Motorcycle Explorer December 2014 Issue 3 | Page 38

M
ags was
understandably jittery
about taking me up;
900-miles there and back,
mostly on hard-packed
mud. A desolate road; the
towns, such as they were,
had unforgiving names like
Coldfoot and Deadhorse.
Even in July there was
snow so we had an eye on
the weather all the while.
Day-One began in stunning
sunshine on a road that
added a whole new
dimension to the word
’wilderness’ and would
take us up over the Arctic
Circle. 220 miles under
our belt we stopped for the
night at Coldfoot. Mags
bunked in the portakabin
hotel but me and the other
fella spent a chill night
outdoors, felt like a couple
of Yak that roam these
parts. Then in the small
hours, it began to rain.
Mizzle turned to drizzle
turned to downpour.
Day-Two was one of the
most challenging rides of
my life; the road simply
dissolved. The rain finally
decided on a fine
inadequate drizzle, no
strong enough to was
mud away as we got
splattered in it. The m
too was graded and m
with a calcium carbon
binder that on the one
hand gave it a fairly
uniform consistency.
Against that, it got in
everywhere. We rode
tentatively into the gl
the road rising to cres
awesome Atigun Pass
Black-grey Mountains
Mordor loomed with v
of grey drizzle drapin
their craggy peaks.