Alaska at Eighty

Should be noted that his ride yesterday of 311 miles from Fairbanks, AK to Beaver Creek, Yukon, was AFTER having visited the local Honda dealership in Fairbanks yesterday morning for an Oil & Filter change on his bike. Being that it is a sidecar rig, and his bike has a VERY thick belly pan under the engine, we can all imagine the Honda tech having to lay on the ground, unbolt that very thick belly pan, remove it, drop the oil and replace the engine filter, then reinstall that very thick/heavy belly pan...all before Jan could get On The Road, on his way to Beaver Creek, Yukon.

Hard to believe the distances involved here.

An amazing journey.

Hope it go3s great.

I take it the land showing NorWest of Prodhoe Bay is not navigatable with wheels.

Though that statement seems picky.

Press on sir.

Posted by: @brstr

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I take it the land showing NorWest of Prodhoe Bay is not navigatable with wheels.

Bruce, there are roads, or roadways north of Prudhoe Bay/Deadhorse, however they are controlled access roads, so unless you work in that area, or have native Alaskan permission, it is a No Go zone.

Thanks Miles. Thought it something like that.

Wouldn't have been surprised if there was no access at all.

UCC Day 5 - Beaver Creek to Teslin, YT. 

The Olde Man & Red Dog have stopped for the day in Toad River, B.C., after a 363 mile day, or 584 kms. He has no Wi-Fi or Cellular services for tonight. 

My prediction is that he will stop in either  Fort St. John, or Dawson Creek,  B.C. tomorrow evening. 

UCC Day 6 - Teslin to Toad River, BC - Cold and wet day. 

Heads up!  Major heat dome will be forming over the southeast and persist into the first week of August.  Air temps at 100 with the added “bonus” of lots of humidity.  The dome will extend into the mid plains.

Im not sure where you will be and when, but you’re headed into some significant heat in the early part of August.

UCC Day 7 - Toad River to Ft St John, BC

As I  suspected,  the  Octogenarian & Red Dog are sheltering in Fort St. John, B.C., as he reports to me that he will spend 2 nights there...doing mechanical things, doing laundry, and drying out, because it appears that he has a symbiotic relationship with rain.   I suggested to him to view the weather , both past and forecasts,  in a larger map of his planned route.....then determine if he needs to get ahead of, or behind this rain that he has been riding in. 

Taking the day off from riding tomorrow is a SMART  decision. 

I don’t have any graphics but Ryan Hall was showing air temps over 100 throughout the southeast, specifically Georgia, South Carolina and Florida into early August without much hope of change.  I will see if I can pull up a graphic.

i think your plan of staying in Canada as long as possible is reasonable.  Of more important note is the fact that there have been an unusual and disturbing number of excessive rainfall storms this summer and it shows little signs of change.  Starting in pre dawn may be your best option to keep your pace and avoiding excessive heat.

Here’s for today.  May not be a great map, but without connectivity, it’s something.

Predictions

Time to play catch up with the story and photos. Back on July 19th...

July 19, 2025 - Day 1 UCC
Found my two witnesses needed for the IBA UCC. The Borough Marshall is one of them. As we talked, we determined that he was one of my witnesses when I rode a URAL sidecar up from Key West to Prudhoe Bay in 2013. He remembered it as they don't see many sidecar rigs making it up the Haul Road.

There is a new fuel stop in Prudhoe Bay, but it would not read my credit card. If one don't get a receipt with location, date and time on it. making the ride to Key West is moot. That receipt starts your clock.

Finally rode over to the old fuel stop, their machine worked so I got my required receipt. Hit the road south in 35 mph winds. Temps are in the high 30's, and dry.

That is an oil line pump station on the hilltop. What looks like a funnel cloud is smoke from a distance forest fire. Is not near the road so not a problem for me.

\]

Heading toward Atigun Pass. Was misting rain, did not see the mountain sheep.

If you think the rig looks muddy now, a short time later I encountered road crews laying down Calcium Chloride on the road ,then watering in. Now you have three miles of ankle deep, slippery, soupy muck that will get into every crack and crevice of your machine and never come out. A couple of two wheel riders were picking their way through it, carefully trying to stay upright at 10 mph. Down in Coldfoot the truck drivers were warning the motorcycle riders that it was suicide if they tried to ride north that day.

Some complain about the disrespect from truck drivers, but I found if you pull over and stop when you see a truck coming, they will also slow down.

Made it to Coldfoot for the night.

Did not know the post office would come into play a day later..

That ends Day 1 UCC.