appreciate it very much.

From this muddy mess...

to this clean machine...

Thank you, Dan.

His info for any ADV riders heading north for some adventure and excitement.  Go see Dan and Shawn. It's a great place and wonderful service.

Adventure Cyleworks

Dan 907-457-4259

info@advcycleworks.com

http://www.advcycleworks.com/

Remember what I said....