beemer01
Active member
"There aren't any hard jobs - just jobs tried with the wrong tools" - words of wisdom from my grandfather.
A nearly new (and formerly dark blue) BMW 1200 RT sport touring bike and a late model BMW 1200GS dual sport bike emerged from the clouds bumping and grinding down the Southernmost Atigun Pass grade. Both machines actually looked like props from a ‘Mad Max’ movie….a shattered front fender on the RT had resulted in the rider, all his clothing and gear being sprayed by fine grey slime for the past 200 miles – the GS had survived with fenders intact…but looked no better.
We spoke with the crumpled, muddy and exhausted riders. “The road is absolute hell” was a quote from the RT rider.
I looked at Craig and my son Drew and said ‘gear up…this is gonna be bad’. Drew started to protest – took another look at my face… thought better of it. He found his heated liner and waterproof gloves and put it all on, all the while glancing around at the clear blue skies, blooming wildflowers and 70F temps with a sideways glance towards the brooding grey clouds capping the Brooks Range Arctic mountain range.
But we were still on the South side side of the pass.
The two bedraggled riders saw that we were riding on regardless….. and astonished, wished us luck… ‘You’re going to need it’ were their parting words.
This would be my third… and almost certainly my last run to Deadhorse – I’ve seen the road in bad shape in 2009 and 2014 but it was always doable and ridable.
I hadn’t seen anything – anything - like this year’s Dalton run.
But I’m getting ahead of myself…this year’s adventure would include;
• Herds of Caribou with towering antlers still covered with soft velvet
• Moose with calves so young their legs still wobbled
• Mother Black bears with tiny football sized cubs trying to keep up with her
• Brown Grizzlies with rippling muscles under silver tipped fur
• Herds of Musk oxen shedding their heavy winter coats and grazing on spring’s bounty
• Suicidal rabbits
• Vast and countless glaciers
• Raging forest fires
• Massive flooding washing out the Alaska Highway in our wake
• Fantastic blooming fields and borders of fragrant intensely purple Fireweed and stunning blue wildflowers alongside the Yukon roads
• Endless vistas and boundless skies at the end of the earth
• Gracious hospitality at the homes and island cabins of friends
• An ambulance run to a hospital emergency room
• A runaway drone. Twice.
• Chopping down trees to retrieve the above mentioned drone
• Big bikes crashing hard
• The worst road conditions I’ve ever seen across three trips up there – potholes, silt, Loon ****, roads being constructed out of polished river rock – did I mention the potholes?
(This may actually be a story worth telling)
In 2014 two friends of mine accompanied me on wildly inappropriate motorcycles on a similar trip to the Arctic – Three bikes left Chicago…. just two returned.
http://forums.bmwmoa.org/showthread...riate-equipment-to-out-of-the-way-places-quot
Last January, I suggested that we try it again – but that we didn’t need to have the ‘selection of proper motorcycles’ discussion again…. right? Both guys demurred and said they would acquire and ride appropriate Adventure or dual sport bikes this time… as opposed to trying this trip on loaded RT luxury cruisers or a clapped out Triumph sports bikes with a car tire on the rear wheel.
My son even agreed to fly up from NYC to Anchorage, rent a bike and meet us for much of the the Alaska and Yukon portions of the trip!
These are the parties involved –
Drew and Bryan
Thomas
Fran
Craig feeding the Eagle Plains dogs
And so it starts........
A nearly new (and formerly dark blue) BMW 1200 RT sport touring bike and a late model BMW 1200GS dual sport bike emerged from the clouds bumping and grinding down the Southernmost Atigun Pass grade. Both machines actually looked like props from a ‘Mad Max’ movie….a shattered front fender on the RT had resulted in the rider, all his clothing and gear being sprayed by fine grey slime for the past 200 miles – the GS had survived with fenders intact…but looked no better.
We spoke with the crumpled, muddy and exhausted riders. “The road is absolute hell” was a quote from the RT rider.
I looked at Craig and my son Drew and said ‘gear up…this is gonna be bad’. Drew started to protest – took another look at my face… thought better of it. He found his heated liner and waterproof gloves and put it all on, all the while glancing around at the clear blue skies, blooming wildflowers and 70F temps with a sideways glance towards the brooding grey clouds capping the Brooks Range Arctic mountain range.
But we were still on the South side side of the pass.
The two bedraggled riders saw that we were riding on regardless….. and astonished, wished us luck… ‘You’re going to need it’ were their parting words.
This would be my third… and almost certainly my last run to Deadhorse – I’ve seen the road in bad shape in 2009 and 2014 but it was always doable and ridable.
I hadn’t seen anything – anything - like this year’s Dalton run.
But I’m getting ahead of myself…this year’s adventure would include;
• Herds of Caribou with towering antlers still covered with soft velvet
• Moose with calves so young their legs still wobbled
• Mother Black bears with tiny football sized cubs trying to keep up with her
• Brown Grizzlies with rippling muscles under silver tipped fur
• Herds of Musk oxen shedding their heavy winter coats and grazing on spring’s bounty
• Suicidal rabbits
• Vast and countless glaciers
• Raging forest fires
• Massive flooding washing out the Alaska Highway in our wake
• Fantastic blooming fields and borders of fragrant intensely purple Fireweed and stunning blue wildflowers alongside the Yukon roads
• Endless vistas and boundless skies at the end of the earth
• Gracious hospitality at the homes and island cabins of friends
• An ambulance run to a hospital emergency room
• A runaway drone. Twice.
• Chopping down trees to retrieve the above mentioned drone
• Big bikes crashing hard
• The worst road conditions I’ve ever seen across three trips up there – potholes, silt, Loon ****, roads being constructed out of polished river rock – did I mention the potholes?
(This may actually be a story worth telling)
In 2014 two friends of mine accompanied me on wildly inappropriate motorcycles on a similar trip to the Arctic – Three bikes left Chicago…. just two returned.
http://forums.bmwmoa.org/showthread...riate-equipment-to-out-of-the-way-places-quot
Last January, I suggested that we try it again – but that we didn’t need to have the ‘selection of proper motorcycles’ discussion again…. right? Both guys demurred and said they would acquire and ride appropriate Adventure or dual sport bikes this time… as opposed to trying this trip on loaded RT luxury cruisers or a clapped out Triumph sports bikes with a car tire on the rear wheel.
My son even agreed to fly up from NYC to Anchorage, rent a bike and meet us for much of the the Alaska and Yukon portions of the trip!
These are the parties involved –
Drew and Bryan
Thomas
Fran
Craig feeding the Eagle Plains dogs
And so it starts........
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