Welcome to a collection of blog posts, below, about my seven-month Alaska to Mexico by bicycle trip, back in 2009. For more on this life-changing ride, make sure you also check out the interactive route maps, photos and videos too.
This was by far the biggest trip I had ever undertaken. I started on the northern Arctic Ocean coast of Alaska, USA where the pack-ice was still frozen at the end of May – I was that far north! Somehow, with a bike weighing 250 lbs, wild-camping in temperatures below -20°C, being buried under snow one night, and carrying two-weeks of food, I then rode, solo and unsupported, 450 miles across empty tundra and mountains, on the dirt roads of The Dalton, and with services only after 250 miles, coming face to face with bears and dodging the occasional gigantic truck bringing supplies to the oil and gas rigs in the Arctic Ocean.
Bizarrely, that didn’t put me off, so I continued south, riding the remote Alaskan Highway (where it’s possible to walk for a hundred days off into wilderness), the 3,000-mile-length of the Rocky Mountains, to finish the ride in northern-central Mexico in 45°C heat. The planning was huge, not least because I would quit my job, rent out my place and spend time getting the right gear. On the ride, I saw astonishing landscapes, 20,000-ft peaks, forests stretching for thousands of miles, basked for days on end in some of the wildest regions that this planet has left, met some wonderful, kind people (and of course, those bears!) and realised I had resilience that I didn’t think I had. To say it was quite the trip would be an understatement! Enjoy 🙂
- About this Trip
Jon Slade. Travelling light! Hi there, my name is Jon (Slade). Despite being old enough to, I’m sure, ‘know better’ I’m heading to Alaska with my bicycle ‘Charles’ to attempt to ride solo and self-supported from the northern Arctic coast at Prudhoe Bay, south and then, well, ’see how it goes’… Why? As big a cliché … - Part 1 – Prudhoe Bay to Fairbanks, Alaska, USA
So, the 27th of May 2009, a hotel room in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, USA on the Arctic Ocean Coast, 250 miles INSIDE the Arctic Circle, 240 miles south by mostly dirt road to the next Service Station (Coldfoot) and potential re-supply. Between here and there is the ‘North Slope’ of - Side Trip – Southern Alaska, USA
Seward Glacier Cruise – ITS A HUMPBACK WHALE! With my legs somewhat rested, bike (Charles) stored in Fairbanks (thanks John) I set off in the middle of June for a 2 week driving tour of Southern Alaska a friend from Liverpool / New Jersey, Lee. A CAR! NO PEDALLING! To give you an idea of … - Part 2 – Fairbanks, Alaska, USA to Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada
Northway Junction, Alaska, USA. Population maybe 70 people. 50 miles from the Canadian border. After a good, but hot morning’s ride (around 60 miles) I stopped to stay the night at an RV park, which seemed to have mostly semi-permanent residents, although on that particular day - Part 3 – Whitehorse, Yukon to Dawson Creek, British Columbia, Canada
PING! PING! WTF! No, I’m not trying for the UK table tennis team at the next Olympics, nor am I breaking the strings on a guitar (which is sort of like the sound…) but the spokes are breaking on my rear wheel. Just after crossing the Continental - Part 4 – Dawson Creek, British Columbia, Canada to Helena, Montana, USA
“What do you mean you ‘don’t take tents’? You’re advertised as a campsite and the road signs show a picture of A TENT!!!” say I, incredulous in the least. “I’m sorry but we don’t take tents, we’ve had some trouble with vandalism from ‘tenters’. There’s a site which does - Part 5 – Helena, Montana to Denver, Colorado, USA
I value the top of my bonce, my head, my noggin, my tête, my skull, my scalp. So, why is it that I stabbed a broken, dagger-like tree branch (still attached to pine in question) into the top of it? Yup. And I wasn’t even riding my bike - Sidetrip – Los Angeles, California & Denver, Colorado, USA
Yes, I am 5 years old, taking pictures from the plane to LA (oooh look, you can see the curve of the earth!) “Where’s my gin!” we’d mockingly imagine her adding after she’d ordered us to “Keep left on highway 270” in her slurred, robotised voice. I’m driving, near Denver with Jeff, a long time …Read more “Sidetrip – Los Angeles, California & Denver, Colorado, USA”
- Part 6 – Denver, Colorado, USA via New Mexico & Texas to Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico
“Wait here while I get the spear I used to kill him!” he says, running off to his van. It’s almost pitch black, its below zero, I’m at the otherwise deserted far-end of a campsite in a remote Colorado valley and John, half-Irish, half-Sioux has just gone to his ‘RV’ - Epilogue – Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico & Maldon, Essex, UK
Home time. I’ve spent a couple of months thinking about it. And now, I’m back in the UK, with my bike (Charles). For now at least I feel like I’ve done enough. I set out alone from the Arctic Ocean coast ofAlaska at the end of May 2009, 250 miles inside the Arctic Circle, unsure …Read more “Epilogue – Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico & Maldon, Essex, UK”
- Thanks
Whilst I’m wasn’t sponsored for this trip (I think that makes me a ‘privateer’, or is it a ‘buccaneer’?) there are many people who have either generally helped me get through life to this point (and I don’t quite know how I’ve managed it most of the time) or given me support for this my … - Gear
BIKE: Orange 2009 P7 Pro (modified) 21″ with Tange steel frame in matt black – chose steel due to ease of repair (weld) & the ‘give’ of the ride for a heavy ‘passenger’ when compared to that of aluminium; had a very difficult job to find a steel mountain bike frame frame with panier eyelets … - FAQ
Here are some answers to a few FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS: Q: How far did you cycle every day? A: Average 50-80 miles per day with a minimum of 20 miles and a maximum of 115 miles with maybe 5 days of 100+ miles with one or two of those on ‘big mountain’ days and 20 …