Brad: The biggest challenge for me was riding the last 30 miles of the Dalton Highway. It’s noteworthy that this portion of the trip, while challenging, was very desolate and lonely. I did this last leg of the trip solo, so I was alone except for the random utility vehicle or semi-truck coming back from dropping off supplies. It was, however, one of the highlights of the trip.There was a flood in the area the year before due to an iceberg breaking off and it wiped out a dozen or so miles of the highway. They’re currently in the process of rebuilding the highway, increasing its height by 8 feet. In order to do this they have what’s called blast-rock piled up about a foot at a time, then they roll over it to pack it down and add more in the next phase. Blast rock is like the rock around
railroad ties, but about twice as big and sharper. Well, it’s very difficult to ride on. In fact many people along our route warned us about the challenge of riding a bike up there saying it was like “riding on baby heads” or “riding through a field of golf balls." It was. You can only go very slowly, and they have these pilot vehicles that you have to follow through the area because it’s a live construction zone. I’ve never been so nervous about falling on the bike. Well, I didn’t fall, but I did get a flat once I got through the first two-mile stretch. Fortunately, there was a couple also going up there that I had met at the Arctic Circle rest stop. They had a flat earlier in the day and I stopped to help them. Well, now they stopped to help me. The hole was too big to repair and I was still about 25 miles from Deadhorse. So I made the decision to continue up to Deadhorse on my flat, and they followed me at about 15 miles per hour all the way up to Deadhorse. Noone in Deadhorse could/would fix the flat so I had to ship my bike back to Fairbanks and fly back the next day. BMW Roadside paid for the whole thing so it all worked out.