06/21/2010, 430 miles
We did the reverse route of Day Eight, the worst of the frost heaves and gravel on the Alcan, this time in heavy rain.
We packed up in the rain demoralized and anxious. The route had been pretty bad in good weather. We assured ourselves it'd be fine, the weather would probably break, we'd take it slow.
One of the guys on the GS1200s was awake and looking a bit anxious as well. He said they were heading for Whitehorse today also. We wished him well and headed into town to get breakfast. We stopped at the cafe next to the Chevron in Tok. The coffee was so bad Janna took it's picture.
Worst Coffee on the Alcan
We left the cafe and it was still coming down. A lone HD rider was setting out at the same time, so I said "Nice day for a ride eh?" Turned out he was heading for Whitehorse as well.
After a few hundred hard miles the weather turned around and we rode into the some of the most spectacular scenery we'd seen.
At various stops along the route we bumped into the 3 BMW guys and the lone HD rider, which was oddly comforting.
The bikes by this time were totally covered with mud and calcium chloride which was worrisome for me. We still had thousands of miles to go and I was nervous about the chains, brakes, and other moving parts. I'd been religiously applying WD-40 and wiping the chains every night and yet they were starting to rust and the sprockets were showing visible wear.
I'd been hoping for more of a sport touring ride than an adventure ride. No such luck. We'd never been subjected to these types of roads or extended bad weather and I was a mess of anxiety and nerves.
Eventually we made it without incident to Whitehorse. It had been the hardest riding day yet. We walked around the empty streets at midnight, taking random photos in the weird solstice light.
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