Alright! Waking to sunshine and the positive thought that we shall make it to Whitehorse with flying colors today! Temperatures starting off in the 40’s but “supposedly” it will get to 70 degrees! Please Please get to 70 degrees! I could really use a day of taking off some layers that feel so restricting most days. I wanted my wind/rain pants off and my jacket off today. William being so warm blooded he hasn’t had that issue yet. He’s already been in a t-shirt! Yeah right…not me!
As we were about to set off we ran into some other travelers who were heading North into Alaska. It seems we are headed in the unusual direction this time of year..South. One gentleman lived in Fairbanks for about 30 years and the others were just taking their motorcycles for a long ride. Everyone has been quite nice to us, even the traffic has been rather nice to us thus far. They wished us well, which we reciprocated, and went on our way peddling south to Whitehorse.
Whoa! Legs were heavy or something! We both felt slow. Lets face it! Our bike computers are telling us we should be resting our bodies 48-72 hours before peddling again with the amount of miles we are putting in a day, so clearly are bodies aren’t functioning up to par. But we pressed hard for about 10 miles then decided to check the air in our tires to sees if maybe there was something that could help our heavy legs. The tires were a bit low, which they probably should be since we haven’t put any air in them this whole time since Prudhoe Bay. Also, we could start to see the wear on the tires from the trip. Most of the wear was on the back tires of our bikes do to having heavy carts behind us. Williams was the worst though. The tread was getting mighty low. Put a bit of worry in our heads since we didn’t have another tire with with us, just tubes. So we made a plan to fill up the bikes with air now, then when we get to Whitehorse, hopefully, find a bike shop and replace the back tires or at least Williams.
But onward we went with filled tires, which by the way did help our pace, and up and down the climbs we went. Beautiful sights to be seen again today. Of course more mountains in our views, just less snow on them than the ones we’ve been seeing north. So with that said….YES!..the weather was warming up for us and a few layers were able to come off.
The scenery stayed pretty much the same for the 90 some miles today. There was one rest stop today though that stuck out. There was a bridge there that crossed over a creek that mentioned to ” cross at your own risk” because it was clearly falling apart. But of course we took the risk and it wasn’t too bad after all. The other side of the bridge led to a trail that took you to a very old house that you weren’t allowed to get but 25 feet from. That was falling apart too. It didn’t really have any information about the house, but it was neat to see a mark of history. We enjoyed the little hike and the view from the bridge and carried on our way.
So there was one animal we got to see today, which most people have seen at some point in their lives, they were horses. But these ones were Wild Horses. Just roaming around the land with no limitations. The ones we saw were in a pack of 4. William being William had to try to get close to them, but they weren’t having it. They kept moving away from him. I’m guessing it may of been his stench after riding almost 70 miles at that point is what they were running from! Ha! Maybe not…I don’t know. I know sometimes I like to stay in front while riding so I don’t catch a down wind of him. Just Kidding. It’s not that bad…
About 90 miles in we finally see official signs of Whitehorse. It really didn’t end up being too bad of a ride after all. It’s funny how you can start off a ride worn out and heavy, and then end with no issues. WAIT! NO issues? ok ok that’s a bit of exaggeration. My rear was in so much pain! I needed off that saddle baaaad. BUT my legs were fine! Weird.
Oh one more part of the plan I forgot to mention earlier. When we get to Whitehorse, we were going to stay not just tonight, but 2 nights. Rest our bodies, do some work, and maybe explore a little.
Well we got into Whitehorse and to our hotel. OHHHH the hotel….Why did we pick this hotel? Well the price of couse…the cheapest in town! Canadas Best Value Inn. DON’T STAY THERE. I mean we did, but trust me…don’t do it! As we are checking in there was a man outside, looking as though he had been drinking all day and a women who’s eyes were blood shot with black rings around them as if she was on drugs, a few customers walking in who “lost their ID, and nobody would let them stay at their hotel without their ID”, but of course this hotel was going to let them stay, and after walking around after getting set up in the hotel, there were bums all around the building and block. Didn’t feel like the safest hotel or area really. The room we were in was actually spacious and nice, but all but one of the outlets were working in the room, some of the lights weren’t working, and the screen on the window was falling out! By the way, I should mention, when I say the cheapest in town, I mean $119, and that’s what we got for $119. So if you plan on staying in Whitehorse,YK Canada have some deep pockets!
After all said and done we are about to rest our heads, and hoping for no trouble tonight. Wish us luck and hopefully see you tomorrow?! lol