11& 12 June

I'm having to backtrack for the blog....our internet connection was totally lame when in Shelby. Enough for the excuses. On the 11th we got up and were on the road at a good time. Although David and I wanted to blow off going to Glacier .



We went as far into Glacier as allowed, 13 miles, then retraced our tracks and headed north to Canada. The boarder crossing was painless. We had a killer breakfast and headed north to the Cowboy Trail. This runs parallel to the mountains and is a nice change from what is otherwise the flattest terrain I have seen since the deserts of western USA. The trail took us north. I had been concerned about my rear tire as it was wearing much more quickly than I liked, The plan was to get new tires in Fairbanks but that was a good 2000 miles away and I was already down to the wear marks on the tire.


We figured that the only solution was to go into Calgary for a new tire but that was backtracking. As we rolled through a small village we saw a shop that seemed to deal with motorsports. As luck would have it he had three new tires in stock...all the exact size I needed. I pulled the wheel off the bike.


$200 later I had a new tire on the bike.
Don't let anyone tell you that motorcycling is cheap. The old tire only had 3500 miles on it. At least we will be able to make it to Fairbanks with this rubber. We moved on to the Icefields Parkway. This turned out to be absolutely breathtaking. No kidding, this makes the grand canyon look less grand.



I was amazed that earlier I had been stripping clothes off as it got hotter and now I find myself shuddering in the chill of the glaciers. We had about 80 miles of breathtaking scenery, so much that it gets to be old hat.


We finally rolled into Jasper, exhausted after 12 hours in the saddle. Man, that first beer tasted as good as the very best I have heaver sipped. Magnificant. We also met Eric, from South Dakota, who is going solo to Alaska. He is trying to make 850 miles per day but finding it to be really tough. He was exhausted and we could understand having busted ass to do 500 miles in a day with the tire situation.




Today (12th) we got up at 6:00, left at 0730 with the plan to really crank out the miles to Dawson Creek. We did the normal 100 miles before breakfast through some truly desolute forests. We saw moose, antelope, deer, and black bear but almost no people. This was 132 miles between gas stations. After breakfast we continued on to highway 40, the Bighorn Highway. This is probably the best motorcycle highway in the continent. No kidding, We rolled along at 120 kph watching out for animals and saw moose, deer, black bears, antelope, and fox. Some of these were actually in the roadway....that's MR MOOSE to you. Oh well, we were making great time. That's until I was rolling long just after passing a construction zone and suddenly my engine made a horrible sound and then quit. I rolled to the side of the road and got the engine to start but it was running like shit while making really bad mechanical noises. Remember that oil light that has been on for the past 1000 miles? Well, the next few hours were filled with wreckers, motorcycle dealers, and lots of alcohol. At least this happened 25 miles from the largest town between here and Fairbanks. Earlier or later could have been so much worse. We even found the perfect motel....50 yards from a bar with decent food, 50 yards from a liquor store, next door to a restaurant serving breakfast, free wireless internet access, and CHEAP.

It's pretty neat when we can laugh at the disaster of today. And this was before we had any drinks!!!



Now we are faced with some options which range from bad to horrible. The nearest dealer is 5 hours away and even if I get the bike there the chances of a quick fix are less than slim. I suspect some serious damage to the engine. At first I thought that this would be a great excuse to get a new bike. Now I find that motorcycles in Canada sell for at least 25% more than the same bike in the USA. Go figure. That means that the Honda that goes for 13K in the US is 20K here. Oh, and the exchange rate is 1:1.01 so it is basically 20K for 20K. Sad. We looked at a few options and after factoring in the airfare home, airfare to Fairbanks, shipping costs, repair costs, and cost of repair it is starting to look like the best bet is to buy a used bike in Grande Praire, ride it to Alaska and home, get the Ducati fixed, try to sell it in Canada, or ship it home. Right now that is the plan. Hell, I'm so close to Alaska and this chance may never be in my lap again. It's only money and I can't take it with me. BTW, shipping the bike to the dealer will cost $1300. Everything costs more here. At least the beer is cold.
It's now 9:45 and the sun is still so bright that it is like mid day. This whole trip is an adventure. We are enjoying every bit of the trip, good and bad. Just think of the tales we will be able to tell our grandchildren. That's my story and I'm sticking with it. Fuck it, Drive on.