Longhaulpaul's Chasing the Cure

My June Wheels Out West for MS Tour started with heavy traffic of the clogged artery variety. A 15,000 trip that had been planned for a few months, was snarled in a sea of brakelights by chest pains, a detour to the hospital, a couple of stents in my heart and  a new player added to my roster: Cardiovascular Disease.  What it didn’t do, however, was keep me from leaving for my tour one day after getting out of the hospital. I began my tour on June 4th, by riding carefully to Lake George New York where I presented two seminars at the Americade motorcycle rally. Hospitality for the evening was graciously provided once again by my friends at Twisted Throttle.

 

 

My seminars were Thursday and Friday, so I did get a decent amount of rest before leaving right after my noon seminar Friday June 5th. After all, I needed to be in Anchorage Alaska by Wednesday and it was 4600 miles away!

 

 

A couple of good friends from high school, Todd and Scott, attended my final seminar and gave me a proper send off.  I rode till Toledo Ohio and spent the night. Saturday I made good time getting to Fargo, North Dakota and Sunday I fled the country, staying in Edmonton in Alberta Canada. My biggest worry crossing the border was  getting in with the drug store in my trunk and specifically, the bottle of Nitroglycerine in my pocket. I must have watched too many John Wayne movies when I was a kid.

 

 

 

 

It was Monday, June 8th, before the scenery starting to get interesting.

 

 

I arrived at mile zero of the famous Al-Can highway in Dawson Creek. I tried not to get excited, you know, because of my condition, but I was pretty stoked to actually be on my way to Alaska, while raising awareness for Multiple Sclerosis and encouraging others with challenges in life to continue finding ways to follow their passions as well. My face ached from smiling.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I spend the night in British Columbia. It was a bit weird being the only guest in the entire Legendary Fort Nelson Hotel. It looked fancier on Priceline.com than it did in person. I didn’t try the buffet.

 

 

From Fort Nelson, I made my way to Beaver Creek, Yukon Territory and just shy of the Alaskan border. The scenery was amazing, the wildlife was well, wild. As I got close to Alaska, I could see Sarah Palin’s house. I also saw moose, a coyote, 2 bears, dozens of deer, a few buffalo, a porcupine and a variety of other creatures as I journeyed north. Lots of gravel roads and construction destroyed the first of three rear tires I would wear out on this trip.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spent the night at the Beaver Creek RV park. Interesting! Each day grew longer as I travelled north.  It was now daylight for about 20 hours or so. I had a great meal at Buckshot Betty’s. The locals are all extremely friendly here.

 

 

 

 

I made it to Alaska as the three hours of  darkness were concluding. When I was in the hospital, I downloaded the Rosetta Stone Learn to Speak British Columbian program. By now I realized it was a complete waste of money.

 

 

 

 

I made great time to Anchorage despite the continued construction delays.

I was told, “We have two seasons here, winter and construction.”

 

 

I had an appointment to have a set of Bridgestone tires I had mailed a few weeks earlier installed  and asked them to do an oil change. At 83,000 miles, this was the very first time my YAMAHA had been in a shop for ANYTHING!

 

 

They thought it looked pretty clean. I guess they see a lot of adventure bikes up here!

 

 

 

My IPhone’s camera stopped working for the second time, and thankfully Anchorage had an Apple store downtown that was able to swap me out a whole new phone. My phone picture had been all selfies since Fort Nelson. I always carry a point and shoot camera, so most of the trip was shot with an Olympus Tough TG-820 camera.  Waterproof, shockproof, optical zoom and it has some great filters. Also very easy to use for someone who has memory issues!

 

 

I spoke to a great audience of people with MS, had a decent meal and contemplated my next move. Fresh tires and oil, and I had 6 days before I was due to speak in Las Vegas. I knew I had about 24 hours extra to play with before heading south, so I decided to ride by Denali National Park and attempt tp ride the Dalton Highway, the Haul Road as it is called, and of course I had to at least aim for the Arctic Circle by the end of the day. I knew there was a trucker camp at Coldfoot, and if I could make it there I would have passed over the Arctic Circle by 60 miles or so. More importantly, I knew there was a motel and gas there!

 

 

 

I stopped for a break, bathroom and an ice cream cone at the Hotspot. I was warned about bears near the outhouses. I didn’t bother to ask for the newspaper.

 

 

Calling outhouses restrooms was a stretch, a diamond in the rough, I suppose.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yes, this was the famous Slate Creek Inn, as seen on Ice Road Truckers, along the Alaskan pipeline haul road. Last chance for supplies, fuel and rest. I got the  bridal suite, a bargain at $229 a night.

 

 

No mini bar but the room was…… clean.

 

 

 

The Dalton Highway ends at Dead Horse, Prudhoe Bay, but my adventure north  had to end at Coldfoot, 60 miles past the Arctic Circle. After all, It was 4,000 miles to Las Vegas and my next talk, and I only had 5 day to get there.

I had ridded 5500 miles, in less than a week from New Hampshire to Anchorage and the Arctic Circle, and still had 10,000 miles to go before returning home.

For my Cardiologist Dr. Fink and the great staff at Catholic Medical Center in Manchester New Hampshire,  I can assure you I did not drive for three days,  lift anything heavy for a week, or return to to work right away.

I took it easy exactly like you ordered.

In fact, ALL of these pictures were completely PHOTOSHOPPED.

 

 

 

Please like, share and repost.  Stay tuned for part two of the Wheels Out West for MS Tour,   Heat Waves.

Cheers,

Longhaulpaul