The Alaskan Ride... So Many Miles... and so Damn Quick!

25 Days... 8678 miles, a pair of new tires, six states, two Canadian Provinces and one Canadian Territory. Six motels, three nights as a guest along the way, and 16 tent camps... lost count of the cans of Dinty Moore stew, Campbells chunky soup ... and really poor Instant coffee!

Along the way was something close to 3000 miles of rain! :o) through the most beautiful and intimidating land on this continent. The weather talked me out of traveling to some of the places I'd planned... and hiking alone in the rain lost its' shine for me before I got to the trailheads :o) ... all that means is I've got plenty to go back to.

That Big Red Yamaha Raider ran like a top... not a burp... for all those miles, though Star Motorcycles rates their Raiders at 42 MPG... this particular Motorcycle turned out just above and just below 50 MPG (turning out 56 a time or two!)... over those many miles... the only time it dropped down to 43 MPG... still above its' rating... I was climbing over the combination of Lolo and then Chief Joseph passes... going from Idaho to Montana.

Now, putting a big two wheeler on that road, on a sunny morning, is guaranteed to drop a gear or two, and twist the throttle a mite tighter... which curiously, consumes more fuel! :o)

But... unfortunately, you've heard it said; "All good things must come to an end"... so... after passing through Yellowstone...

... and leaving The Tetons behind me...

I rolled that Bike on across Wyoming, where there's no shortage of beautiful visions for an old cowboy either... Found these beauties a ways south of Lander... I wondered if they were wild or just damn lucky ranch horses... no matter really...

With the final leg of my run down Poudre Canyon, and a 438 mile day, I made it home last night...

The next couple of days are gonna be a bit of a scramble, with much to do and get caught up on... but like I said, I've got some "Summary" articles I'll be building in the next week or so... so, stay tuned!

Grab Your Handles and Ride!
Brian

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