About Larry

I live in Bandon on the southern Oregon coast and I've been riding for a long, long time, years, decades. We won't go there kiddies but believe me, it's been awhile. During that time I've done most of my riding on the road with occasional off-road forays, most of which were intentional. Some weren't. Until just a couple of years ago I'd never ridden a hack - that's sidecar to those who aren't familiar with the lingo. I figure riding a hack up Alaska's infamous Haul road all the way to Deadhorse should top off my torture tank for quite awhile.

About Mac

Mac hails from Robins, Iowa and has been riding bikes longer than most people have been around. He managed to torture his old BMW past the 100,000 mile mark and presently rides a Yamaha FJR. His newest ride, a 2008 Ural Patrol is waiting on the dealer's highest shelf until the flood waters recede after which they'll assemble it and turn it over to him. The fact that he's heading to Alaska for his first journey on a new rig should tell you all you need to know about him...

Friday, July 25, 2008

July 24th - Top of the World Highway & Chicken, AK






































































































































































































































































































































This morning it wasn't raining so we were at it early, took another tour of Dawson City for photos, stopped for rolls and coffee, gassed up for a mere $7.59 per gallon, then took the ferry ride over the river to the beginning of the Top of the World Highway. The ferry ride was interesting, I was placed at the very front of it and one of the biggest trucks was parked next to me, around 6" clearance. It took two of us to jockey the bike around so I could ride off. As I was heading up the ramp I noticed a fox standing next to a dirt pile watching the ferry. I was able to snap a couple of pics before he took off.
Heading up the mountain was when we really got into the fog routine, visibility nearly nothing but at least there wasn't any other traffic. The road itself was mostly wet sandy mud with the usual pot holes. After a few miles and a lot of climbing we broke out of the fog into sunshine which we enjoyed for the rest of the ride.
Chicken was not at all as I expected it to be, the buildings are mostly newer and cater to tourists like ourselves. Prices we're not that bad and we had a great lunch at one of the cafes. We both bought T-shirts at the main store where we met a couple of guys from Montana, one of whom was riding a sidecar. He was knocked over to run into 2 other hacks in Chicken so we declared it a convention. On the way out of town I stopped off at the post office to buy stamps for post cards and that done, we headed straight for TOK where we set up camp for the night. Several other riders showed up and we had fun swapping tales about the various roads we'd ridden. It started to drizzle about bedtime but it only lasted a short while and by morning everything had dried out.













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