| STATS | DAY | MILES | CLIMBING | CALORIES |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DAY | 14 | 39.99 | 1713 | 2582 |
| TOTALS | 739.04 | 34,826 | 42,022 |
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I should have titled yesterdays blog "The Brilliance of Mike". After lights out last night, it started to rain. When I woke up at 6:30 in the morning, it was pouring. What a great night to have wimped out and got a room. As much crap as I give Mike (and he deserves most of it), there are times when his brilliance shines through.
We had a short day today, only 41 miles, so we asked Tom to shift breakfast out a bit later so we could take a little more leisurely start of the day. Tom responded with his usual grace and greeted us with Strawberry pancakes and bacon.
Campsite strawberry flapjacks, get em' while they're hot!
The man keeps wowing us with his cooking.
It was still raining and the weather forecast said steady rain in the morning, showers in the afternoon, so we decided we would target check out time as our departure time. 11AM came fast, we checked out of our rooms, loaded up, and hit the road in our rain gear.
Besides being an awesome cook, Tom also knows that real cyclists like to start a ride with a climb, so he arranged all of the places we stay to be at the bottom of an opening climb. Today was no exception. Not a huge climb, but one to wake us up none the less.
The first stop was a scenic overlook for today's only town, Teslin.
Decked out in my rain gear and helmet cover makes me look like a member of the KGB special Ops squad preparing to take Alaska back for the Russians (oops, I wasn't supposed to reveal that just yet).
That bridge is a metal grate bridge with a 3x4" openings in the steel grates. Couple that with rain (i.e. too slippery to ride a bike on) and no sidewalk, we had to walk on the traffic surface the entire way across. It took about 10 minutes walking like bowl-legged ducks with our cleated riding shoes. The fun part was when we were about half way across and a wide load pilot car crosses the bridge and blocks traffic from coming on the bridge from the opposite direction. We knew the wide load was coming and we had no-where to go. It did eventually come and we had to stand up against the rail and they passed us slowly with plenty of room, but the anticipation was not fun.
This area was originally the native home to the Tlingit (pronounced Kling-it) people. They had a thriving society that was drastically altered by the arrival of the Highway and thousands or army workers.
Teslin has the only grocery store since Watson lake (about 160 miles earlier), so while Tom was buying gas, we ducked in to buy more comfort food. I picked up half and half for my coffee, and a jug of OJ. Joe bought fried chicken and ate it in the store, and Mike bought Cough drops and wine (some things never change).
Parked outside the grocery store was a new bike encounter.
Hey Brad, how come everyone elses bike has all kinds of spare gear on it and ours doesn't? Did we forget more than your shorts?
Inside the store, munching on a package of donuts was a blonde haired kid in his mid 20's. I asked which way he as riding and he said south. He started in Anchorage (there it is again) and he was heading to San Diego and if he had money left, he would continue south from there. He was from Sweden (let's call him Bret). He said that he was riding with another guy he met in Anchorage, but he veered north the day before so he was on his own. When I said that we were headed north, he said "Did you guys see those two greek guys?". We said yes, and all of us burst out laughing. He said he saw them earlier today stopped along the road and one of them was standing in the middle of the road video taping something while trucks and cars were blowing their horns to get him off the road. Something very strange there. Joe finally finished his fried chicken, so we bid the swede a safe journey and headed back out into the rain.
Next stop, about 1 km up the road was the George Johnston Museum.
Mike hung his wet riding gear and helmet on the carved wooden cigar indian on the front porch to dry. I almost mistook it for Mike himself.
Ole George was a native Tlingit who bought and brought the first automobile, a 1928 Chev (they call Chevy's Chev's in Canada), to Teslin in 1928. It had to be transported by boat about 100 miles to get it here and he hired local folks to construct a 3 mile road that he would run a taxi service along. He fueled it with Naptha which was available at the local outfitter. In the winter, he would use the car on the lake to hunt wild game. They have the original car in this museum, along with a lot of artifacts from the pre-highway culture.
This museum was nice, and it held one high light and one low light.
The lowlight:
What's wrong with this picture?
Now the answer is little harder than my tee-shirt contest questions, so I will tell you. That is an Edison Cygnet horn, circa ~1905, sitting on top of a Victor internal horn talking machine, circa ~1927. These things just don't go together. (Alright, only I would know this and care, so sue me).
The high light was when we arrived at the museum. Mike says to me as we are walking in "what this, you are going to experience something for the first time". I said what do you mean? and he said "just wait". He walked up to the counter to pay his admission and he says "One SENIOR". Yes, Mike admitted he is a senior citizen and shamelessly asked for the $1 Canadian ($0.90 US) discount. Joe and I laughed. Joe said "One Senior" and got the discount. I tried it and was denied the discount. I feel discriminated against.
There was also a very well done video that told the story of the native people, their lifestyle, and they changes brought about by the arrival of the highway and workers. Very well done. If you find yourself in Teslin, a must do stop.
After leaving, and discovering that it did not stop raining, we continued on the road. Mike took off like a senior citizen that just saved a dollar (90 cents US) and quickly disappeared down the road. We had about 20 miles to ride to lunch, so I just put my head down to keep the rain out of my face, and hammered on.
The route followed Teslin lake which is about 78 miles long, but we only followed it for about 32. The elevation was fairly constant, but we had to cross many watersheds that flowed into the lake so the ride was a bit hilly (and raining). Upon arriving at the lunch stop, Mike was already there and him sitting in the open door to Tom's trailer holding a bowl and smiling. Then I see the camp stove and Tom says "Want a bowl of hot chicken soup?" After 30 miles in the cold rain, getting sprayed by passing cars and trucks, this was the best lunch ever. Boy, did that hit the spot. Good stuff to be sure.
After lunch, we only had 11 miles left on today's ride. Today was first day of the trip that my legs felt fatigued so I was glad it was a short day. I was damp and cold when I arrived and I walked into the office with the thought in the back of my mind that maybe, just maybe, I would wimp out and get a room. Mike was at the counter and said "are you going to get a room, or do you want to share a double?" All I will say is I am a wimp and I am cheap. We walk outside and Joe pulls in and I ask "are you going to get a room or camp?" He says he is going to camp. I tell him that the mosquitos are real bad and he says, OK, room it is. I guess you get a little soft as you get older. I might as well embrace it.
Tom fixed mexican burritos tonight. I don't how he does it, but each meal tops the previous (yesterday it was poached salmon (in beer) with asparagus) To say we are not eating well is to say that we are not riding our bikes.
The camp we are at tonight is known for it's bakery. We went over after dinner and dishes to have a slice of pie and they were all sold out for the day!!!!! No home baked pie? DENIED!!!!. So we opted for a Drum Stick ice cream cone from the freezer.
It ain't pie, but damn, if it isn't the best $4.25 ($4.72 US) drumstick cone we have ever had. I didn't know if was possible to put that much worth of ice cream into a kid sized cone.
So, for the strawberry pancakes, bone warming chicken soup, awesome campsite mexican food, best damn Drumstick ever, and a great cadre of friends, I say GUNALCHEESH!
Say what????
Tale of the tape
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