My bicycle tour of Alaska and Western Canada

[SkyViking (Rolf)]

Hi All,

I have recently gone through some old photos from my bicycling days. I used to go on bicycle tours while I was a student and ejoying long summer breaks...

I thought I would share the story of my longest tour which was 5270 km through Alaska and Western Canada in 1999. The photos were all taken with a simple compact film camera without zoom, and I recently scanned the lot to preserve them for the future. I found that quite a few of then are actually very good even by today's standards. It also helps that the scenery up there is simply spectacular

I've put everything together on a new page, complete with downloadable .kml file, a map of the route and thorough descriptions for each photo.
If you are interested then come along for the ride and share one of the greatest adventures I've had, here: http://www.pbase.com/rolfolsen/alaskacanada_1999

Hope you enjoy, and if you've been up there too then I'd love to hear about it!

Regards,
Rolf

[supernova1965 (Warren)]

Thanks for the ride nice pic's, That Dawson city doesn't look far removed from the Wild West of old

[Liz]

Wow, thanks for that Rolf. Very interesting indeed.
Some utterly spectacular images, gasped at that Lake Peyto one!!
What an experience, tad scary at times I would think, good on you.

[koputai (Jason)]

Fantastic stuff Rolf, it's a wonderful part of the world. We were in that area last year and I really can't wait to go back. Unfortunately we did see a cyclist splattered along the Trans Canada Highway between Lake Louise and Field.

Cheers,
Jason.

[renormalised (Carl)]

Great piccies, Rolf. Beautiful part of the world

[gary]

Hi Rolf,

Thanks for the link to your web site and your collection of images from your amazing
cycling trip. You certainly set an amazing pace.

Now and then in our travels we have encountered the occasional long distance cyclist
or pair of cyclists who have then entertained with tales of their adventures.

Their sun tans and the large panniers on their bikes were usually the
first give away they weren't just out for a weekend's ride.

Many a time my jaw has dropped when they would describe how far they had
come. Most could roll up a trouser leg or roll up a sleeve to show a souvenir
scar from a fall. Most would describe their various scars by a place name.
Pointing to a healed wound, they would declare something like "Pune, India".

It occurred to me many times that to undertake such a journey by bicycle,
one has to be incredibly fit and it would probably be an asset if one were,
by most other norms, regarded by others as - how can one best put it -
perhaps just a little crazy.

But I have always had the utmost admiration for anyone who has done it
and my hat is off to you.

I love hearing travel stories and cyclists stories were always good to listen to.
One English couple we met we continued to corresponded with for many years
afterwards after they had circumnavigated the globe. They described to us how
they had passed through unscathed some countries that many would describe as
"dangerous" only to get to the comparative safety of the United States where
in Los Angeles they were apparently the targets of a random drive-by shooting.
Luckily the shooter missed!

I bet you would have plenty of stories to tell as well.

Thanks again for the wonderful images chronicling a trip of a lifetime.

[multiweb (Marc)]

That's terrific Rolf. I was checking the mileage between checkpoints and realised you're a serious biker. Impressive. Great pictures of your trip. Hope you guys had plenty of aerogard though

[SkyViking (Rolf)]

Originally Posted by supernova1965

Thanks for the ride nice pic's, That Dawson city doesn't look far removed from the Wild West of old

Thanks Warren Yes they actually have very strict regulations about what can be built in Dawson. They really try to preserve the old gold rush style, which gives it quite a charming atmosphere.

Originally Posted by Liz

Wow, thanks for that Rolf. Very interesting indeed.
Some utterly spectacular images, gasped at that Lake Peyto one!!
What an experience, tad scary at times I would think, good on you.

Thanks Liz, the view over that lake was great. And my old film snapshot of it doesn't quite do it justice, the whole area is simply stunning.

Originally Posted by koputai

Fantastic stuff Rolf, it's a wonderful part of the world. We were in that area last year and I really can't wait to go back. Unfortunately we did see a cyclist splattered along the Trans Canada Highway between Lake Louise and Field.

Cheers,
Jason.

I also can't wait to see it again, but I don't know when that'll be
I was actually surprised how curteous the drivers were in general. Most of the time they would go all the way to the opposite lane to pass me. That is more common though the higher north you get, since the traffic up there is pretty much non existent. I could often bicycle for an hour without seeing a car in Alaska, Yukon and northern BC. Once I came to the Yellowhead highway and the Jasper/Bannff parks I noticed much more traffic, and many more tourists as well, so there I can imagine accidents are not uncommon, unfortunately.

Originally Posted by renormalised

Great piccies, Rolf. Beautiful part of the world

Thanks Carl, glad you enjoyed it

Originally Posted by gary

Hi Rolf,

Thanks for the link to your web site and your collection of images from your amazing
cycling trip. You certainly set an amazing pace.

Now and then in our travels we have encountered the occasional long distance cyclist
or pair of cyclists who have then entertained with tales of their adventures.

Their sun tans and the large panniers on their bikes were usually the
first give away they weren't just out for a weekend's ride.

Many a time my jaw has dropped when they would describe how far they had
come. Most could roll up a trouser leg or roll up a sleeve to show a souvenir
scar from a fall. Most would describe their various scars by a place name.
Pointing to a healed wound, they would declare something like "Pune, India".

It occurred to me many times that to undertake such a journey by bicycle,
one has to be incredibly fit and it would probably be an asset if one were,
by most other norms, regarded by others as - how can one best put it -
perhaps just a little crazy.

But I have always had the utmost admiration for anyone who has done it
and my hat is off to you.

I love hearing travel stories and cyclists stories were always good to listen to.
One English couple we met we continued to corresponded with for many years
afterwards after they had circumnavigated the globe. They described to us how
they had passed through unscathed some countries that many would describe as
"dangerous" only to get to the comparative safety of the United States where
in Los Angeles they were apparently the targets of a random drive-by shooting.
Luckily the shooter missed!

I bet you would have plenty of stories to tell as well.

Thanks again for the wonderful images chronicling a trip of a lifetime.

Thanks Gary, that's nice to hear.

Interesting story about the shooting. Fortunately I haven't been shot at but similarly, the only crash I ever had (yes, ever) was 50 metres around the corner from my home while bicycling to a local dairy. I've never fallen off the bike or otherwise been hurt during my travels, and I've done 8 tours like this one although this was the longest.
I have had some interesting encounters though, and met lots of friendly people. I recall once, while bicycling with a girl friend in Arizona, a nice elderly couple wanted to invite us into their campervan, only they couldn't because they were missionaries and the camper was literally stuffed with bibles which they handed out to the indians. They slept in a tent next to their camper!

The only bad experience I've had was on that same trip when we decided to hitchhike. We were sitting in the back of a pickup truck with bicycles and all, and this guy was giving us a lift to the next town which was straight ahead on a major highway. Instead he went down a small road which parallelled the highway, and we noticed how he kept constantly looking out left towards the highway. After a while, when we couldn't see the main highway anymore for some hills, he stopped and stepped out, coming around to us in the back. I don't think I have ever been to scared in my life... turned out he wanted a beer that was under a pile of stuff we were sitting on! Then we continued and he dropped us off at the town. However, to this day I still think he might have wanted to hurt us but for some reason decided against it, who knows. Guys like Ivan Milat etc come to mind... In any case, that was the first and last time I ever hitchhiked.

Originally Posted by multiweb

That's terrific Rolf. I was checking the mileage between checkpoints and realised you're a serious biker. Impressive. Great pictures of your trip. Hope you guys had plenty of aerogard though

Glad you liked it Marc Yeah I did cover quite some distance back then. It's also necessary up there since services are often few and far in between.
I did bring a repellant but unfortunately it didn't work too well and not at all against the flies. They can be a nightmare! While bicycling in the wind etc I was not bothered at all, but in the evening it was literally a battle at times to set up the tent

[Octane (Humayun)]

Beautiful images, Rolf.

The Lake Peyto one's a stunner.

One day.

H

[SkyViking (Rolf)]

Originally Posted by Octane

Beautiful images, Rolf.

The Lake Peyto one's a stunner.

One day.

H

Thanks H. I'm sure you could take some absolutely fantastic photos up there, that would be awesome to see