Official Ride in Alaska

Skagway, Alaska
July 8, 2019
22 miles

Today was our official ride in Alaska because we are actually on a tandem bicycle. We threw in yesterday's ride in Juneau as an "extra". It is another perfect weather day. How could we have been so lucky? We rented a Trek tandem from Sockeye Cycle Co. and are on our own, no group tours today.  

We rode 11 miles out to Dyea, Alaska, which was a boomtown during the Klondike Gold Rush in 1897-1898, but is now a ghost town. The road started out paved but 4 miles out of Skagway it turned into a dirt road. Fortunately the bike was outfitted for that kind of surface. It is a good thing we left our tandem at home and rented one here. Our shoes were not locked on to the pedals and we struggled throughout the day because of that. My foot kept slipping off of the pedals and we were unable to stand when we would go uphill. And, we had plenty of uphill! It's Alaska, I shouldn't have expected anything else! Let's just say - our legs got the best workout in all of our previous 48 states that we have ridden in.

After the first uphill, overlooking Skagway and the cruise ships.

The scenery was absolutely breathtaking!!!

Along the way were several places to stop and read about the area, the gold rush and Chilkoot Trail. We took advantage of all the stops so we could learn about the history and to rest our legs! There were times along this road where we were the only people around. It was an amazing feeling to be bicycling with no one in view and to have the majestic mountains, the crisp cold water and a regal bald eagle as our backdrop and companion. 

Alaska was the 49th state to enter the Union and it was our 49th state to ride a tandem bicycle in. Cheers to number 49!