June 12, 2010
Miles: 562
Total miles: 10,291

Grande Prairie, Alberta to Kimberly, British Columbia

Time on Road: 12 hrs 15 min

This morning started off just like yesterday. Just a repeat of another great day.

There was a lot of deer on the road. A large grizzly came down off the bank on my left and started across the road after I passed him. He seemed to be in a hurry and there was not a good shoulder on the road to stop on so I kept going.

I got into the Icefields Parkway early this afternoon. Dramatic mountain vistas, huge walls of ice, beautiful lakes, and spectacular waterfalls make this one of the world’s classic mountain drives. The Parkway winds along the shoulder of the Great Divide and passes by the spectacular mountains of the Eastern Main Ranges of the Canadian Rockies. It follows the headwaters of three major rivers and crosses two major passes en route.

Icefields Parkway
British Columbia

Animals for the day in the Parkway were Big Horn Sheep, Mountain Goats, deer, and black bear.

Big Horn Sheep
Icefields Parkway, British Columbia

Icefields Parkway
British Columbia

Mountain Goats
Icefields Parkway, British Columbia

Icefields Parkway
British Columbia

One last Black Bear picture
Highway 93, British Columbia

I stopped in Kimberly, BC for the night. Another 70 miles and I will be back in the US.

June 13, 2010
Miles: 482
Total miles: 10,773

Kimberly, British Columbia to Bozeman, Montana

Time on Road: 9 hrs 45 min

I am back in the USA now, so according to Ivanhoe I do not need to do any more ride reports. I have not left anyone in Canada.

Today was more of the same. Just repeating..... Perfect weather, fantastic scenery, good roads. There were lots of deer on the road this morning.

I headed south on Hwy 93 and had an easy border crossing in Roosville. Much easier than when I crossed out of Manitoba on Hwy 256 last summer. I continued on Hwy 93 south until I picked up I-90 in MT. Not a bad ride for a slab into Bozeman. Short day and I stopped for the night.

I should be back in Georgia in 3-4 days depending on the weather.

June 14, 2010
Miles: 617
Total miles: 11,390

Bozeman, Montana to Kadoka, South Dakota

Time on Road: 11 hrs

Today was primarily pounding miles on the slab.

The weather was good this morning when I left Bozeman, MT. I had one more mountain range to cross and then the terrain started changing into large rolling hills and large open vistas.

While still on the interstate I made a half circle around the Bear Tooth Mountains and Chief Joseph Highway that were in the distance. I already have plans to ride the Chief Joseph Highway this September and go back into into Yellowstone again and surrounding areas. I may also have to detour back into the Black Hills again. Great area to ride in.

Turning east again in Buffalo, WY the scenery is still interesting but not as awesome as it was previously until you get into the Black Hills in SD. After the Black Hills the hills continue to roll but start to become smaller.

Most of the ride there was a moderate cross wind. Just before reaching SD the weather started changing and I had rain into Rapid City. Afterward it changed into intermittent light showers and continued until I stopped for the night in Kadoka, SD, which is about 180 miles short of where I wanted to be.

There is not a lot to report on today. Just as I already said, pounding miles on the slab.

Weather permitting, tomorrow should end somewhere in MO.

June 15, 2010
Miles: 638
Total miles: 12,038

Kadoka, South Dakota to Chillicothe, Missouri

Time on Road: 11 hrs 15 min

Today started on the warm side but with heavy fog for the first two hours. Having made it back into the warmer climate I was able to shed a couple layers of clothing.

Mountains are long gone and the terrain for today was an alternate in small hills, grass lands and flat.

Nothing new or exciting for today. Just more miles on the slab.

Tonight's stop was Chillicothe, MO. Depending on weather I may still make it home tomorrow night.

June 16, 2010
Miles: 787
Total miles: 12,815

Chillicothe, Missouri to Woodstock, Georgia

Time on Road: 14 hrs

The final push for home with the intent of getting there before it got dark and getting caught in thunder storms which was forecast for the day. 787 miles in 13 hours on a DL is not too bad. Days like today really make me miss the ST and the Russell Daylong. My goal was to maintain an overall average of 60 mph. Anything over 75 mph and the Vee really starts drinking the gas so it was a balance between stopping more often for gas or maintaining a slower speed. My average was 60.54 mph overall for the entire day.

It felt great getting back into the South. Hills, mountains, and trees. High temperatures and high humidity. Just the way things should be. The low temperature starting out this morning was higher than the high for most days when I was up north. We may speak slow and with a drawl down here, but at least we speak miles, gallons, Fahrenheit, and have paper one dollar bills. I never could get use to the $1 and $2 coins in Canada (onesies and twosies). Most of the places in the far north would make Alabama seem modern and up scale. After getting back into the lower 48, almost all gas stations have pay at the pump. Parking lots and drive ways are usually paved. Towns are bigger than a combined restruant and motel with 2 gas pumps out front ( or off to the side). Road construction zones normally do not send you through 20 miles of mud and loose gravel. Eh?

Over all it was a good riding day. Once again nothing exciting to report. Just trying to keep the bike moving. I started hitting rain showers around Memphis and a heavy thunder storm in Chattanooga, TN. There were several rain showers in GA with another thunder storm that was trying to catch me before I could get home. I managed to stay ahead of the thunder storm and got the bike parked in the garage before dark. The bike still has calcium chloride and Dalton mud on it even after being pressure washed in Fairbanks.

May 7 to June 16, 2010
Total miles: 12,815

Woodstock, GA to Key West, FL to Deadhorse, AK to Woodstock, Ga

It has been a very interesting and educational trip and one that I will always remember. It definitely has been an adventure and learning experience for me. I spent 28 road days on the bike and traveled 12,815 miles, I had 2 planned bike maintenance days, and 2 days layover in Fairbanks waiting on a part for the bike. I have been challenged by the roads and at times by the weather. I have had good roads and some bad roads. I have traveled on slab, two lane, hard pack, loose gravel, mud, wet and slippery surfaces, survived construction zones, jumped berms, and spent a lot of time playing in the dirt. I have seen some spectacular scenery, some great scenery and some not so great scenery. I have visited mountains, lakes, streams, wetlands, hills, tundra, prairies, the beaches of FL, and the ocean. I have had great weather, cold weather, hot weather, wet weather, dry weather, and some weather that left a lot to be desired. I have battled with strong cross winds on a few different occasions. I have seen black bear (including one brown black bear), grizzly bear, lynx, red fox, black fox, moose, caribou, big horn sheep, mountain goats, wood buffalo, deer, Florida’s Key Deer, bald eagles, hawks, numerous birds and waterfowl, porcupine, and many other animals all within their own natural habitat. There have been some really easy riding and some sections that almost pushed me to my limit. I have ridden some short days and have had some long days. I have ridden from Key West, FL, the most southern point in the US to Deadhorse, AK, the most northern point in the US that is accessible by road. I have crossed the Arctic Circle. I completed some of the objectives that I set out to do and I had to leave some for another time. I have ridden under conditions where help is not always readily available. I have ridden under some extreme conditions. I have been able to step back in time and see what our country used to look like. I have had some good times but no real bad times.

I would like to give special thanks to my wife Lois for her understanding, support and encouragement. She may not fully understand why I do the types of trips that I do but she still has made it possible for me to carry on in my own little world of madness and complete the many long trips that I have done over the last few years. She really is one in a million.

In some ways I hated leaving without making an attempt on the Dempster. However it felt good to get back home. Maybe someday there might be another trip planned in the future...............

But in the meantime I get to do a little more coloring on my map.

For now, the ST and I will be planning some serious travel time back out in the west again. There are just way too many places that we have not been to yet and places that we need to explore again. In September we will be returning to the Yellowstone area.

I would like to give a special mention to Adventure Cycleworks in Fairbanks. They really are there for you 24/7 and they defiantly go the extra mile when taking care of you and your bike.