Bonneville America Forums Forums Off Topic Discussion Forums Lounge North 2 Alaska

This summer I may finally fulfill a dream of traveling from
Ct to Anchorage by bike.Was wondering if any memebers have made the trek form someplace in the eastern US.Or Eastern Canada.Am looking for opinions on if i should plan a route through the northern US to Washington then up. Or would i be better off travaling through Southern Canada.Is there such a thing as a passable Trans Canada Hyway? IF i go will be looking to make the trip in 7 days.

I've always wanted to make that trip.

Neil Peart's book Ghost Rider has some good parts on riding to Alaska, as well as many other places. He started out from Ontario. The book is a little grim, about his personal tragedies , but I found it a good read.

Good luck. I hope you do it and then come back and tell us all about it. (with lots of pictures)

Cody

For best riding fun I would travel to Buffalo and go through Ontario to Michigan and then take I-75 north to the Mackinaw Bridge. The get on old US 2 west through the UP of Michigan and then through North Dakota and on to Shelby, Monatana. You avoid Chicago that way. It is the shortest way, too. You are looking at 5,000 miles to Anchorage from CT.

Then head north to Lethbridge, Calgary and Edmonton, Alberta and then on to Dawson Creek, BC and the start of the Alaska Highway.

The Trans-Canada Highway would be a nice alternate return route.

I did it in 1970 in Ford Falcon. Then there were 1100 miles of gravel but I hear it is all paved now. I would love to join you and plan to ride this route myself someday soon.

I haven't driven up from the east coast yet. A few of my friends have done it. I'll check with them this weekend and see what the best route is. But they were going for speed, not necessarily enjoyment.

Staying in the US for a reasonable length of time (I would just for the cel phone coverage) puts you going north at Great Falls, MT to Calgary then Edmonton, then west to Anchorage. Total miles about 4700. If you take somewhat more direct route, you'll turn north at Fargo and head for Winnipeg then turn west for a total of about 4500. But for an extra 200 miles, I'd stay in the US. Personally, I think going as far west as Seattle just adds entirely too much (about 5200+) if time is limited.
7 days travel one way is doing 650-675 a day so you should be ok.
I'd recommend you get a program like Microsoft Streets and Trips. Makes mapping this sort of thing super easy and it has hotel/gas/food info along whatever route you pick.
A coworker shipped his Ninja 500 to Seattle, flew there to get his bike then rode as far as Hyder, AK and back to DC. He had a blast.
There are some long stretches in there so I would recommend a Tour Tank or some other safe way to carry extra gas.

You going alone?

One thing to take seriously is the number of flying bugs! You will want to do two things... insure you have an insect repellent that has a high concentration of D.E.E.T. It’s a listed ingredient.

Additionally, for your windshield and helmet’s face screen/sunglasses you’ll want a spray-on cleaner that is safe for plastics – Plexus is a product I’ve used for years.

Go here to learn more: http://www.plexusplasticcleaner.com/about.html

Thanks guys any and all input or advise is apperciated.
Trip is in very early planning phase. At present 90% chance it will happen....yeah JJ I paln to make the ride alone
the wife is gonna fly up and meet me there(I'll be carrying enough baggage). She loves to ride but cant handle more than 50 miles without a smoke or pee break.

How well can you ride gravel?
Most of the trip from Canada on is going to be gravel or very rough pavement.

Satellite phone, charge card and extra gas are a given for that trip I would think.
Also, the farther you stay in the uS, the less you'll spend for gas too. I think it's was about $14CAN a pint yesterday when we went into Niagara Falls for a day trip.
Glad I gassed up in buffalo before crossing over.
Gas, right wojo, gas?

I was up there this summer there are a lot of gaps between stations. Carry extra, especially if you go above fairbanks, the steese is long with 2 gas stations on it. If you have never traveled outside the eastern seaboard the gaps seem even longer.
If you are interested I have friends in Anchorage that rent an RV, could be a good way to see the sights with the wife.

Man, and I was thinking 600 miles from Atlanta to Central Florida was too far!!!!