Blackie Blog - Day 12 - The Jerks Make The Circle

Day 12 - Awesome weather - which is good given the task before us - the haul road/Dalton Highway to the Arctic Circle. Very nice approach, great ride TO the Dalton Highway. The fireweed paints the mountains purple in spots:



Soon after engaging the Dalton, P-Rock offers his open 2-Up riding seat to as passing black bear - no sale.



The "highway" is a challenge, even in good weather. Sections are paved (with major frost heaves and holes), most sections are gravel - some sections softer and slipperier than others. While challenging to ride on the LTs, the scenery was great. The Trans-Alaska Pipeline parallels much of the road.




Mid-way through the journey up the Dalton, I developed a severe rattle in the lower section of the bike. We stopped for (bad) gas, and could not find the source. The bike seemed to be running fine, just making some unnatural noises on the bumps. The explanation we (I) went with (mind you we are heading deep into "no help available") was the BMW ingested a rock along the road, and that was causing the noise rattling inside the engine enclosure. So, we headed out (I was determined to go forward short of components falling off the bike) and made the goal - the Arctic Circle:



Holly - I promised you the Snuzzles hat would make the Arctic Circle, and indeed it did.

We were beat when we made the circle, and then made the trek home to Fairbanks. Long day, good day. As for the bike, the rock ingestion theory seems to be holding for now - all has gone quiet, and the bike seems to be fine (aside from pounds of dust from the haul road). We left a large mud pile at the car wash after the ride. Maintenance in Anchorage is Wednesday, worst case...

Tomorrow - head for Denali - short riding day..

The picture link (SmugMug) from yesterday was posted incorrectly - please see the link for more pictures:

http://jrpimages.smugmug.com/gallery/8654567_ByKRt/1/589566673_ng2RT

Blackie Out.