Thursday, January 23, 2020

Latest Plan (Update 1/27/20)

This Great Northern Bike Ride started as an excursion up the AlCan Highway from Dawson Creek to Delta Junction, covering 1422 miles, but gradually morphed into a 14-day Whitehorse-Skagway-Haines-Haines Junction Loop with 280 bike miles.  Initially, we thought we could do an Inn-to-Inn tour, but there are no services along our route.  In fact, there is hardly anything along our route except  the most spectacular scenery in Alaska / Yukon / British Columbia.  Expect a sensory overload.

The plan is simple:
  1. Fly into Anchorage and rent an RV with the option of renting bicycles (or flying them in)
  2. Drive the RV to Whitehorse (705 miles from Anchorage).
  3. Bike from Whitehorse to Skagway doing approximately 40 miles/day while taking turns driving the RV as a chase vehicle
  4. Camp in the evenings in the RV
  5. Spend two days in Skagway and take the train ride excursion up White Pass.
  6. Ferry to Haines
  7. Ride from Haines to Haines Junction, again doing about 40 miles /day and RV camping in the evening.
  8. Drive the RV back to Anchorage.
The total estimated cost of the 14-day trip is $3,500 /pp.

The details of our self-supported Tour can be found on the Haines Page of this blog. A commercial version of this tour is shown on the Skagway Page.. Airline information is found on the Travel Page.. Elevation profile is on ElPro Page  
1/27/20 - Videos and CGOAB Journal added to Haines Page 

Tuesday, January 21, 2020

FOLLOWUP

From: Tom Sent: January 21, 2020 To: 'David Shumaker'

Cost-wise, the use of an RV would be about the same as using motels.
See the Haines Page on AlCan blog for a cost comparison.
My estimated cost for a 14-day tour, including airlines and bike rental, is $3,450/pp. (FYI: The commercial version of this tour with tent camping costs $4,000/pp, plus transfers from/to Anchorage)

There is not sufficient inventory of RV’s in Haines Junction or in Whitehorse.
There are lots of RV Rental dealers in Anchorage as you know.

Very likely, I can make the RV option work if YOU can convince others to RV camp.


From: David Shumaker Sent: January 20, 2020 

Input from Brian. I think he is right that a good way to solve this issue is a short term RV rental from Haines Junction or Whitehorse YT. Or even rent one from Anchorage, but we still could use the Van for all the trip.

From: Brian Shumaker Date: Jan 20, 2020

My impression is most folks just rent an RV. All the creature comforts. And none of the space you and I typically are accustomed to 😉

Shay is about to start working at the local Trek Store. That store has some fairly famous cyclists that moonlight there...maybe he can make inquiries with the benefit of appearing inexperienced to whomever he asks and therefore getting the low down.

On Sun, Jan 19, 2020 at 6:36 PM David Shumaker wrote to Brian:


Do you know anyone who has ridden this route before? Are there any small inns or should we just rent an RV?

From: Tom Date: Jan 19, 2020 Sent to: Dave Shumaker


I have spent a day trying to find some way reasonable to make
Haines/Skagway Bike loop work without camping.
It is a fantastically scenic loop, but without services.

I failed to find a way. I am abandoning this Alaska Tour.
You may want to try your hand at it.

Monday, January 20, 2020

ALASKA TOUR IDEA CANCELED

From: Tom Sent: Sunday, January 19, 2020
Subject: Alaska Trip

Dave,
I have spent a day trying to find some way reasonable to make Haines/Skagway Bike loop work without camping. It is a fantastically scenic loop, but without services.

I failed to I am abandoning this Alaska Tour. You may want to try your hand at it.

Sunday, January 19, 2020

1/18/19 INPUT ON SKAGWAY ALTERNATIVE

I spoke with Brian tonight and mentioned that we are kicking around an Alaska/Canada tour. He definitely recommends the Whitehorse - Skagway - Ferry - Haines - Haines Junction route over the Alcan Highway because the scenery is so beautiful and the summer traffic is much less. The alternative added as Haines Page.

He even suggested that we NOT ride the Haines Junction to Whitehorse section on the Alcan Highway. We could go either direction. My review of the RidewithGPS elevation gradient suggested that Whitehorse - Skagway - Ferry - Haines - Haines Junction is the better direction but check it out yourself to verify. It may not be all that much different. See his screenshot below.

I also confirmed that we can use the shop van for SAG. (See the picture below. But imagine it without the snow.) It can and has held a lot of bicycles and gear. The only caveat is that I would need to pick up an ice bath in Whitehorse and return it to Anchorage.

He suggested early summer if that works out for everyone.

This route would be logistically easy to accomplish. Even if we have to van to motels, it is not such a great distance. This would not be a lot of riding but about 280 miles - ~5 days of riding. Or we could ride it both directions to get in 560 miles. We can take the Train out of Skagway to follow the Yukon Goldrush. Other side jaunts are very doable. For instance the Tony Knowles Coastal trail in Anchorage is very pretty. Also we still get to drive the Glenn highway from Tok to Glennallen to Palmer.


Friday, January 17, 2020

Haines to Skagway

As an alternative to the full AlCan tour, click on the Skagway Page to view a week long and a significantly more manageable tour option.  It is a 360 mile route from Haines to Skagway that picks up a piece of the AlCan Highway.  It is in one of the most scenic areas of Alaska, BC, and the Yukon.

Unlike the AlCan Tour, I have not detailed the route and the lodging options. The tour operators provide the bicycles and sorry to say this - the camping gear.  The modifications that need examinations are:

1) All flying into Anchorage (no driving a separate van from Hville) and renting an RV as a chase vehicle
2) Using the RV instead of tent camping.

I have done RV camping in Alaska on the Kenai Peninsula and loved it.  Click the Skagway Page link to see a sketch of this alternative.

Thursday, January 16, 2020

Trip Summary

This emphasis of this Bike Tour of the Alcan Highway is on enjoying the spectacular scenery of British Columbia, the Yukon, and Alaska.  It is not even close to being a ride EFI. The plan is modeled from a commercial bike tour, which has daily ride distances of approximately 60 miles with mountainous climbs and difficult "rollers."  It may be manageable for a young experienced bicyclists but not for senior casual bicyclists

The Model Page provides an estimate of what an Inn-to-Inn Bike Tour of the AlCan Highway might be like.  Although the total distance is 1422 miles covered in 12 riding days from Dawson Creek to Delta Junction, the actual daily rides are 36 to 45 miles, approximately.  The SAG vehicle transports the bicyclists over the more difficult sections.  Nevertheless, the routes are still hilly and challenging comparable to Sumner County Tennessee.

The plan does not include a rest day.  Instead, days 7 and 8 are short ride days   

This initial feasibility plan does not provides a SAG schedule similar to other tours.  It is designed to validate the reasonableness of the tour.  In a working plan, should this tour get that far, additional ride miles will be added with a goal of providing each bicyclist a minimum of 30 miles a day (except of days 7 and 8).. 

The Model Page also estimates the cost of the tour.  It assumes Dave is willing to provide the SAG vehicle per previous posts.

Wednesday, January 15, 2020

More Research

I have added the History Page to this blog.  It provides a Milepost Guide along the Alcan from Dawson Creek to Delta Junction.

I also found a Crazy Guy on a Bicycle Journal describing a 2014 trip on the Alcan.  It is MUST READ with lots of pics, here http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/alcan14

The Travel Page describes two ways to get to Dawson Creek and back home again from Fairbanks Alaska.  Dave's willingness to drive to Dawson Creek and to provide us with a SAG takes this trip from a virtual to a real possibility.

Additional suggestions by Dave

I meant that I could not ride the entire Alcan highway. It is too long. Also it is an easy day drive from one city to the next with motels but by bike alone camping would be necessary. By car - gas, food, motels, cities are easily available. But the ~300 miles separation is too much by bicycle each day. Having said that I did see a couple dozen cyclists doing the entire route. It is spectacular.

As you found, there are regular bicycle rides from Haines to Skagway. This is 350 miles and 22,000 ft of climb but not bad gradient this way. However the reverse is a steeper climb out of Skagway. There also was the Fireweed 400. The 400-mile race went from Sheep Mountain Lodge to Valdez and back and was a qualifying race for the 2,980-mile Race Across America (RAAM). It also included races of 50, 100 and 200 miles. 


The 200-mile race, which started at Sheep Mountain Lodge on the Glennallen Highway and ended in Valdez, was the most popular of the events. This is the race that Brian participated in 3 years ago. It attracted hundreds of riders each year. I rode (not raced) part of it with my grandchildren while Brian was huffing it out with his relay team. But I just read that it was cancelled in 2019. Like rides around here it was just took too much effort to organize.

To make this a longer tour, we could start in Haines Junction, ride to Skagway, Ferry across to Haines, then ride up to Haines Junction. From there we could head NW on the Alcan to Tok then down AK Highway 1 to Glennallen and SW to the Sheep Mountain Lodge. 850 miles and 64K Ft of elevation. Or we could shorten it by 200 miles and start in Haines. While in Yukon Territory we would have to plan carefully for motels.

Anyway we did this, it would be a very memorable ride.



Tuesday, January 14, 2020

Adventure Tour

This is a adventure tour I would be glad to help with. I have ridden part of it on the Glenallen Highway. I would also be glad to run a SAG vehicle up to accompany us. The best news is that bicycles fly no charge on Alaska Airlines. They do count in your baggage allowance but there is no surcharge as long as the box is less than 50 #s. I do not even mind volunteering to SAG. Like Bruce says the scenery is spectacular. I am looking for an excuse to drive the Alcan again.
 

I saw several loaded cyclists when we drove the Alcan Highway. However, I do not think I am up for cycling. Even this package tour is a lot of driving with snippets of cycling. Cycling from Skagway, Haines, Haines Junction to Tok and then to Delta Junction and maybe then to Glenallen and on towards Glacier View but not all the way to Palmer is doable and beautiful. 

This would still be a wonderful 3 week tour with lots of stops and scenery. I would also enjoy the 2 week drive to the start and another couple weeks back.
 

Dave

From: Bruce  Sent: Jan 12, 2020 Subject: Re: AlCan Bike Trip

The scenery is no doubt fantastic. I well remember the drive between Palmer and Glenallen as among the most gorgeous anywhere but the traffic was heavy, the road winding and no shoulders anywhere. That was the stretch that had a speed limit of 50 mph but you could also be fined if more than a certain number of cars backed up behind you. There were few places to pull over. I noted I could have gotten a ticket for speeding and going too slow at one go.

I imagine traffic lessens the further east one goes. The beauty of doing our own is we could choose start and end points and sag sketchy sections.