I left North Pole and the Fairbanks region for the last time this trip. It was a good place to base my Alaskan travels around. But now the road beckons me onward and southward. After having one last breakfast with the Shay family I set off towards Canada, or as I am calling it Mapleleafland. I made it to Birch Lake State Campground and set up camp and jumped in for a swim/bath. The water was lovely and refreshing. The next day I rode down to Delta Junction where I restocked on food for the next two days of travel to Tok. Back at camp there were two Kiwi bikepackers; one from the South Island and one from the North, Blythe and John respectively Blythe loves to crochet and John incorrectly convinced her not to bring a hook. The first day out of Δ (see what I did there?) was nothing short of AMAZING! It was my first actual tailwind of my trip!!! It’s taken over a month and nearly 2000km but I finally got one! I rode 115 km in just over 5 hours!!!! I haven’t done speeds like that since I put gear on my bike. I made it to Jan Lake and got camp set up and dinner cooked just before the rain hit. Which is good because that brought quite the shift in wind direction plus a deluge of water. Also lots of electricity. I just huddled in my tent and read.
There were two gentlemen out fishing in between the rain showers; they tried to strike up a conversation with me. I told them just basic information before heading back into my tent in reading. At the end of the night they offered me a fish (through my tent as I was inside) and I declined also. I really didn’t have a way to keep it and travel with it. I felt kind of bad and I still do. They seemed like nice guys who were genuinely interested in me and my story and I couldn’t give them that. Yet I tried to call friends back home and no one answered. The people I wanted to hear would not speak and the voices I got I did not listen to. It may seem selfish but I didn’t have the energy to tell the same story over again at that moment. I am at the point in a long tour when you get used to being alone. Even now, as I write this I am sitting at a picnic table in a campground in Tok avoiding people. I am sure this will pass, it always does. But right now I just want something familiar and to not share the same story. I chatted with some motorbike tourists, which was nice. The camaraderie of the open road on two wheels gave us common ground to strike up a friendship without the awe that we get from others who can’t fathom doing something like this.
My ride to Tok wasn’t hard technically, but my legs reminded me that they existed and needed a rest day. Plus I had another day of headwinds which didn’t help. I should be into Mapleleafland in about a day and a half of riding unless the terrain or weather have some surprises for me.