SMU Alaska Expedition III

Part 3 (in continuation from part 2)

................................................

The team ended their grueling third leg in the small town of Tok. It was a short ride of 2 hours from Cathedral Creek, just 40km away. Everyone felt a sense of uncertainty as to what the Alaskan terrain could throw at them. Their teammate Lesley is one such example of the unpredictability that could happen on the road on the ride to Fairbanks. One mountain could be all it took to ruin our spirits. Thankfully, Lesley survived the accident and gave the team a peace of mind to continue on their expedition.

Tok is considered one of the biggest "small towns" as it is located at the intersection of the Alaskan Highway and Tok Cutoff Highway, which leads to Fairbanks and Anchorage respectively. The team split up to run errands before their next leg the following day. Doing the laundry, which had not been done for the past 3 days was the first on the list. It also meant time to hit the showers for everybody with the change of fresh clothes. Yes, the SMU team bathes about once every 3 days. Hygiene aside, the more important task was to weld back Leong's Rear - D, which broke as a result of a small crash. Lastly, the car had to be cleaned as it was totally covered in a thick layer of sand and dirt! Alaskan roads are frequently interrupted by short stretches of gravel; imagine the similar punishment the bikes had to go through.

With no break from the third leg, the fourth leg started with a bang. In what was arguably the most challenging ride of the expedition, the team endured 130km of ferocious winds, unending rain, steep inclines and drawn out stretches of dirt road on route to Deadman Lake.

Tok Junction to Deadman Lake

Jasbir: It was an epic ride.

None of us will ever forget what we survived yesterday. We had a pretty late start due to the heavy morning downpour coupled with the need to weld together Leong's broken rear derailleur. We started slightly past 1pm at 12 degrees Celsius temperatures. It was a cold start but, as before, we assumed we will warm up to it and our condition would improve past the 30km mark. It did not happen.

We soon cycled across a sign that said, 'Road Works, next 47 miles'. That was the start of long stretches of exchanges between gravel and dirt. Then came the extremely strong winds. Cycling against the wind was difficult, but cycling in the cold was the bigger threat. Rain followed soon after and that sealed our fate. We were frozen ducks. By the 25 km mark, the temperature hit 8 degrees as we paddled amidst the rain, wind and painful road terrain. This is something we could never have prepared for in the warmth of Singapore.

Our noses became running taps and it was hard to tell the difference from the rain water flowing down our faces. My fingers grew numb and everyone could see each other taking their hands off the handlebars in attempt to circulate more blood to the fingers. Our eyes were weary and with teeth clenched we battled the cold and pain that awaited us up the mountain range.

The ascent was never ending as each bend brought with it another 'pavement break' (dirt track) and steep climbs. Bikes slipped and fell, tires got punctured, and our shoulders were aching and our toes frozen. Everyone just wanted it to end and it was pretty much our own version of the Paris-Roubaix race.

There was nothing to do but laugh through the situation. Each hill was termed a surprise and we started welcoming the surprises - as the faster we climbed the hill, the warmer our bodies would be. We decided against stopping as that would make it easier for the cold to penetrate our bodies.

We finished the climbs somehow, all muddy as well. Our bikes looked like "old-skool" mountain bikes with chains squeaky and skipping due to the terrain. Our jerseys were dyed in a mix of mud and sweat.

We were ravaged by the rain, frozen by the wind and drained by the road.
But we completed 130km of the route, together!

Deadman Lake to Kluane Wilderness Village

The next day the team crossed the Alaska border into Yukon territory, Canada. The ride to Beaver Creek was a short and easy ride of 75km(with the crossing of the border halfway through the ride). The US Canadian border is the longest unfortified border in the world. There was no immigration to be done to leave the United States and we did not have to stamp our passports. The Canadian customs was more than 30 kilometres in the Yukon after the border line, marked only by a stretched line of missing trees.

The fourth leg ended the following day with another rainy ride to the Kluane Wilderness Village where the team crashed the night in a couple of long abandoned lodges. After eight days on the saddle, we took a break at Kluane Base Camp amidst the beauty of the turquoise blue Kluane Lake, which reflected the snow capped mountains in the background.

Await the final part, part 4...