Advice on Riding to Alaska and Upper Canada

The following items are ones we compiled from our "Great Adventure" trip in the year 2000, riding up from the “lower 48” U.S. into Canada and then into Alaska.  We thought this would have some merit to those planning to ride to Alaska.

1.  Plan on RAIN in the Summer.

You WILL have rain, many times.  The rain probably will not be hard downpours, but rather light to moderate showers.  When you ride for 200 miles or more in a day, anywhere in Alaska or Canada, you will probably encounter one to six rain showers within the riding day.

2  Plan on LOW TEMPERATURE RIDING.

Take riding clothes for temperatures of 50^oF  to 65^oF (and rain).  Many riding days will be completely in the temperature range of 50 to 60^oF.

We had “riding suits”, jackets and pants, of Cordura material with some “Goretex” weave in them.  In addition, the coats had zip-in liners for more warmth.  These suits were excellent for both low temperatures and light rain.  We also had plasticized rain jackets and pants to put on over the riding suits when we encountered steady or hard rain.  While the riding suits don’t soak through, they do get wet on the outside, and this can make riding cold.  We did use the plasticized rain gear, over the riding suits a few times, and the combination of these made for very comfortable riding on long cold rainy days.

 We talked to other riders not well prepared for these conditions, and their complaints about being cold and wet definitely limited their pleasure in the riding.

 Deane has ridden with “leathers”, coat and chaps, for several years.  However, for cold and wet conditions found on this trip, he considers the “Cordura/Gortex” type of riding suits far superior, both for warmth and for rain.  With these, we had to put on the plasticised rain coats and pants only a few times.

 Be sure to have WARM, WATERPROOF gloves.  If your hands get soaked, you will be cold, no matter what you do.  We again found that “Goretex” covered gloves were superior.  It is good to have several weights of gloves, to be used according to temperature and rain riding conditions.

3.  Plan on RIDING IN GRAVEL.

With the short summer season and the severe winters, there are MANY, MANY repair sections along the Canadian and Alaskan highways.  The primary method of repair is to lay down an oil base and then a “chip-seal” mixture of gravel, dirt and a binder.  (In Canada this is calcium chloride, difficult to wash off, and in Alaska a less-bothersome darker binder).  This chip-seal is put down loose and relatively heavy from a dump truck, and then the general truck/car travel is used to pound it down.  It may be covered with asphalt surface sometime later, but by mid-summer it is still difficult gravel topping on hard base.

 If you can, we urge you to do some trial riding on gravel before taking this trip, especially if you are afraid of gravel (as we were).  Start out with easy gravel conditions, and work yourself up to riding in thick loose gravel.  You will definitely find these conditions, so better to practice near home than risk a trip-limiting accident.

4.  Plan on riding in CONSTRUCTION.

In the normal progress of upgrading road beds, there will be some heavy construction.  It is not all-pervasive like the “repair” sections, but it is much more difficult and raw.  The most difficult time for riding is when it is raining, and the construction area is muddy.  You WILL hit this somewhere!  Just be ready for it, in terms of handling the bike.  In particular, beware of chuck holes filled with water, because you cannot tell how deep they are, and deep soft sand or mud.  This may be no worse than riding in construction in the "Lower 48", but by necessity your trip to Alaska will be longer than most trips, and so you are likely to run into more construction areas than on shorter trips.

Back to Alaska Homepage

Back to Trip Index