Well, I woke up in a much better mood.
I totally forgot to mention that on the ride from Fairbanks to Coldfoot, I came across a Tasmanian Devil. Well, not really. It was a women from Tasmania named Margaret riding a BMW GS650. Well, she wasn't actually riding it. She was broke down. I stopped and took a look at it but she had already discovered the problem. Her radiator was totally blocked by mud. Not a bit of air could go through the radiator. She was trying to scrape it off without much success. About that time, Lane, Emily, Nick, and Jennie came along and they stopped also. I was saying that what we needed was a golf club cleaning brush to really get it out and I think it was Jennie said how about a toothbrush. Margaret had a toothbrush so then I started pouring water on the radiator and brushing with the toothbrush. It would have been a lot faster with a golf club cleaning brush but eventually we got the mud off, added a little water to the radiator and she put her bike back together.
It turns out she is riding around the world on the BMW. She calls herself "BEEMERBIRD". Her name is Margaret J. Peart and she has a web page documenting her adventures www.ridingtoextremes.com I'm going to have to look that up when I get home. She also is a member of Iron Butt Australia. She is one tough lady. I forget what she said was one of her record distances but I'm thinking it was around 1,800 miles on one ride. She was a pretty good mechanic too. She said she probably had most parts off that bike at one time or another and had broken a few others. I can't guess her age but I'd say over thirty anyway. She's on a real adventure.
I took a lot of pictures of our "roadside assistance team" and the broken GS and headed on down the road to Prudhoe Bay.
I also have to make a correction in yesterdays entry. Ken from Montana was riding on a BMW GS650, not a KLR 650.
Since I had missed the tour yesterday, they let me sign up for the one today at 8am. I made it there with plenty of time to spare. The tour was going to last two hours and then I had one hour to pack up and check out of the "hotel". They aren't really what I would call hotels. The
whole infrastructure at Prudhoe Bay was built for the oil workers so it made me think of my old days back in the military barracks. The food was a lot like "institutional" food but there was a lot of it. You had to put away your own dishes and trays just like back in the chow hall in the
military.
Ken, the guy who had dinner with us at Coldfoot was staying in an even worse place. He said the door to his room was a "meat locker" door. It had the big handle on the outside and a round knob on the inside that you push to open the door just like a large meat locker. If you think about it, the best way to have an insulated room is to start out with a large refrigerator. Perfect insulation. You just have to worry about making sure there is enough air flow to keep from suffocating someone.
There is no alcohol allowed in Prudhoe Bay, period. There are several things that can get a worker fired. Things like leaving a bag of trash in your truck when you go in to eat lunch (too enticing for bears), having any alcohol anywhere, getting a speeding ticket, harassing the wildlife, well, you get the picture. The workers are on a two week shift somewhat similar to Lyle working on the river boat. The company flies them up from either Fairbanks or Anchorage for their shift and then flies them back for a week. I think they can also work up to four or six weeks before flying home if they want to make more money.
On the tour they explained all about how the operation works and how the technology has changed over the years. When they say they can now drill without disturbing the environment, they aren't kidding.
Say they want to drill in some spot. They wait until winter when everything is frozen, then they build an "ice road" to where they want to drill. They do this by spraying water on the ground until they get it the right thickness and then drive everything they need out to the spot over this ice road. Then when the ice thaws, there is absolutely no sign that a road was ever there. Pretty slick if you ask me.
Plus the "footprint" to drill has been drastically reduced over the years. They used to have an acre or two to set everything up to drill and now have reduced that down to just several hundred square feet needed. Plus they can now drill horizontally from one spot out to 8,000 feet away from the drill pad. So they put the drill pad in one spot and can drill pretty far away from there if they need to. Pretty amazing.
On the tour, they take you out to Baffin Bay so you can go swimming in the Arctic Ocean, assuming any idiot would ever want to. In our case there were four idiots. Two young girls and two boys with them. I took pictures of the whole thing. An older guy from Wisconsin was there with his wife and he went in but only to his knees. I went in also. But just up to the end of my pinkie finger. HA ! Had you there for a minute didn't I? For doing this, I received a Pinkie swim certificate which I will frame when I get home.
The guy from Wisconsin was in a camper that they had been sleeping it during the trip up to Prudhoe Bay. He said one night when they were parked in a turnoff not too far from Prudhoe Bay, a bear came up to their camper and started pushing on the outside and making it rock. Then a bigger bear came up to a camper next to them and really started rocking it. Then it went around to the front of the pickup and climbed up on the hood. It finally went away. I bet that hood was dented.
After the tour I went back to my room and packed everything up on the bike. I found out that the guy I had met at the Arctic Circle sign two days ago on the way to Prudhoe Bay on the Versys motorcycle, had crashed about forty miles from Prudhoe Bay. That was just ten miles into the large gravel I mentioned yesterday. That was not the bike to take on that road at all. I was told he was disoriented after the accident but didn't break anything. The motorcycle was still functional too. They said he knew his name and what day it was but didn't know if he had been going North or South. Eventually, he came around and decided he would ride the bike on into Prudhoe Bay. I saw the bike parked next to mine when I came back from the tour but I couldn't find him and I didn't know his last name so couldn't ask about him either. I hope if I ever have an accident, they don't ask me what day it is. I have no idea right this moment so how would I know after an accident?
I went ahead and gassed up and headed back to Coldfoot. A most amazing thing happened along the way. I was having fun! Just yesterday that road was the worst thing I had ever encountered and now it no longer was a problem. I think the major difference was that I wasn't dead tired.
I was able to get a good nights sleep. The road was still difficult but I was no longer in constant fear of crashing and burning. Note to self: Put that application back in for the Dakar Rallye next year!!
Ken was also in Prudhoe Bay and we were planning to ride back together to Coldfoot but he had already started back by the time I got ready to go (he didn't realize that it takes me a long time to get ready). Plus, when I went to get gas, there was a Caribou traffic jam and then when I finally got to the service station, they were out of gas so I had to go find the only remaining gas station. Finally, with the tank filled and my two spare gas cans filled, I set out for Coldfoot.
Not too far down the road I came across Ken standing on the side of the road talking on his satellite phone. Now, isn't that just like a BMW rider? Carries a SAT phone around with him so he can "phone home" when he feels like it. He said he had rented it and a couple hundred minutes of talk time on it so if he had problems he could call for help. That isn't too bad an idea either. I might think about doing that when Lyle and I go next year. A pretty cheap insurance policy. That way if you're out in the middle of nowhere, at least you can call all your friends and tell them "hey! I'm out here in the middle of nowhere!"
After his call we headed on the down the road towards Coldfoot.
We breezed right through Antigun pass without any problems. It must have been due to my good nights sleep again.
We stopped at the "Hotspot Cafe" just North of the Yukon River. Ken said they were supposed to have the best burgers in the land. They were good but they were also BIG. I almost couldn't finish mine. The owner said no fries, just the burger, because it is so big. She was right. It was an interesting place. I took a lot of pictures.
We left there and went maybe a half mile to the Yukon river gas stop and gassed up and headed for Coldfoot.
About twenty miles or so from Coldfoot, it started to rain again. That, of course, turned the road into mud again and the ride got "interesting" again. If I'd known the road was going to be like that again, I wouldn't have eaten that HUGE burger. It wasn't the thing to do when you were going to be under a lot of stress. I made it through there alright though and we arrived at Coldfoot in the rain. While I was getting the bike unloaded and we were having supper, several Harleys arrived there for the night. They were heading for Prudhoe Bay. I wish I knew how they made out because that road was not a good road to be riding a Harley on.
See, it is better!
mo-gser.blogspot.com
I totally forgot to mention that on the ride from Fairbanks to Coldfoot, I came across a Tasmanian Devil. Well, not really. It was a women from Tasmania named Margaret riding a BMW GS650. Well, she wasn't actually riding it. She was broke down. I stopped and took a look at it but she had already discovered the problem. Her radiator was totally blocked by mud. Not a bit of air could go through the radiator. She was trying to scrape it off without much success. About that time, Lane, Emily, Nick, and Jennie came along and they stopped also. I was saying that what we needed was a golf club cleaning brush to really get it out and I think it was Jennie said how about a toothbrush. Margaret had a toothbrush so then I started pouring water on the radiator and brushing with the toothbrush. It would have been a lot faster with a golf club cleaning brush but eventually we got the mud off, added a little water to the radiator and she put her bike back together.
It turns out she is riding around the world on the BMW. She calls herself "BEEMERBIRD". Her name is Margaret J. Peart and she has a web page documenting her adventures www.ridingtoextremes.com I'm going to have to look that up when I get home. She also is a member of Iron Butt Australia. She is one tough lady. I forget what she said was one of her record distances but I'm thinking it was around 1,800 miles on one ride. She was a pretty good mechanic too. She said she probably had most parts off that bike at one time or another and had broken a few others. I can't guess her age but I'd say over thirty anyway. She's on a real adventure.
I took a lot of pictures of our "roadside assistance team" and the broken GS and headed on down the road to Prudhoe Bay.
I also have to make a correction in yesterdays entry. Ken from Montana was riding on a BMW GS650, not a KLR 650.
Since I had missed the tour yesterday, they let me sign up for the one today at 8am. I made it there with plenty of time to spare. The tour was going to last two hours and then I had one hour to pack up and check out of the "hotel". They aren't really what I would call hotels. The
whole infrastructure at Prudhoe Bay was built for the oil workers so it made me think of my old days back in the military barracks. The food was a lot like "institutional" food but there was a lot of it. You had to put away your own dishes and trays just like back in the chow hall in the
military.
Ken, the guy who had dinner with us at Coldfoot was staying in an even worse place. He said the door to his room was a "meat locker" door. It had the big handle on the outside and a round knob on the inside that you push to open the door just like a large meat locker. If you think about it, the best way to have an insulated room is to start out with a large refrigerator. Perfect insulation. You just have to worry about making sure there is enough air flow to keep from suffocating someone.
There is no alcohol allowed in Prudhoe Bay, period. There are several things that can get a worker fired. Things like leaving a bag of trash in your truck when you go in to eat lunch (too enticing for bears), having any alcohol anywhere, getting a speeding ticket, harassing the wildlife, well, you get the picture. The workers are on a two week shift somewhat similar to Lyle working on the river boat. The company flies them up from either Fairbanks or Anchorage for their shift and then flies them back for a week. I think they can also work up to four or six weeks before flying home if they want to make more money.
On the tour they explained all about how the operation works and how the technology has changed over the years. When they say they can now drill without disturbing the environment, they aren't kidding.
Say they want to drill in some spot. They wait until winter when everything is frozen, then they build an "ice road" to where they want to drill. They do this by spraying water on the ground until they get it the right thickness and then drive everything they need out to the spot over this ice road. Then when the ice thaws, there is absolutely no sign that a road was ever there. Pretty slick if you ask me.
Plus the "footprint" to drill has been drastically reduced over the years. They used to have an acre or two to set everything up to drill and now have reduced that down to just several hundred square feet needed. Plus they can now drill horizontally from one spot out to 8,000 feet away from the drill pad. So they put the drill pad in one spot and can drill pretty far away from there if they need to. Pretty amazing.
On the tour, they take you out to Baffin Bay so you can go swimming in the Arctic Ocean, assuming any idiot would ever want to. In our case there were four idiots. Two young girls and two boys with them. I took pictures of the whole thing. An older guy from Wisconsin was there with his wife and he went in but only to his knees. I went in also. But just up to the end of my pinkie finger. HA ! Had you there for a minute didn't I? For doing this, I received a Pinkie swim certificate which I will frame when I get home.
The guy from Wisconsin was in a camper that they had been sleeping it during the trip up to Prudhoe Bay. He said one night when they were parked in a turnoff not too far from Prudhoe Bay, a bear came up to their camper and started pushing on the outside and making it rock. Then a bigger bear came up to a camper next to them and really started rocking it. Then it went around to the front of the pickup and climbed up on the hood. It finally went away. I bet that hood was dented.
After the tour I went back to my room and packed everything up on the bike. I found out that the guy I had met at the Arctic Circle sign two days ago on the way to Prudhoe Bay on the Versys motorcycle, had crashed about forty miles from Prudhoe Bay. That was just ten miles into the large gravel I mentioned yesterday. That was not the bike to take on that road at all. I was told he was disoriented after the accident but didn't break anything. The motorcycle was still functional too. They said he knew his name and what day it was but didn't know if he had been going North or South. Eventually, he came around and decided he would ride the bike on into Prudhoe Bay. I saw the bike parked next to mine when I came back from the tour but I couldn't find him and I didn't know his last name so couldn't ask about him either. I hope if I ever have an accident, they don't ask me what day it is. I have no idea right this moment so how would I know after an accident?
I went ahead and gassed up and headed back to Coldfoot. A most amazing thing happened along the way. I was having fun! Just yesterday that road was the worst thing I had ever encountered and now it no longer was a problem. I think the major difference was that I wasn't dead tired.
I was able to get a good nights sleep. The road was still difficult but I was no longer in constant fear of crashing and burning. Note to self: Put that application back in for the Dakar Rallye next year!!
Ken was also in Prudhoe Bay and we were planning to ride back together to Coldfoot but he had already started back by the time I got ready to go (he didn't realize that it takes me a long time to get ready). Plus, when I went to get gas, there was a Caribou traffic jam and then when I finally got to the service station, they were out of gas so I had to go find the only remaining gas station. Finally, with the tank filled and my two spare gas cans filled, I set out for Coldfoot.
Not too far down the road I came across Ken standing on the side of the road talking on his satellite phone. Now, isn't that just like a BMW rider? Carries a SAT phone around with him so he can "phone home" when he feels like it. He said he had rented it and a couple hundred minutes of talk time on it so if he had problems he could call for help. That isn't too bad an idea either. I might think about doing that when Lyle and I go next year. A pretty cheap insurance policy. That way if you're out in the middle of nowhere, at least you can call all your friends and tell them "hey! I'm out here in the middle of nowhere!"
After his call we headed on the down the road towards Coldfoot.
We breezed right through Antigun pass without any problems. It must have been due to my good nights sleep again.
We stopped at the "Hotspot Cafe" just North of the Yukon River. Ken said they were supposed to have the best burgers in the land. They were good but they were also BIG. I almost couldn't finish mine. The owner said no fries, just the burger, because it is so big. She was right. It was an interesting place. I took a lot of pictures.
We left there and went maybe a half mile to the Yukon river gas stop and gassed up and headed for Coldfoot.
About twenty miles or so from Coldfoot, it started to rain again. That, of course, turned the road into mud again and the ride got "interesting" again. If I'd known the road was going to be like that again, I wouldn't have eaten that HUGE burger. It wasn't the thing to do when you were going to be under a lot of stress. I made it through there alright though and we arrived at Coldfoot in the rain. While I was getting the bike unloaded and we were having supper, several Harleys arrived there for the night. They were heading for Prudhoe Bay. I wish I knew how they made out because that road was not a good road to be riding a Harley on.
See, it is better!
mo-gser.blogspot.com
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