Saying goodbye is hard!

                                                                    Making a story for the blog

It is not simple to find the time to make a story for the blog.

After cycling during the day, there is not much time left.

When I arrive at the “campsite” I pitch my tent and start cooking.

When ready I do the dishes and make everything ready for the next day of cycling.

The only other thing I want to do is sleeping. Next day will be a hard day of cycling again.

Creating a blog story is something I don’t have time or energy for.

Also typing in a tent is not very ergonomic and painful.

If there is a pick nick bench outside typing can be hard due to the mosquitoes!

So making a blog will be done on a “rest” day.

Not really a resting day, because there are always all kinds of things to be done than.

Washing clothing, blogging, mail (if there is working WIFI!) and some real rest!

My first plan to make a story every week cannot be achieved.

This blog is started on Bell 2, a very expensive hotel for winter ski holidays (with a helicopter!).

Uploading will be done later because they charge by Mb and I used this with chatting with my wife Rieneke this afternoon.

                                                                    To say goodbye is always hurts.

When I went to the USA I had to say goodbye to my wife, kids and our dogs.

Today, august 7th I had to say goodbye to my precious friend Thomas Hall, or just Tom.

Yesterday and the day before yesterday were not easy for me and cycling was very hard.

In the beginning of my trip I felt very strong. Now I feel empty, without any strength, terrible.

Tom and I did discuss the strategy for me.

I have a lot of gear with me, maybe too much. I know this but I am not able to do anything to this “problem” before I am in Bellingham, with my friend Alex and his wife Megan.

The way I cycle is on pure strength which is not this is not the best way to cycle.

The many, many hills are breaking me, because the strength is a lot less.

Next to this I now know, I had something coming, several days of pain in the stomach.

Today, unfortunately, Tom went on cycling, because he had people to meet. He paid my hotel this night as a gift!

I appreciated this very much, but had rather cycled with him today!

If I will be able to cycle on tomorrow I don’t know, we’ll see tomorrow.

The force to cycle must be back to cycle the last 250 km of the Cassiar Highway.

In the meantime I cycled the rest of the Cassiar Hwy in three days and currently I am in Terrace along the Yellowhead Hwy number 16.

It went great today, mostly downhill and the wind in the back!

Tomorrow will be hard again. Different than on the Cassiar; now the distance (150 km) and the heat (over 90 F) will be tough!

The route will be “only 3 hills” this information comes from two cyclists I did meet today.
They did the stretch in one day from Prince Rupert to Terrace. So I must be able to do that too!

A really early start and to take a lot of water (6 liters) with me will help! Get up at 04:00 and leave at 05:30 to search for a good breakfast if available.

It wil be hard, but I’ll have to push because I will have to wait until August the 15th until the next ferry!

                                                                    Than there is a new development

I will change my route.

At the end of the Cassiar Highway I will turn right on the Yellowhead Highway to Prince Rupert.

There I will take the ferry to Port Hardy and will cycle half Vancouver Island where I will take the ferry to Vancouver. Here I will cycle the rest of the first part of my trip to Bellingham. Here I will take a week “rest” do some maintenance and sort out my gear (reducing the weight!)

There will be more changes, but, in time, you will be informed!

                                                                    There are different kinds of goodbye;

One is very hard: saying goodbye to your warm sleeping bag to start the new cycling day.

Also saying goodbye to the warm and cozy restaurant, where you just have been served wonderful coffee.

Also saying goodbye to people you met along the way and would love to talk some more.

                                                                    Names of Highways

As you might have known, the highways I cycled on the last weeks each have their own name.

• The Dalton Highway,
• The Elliot Highway,
• The Alaska Highway (Alcan Highway),
• The Cassiar Highway and the
• Yellowhead Highway.

                                                                    “The milepost”

This is the “bible” of the highways of Alaska and West Canada.
On my trip I met one of the creators of this book; Sharon Nault. First I met her on the Artic tour in deadhorse and later on the Dalton Highway.

They tore several sections of the route I was about to take, how special, don’t you think?

                                                                     Alaska and Yukon

                                                                               Alaska

Alaska was bought by the USA from Russia for $7.200.000; something the congress of the USA didn’t like the purchase in the first place! This deal was also named “Seward’s Folly”

Now, however, they are very pleased with it!

Alaska is a very thin populated state (Almost 800.000 people) where Oil, fishery, wood and gold are the main income.

It is the largest state of the USA and as big as (for European standards) Spain, France Germany and the BeNeLux combined.

The Capital is Juneau and this city is only to be reached by plane or by boat.

The days are short in the winter and very long in the summer.

The tourist season is very short and the prices are higher than in the other states, gas is much more expensive.

                                                                      Yukon

The Province of Yukon is a very large but very thin populated. Only 36.000 people are living there.

The most people are living in the capital Whitehorse, 27.773 people.

The next large cities are Dawson City and Watson Lake with only 1977 and 1453 people living there! 

Now to Prince Rupert and I’ll take a new form of transport; first by plane, then several times on the back of a car and now by ferry!

Of course the main form will be bicycling!

Until the next blog! Please let me know what you think of the story. If you have a question please mail it to me and I’ll answer when I have time and opertunity!