We had an ok nights sleep last night. After having a few days in a row sleeping in a bed we can really notice how hard the ground is. Back to our oatmeal, luckily we are making progress on that second 5 lb bag, so hopefully that will be all gone or close to gone by the time we get back to Anchorage. We stopped at the library on the way out of town to try to update the blog, but for some reason I couldn't get connected to the wi-fi, so that will have to wait. We rode on the bike path back to the main highway and stopped at the gas station on the corner for some hot chocolate. A great treat on a somewhat chilly morning. The view along the road continued to be stunning, even more so today than yesterday because the sun was shining. This section of the Seward Highway definitely goes on the top 10 favorite roads we have ridden on thus far on the trip, even with the rather heavy amount of traffic. The initial 10 miles of riding we had a bit of a tailwind, which was a nice change after yesterday. As we drew closer to the end of the inlet and the intersection we will turn at when we are on our way to the cruise in 2 weeks, a couple glaciers became visible up in the mountains. The scenery just kept getting better and better. We ascended Turnagain Pass, which turned out to be a pretty challenging climb (not for steepness, but because the amount of shoulder was minimal as a result of the rumble strips, and the vehicles were flying by making me feel a little uneasy.) The exhaust from the vehicles was almost unbearable, I think because the way the hill was there was no way for the breeze to clear the air. We had both worked up a pretty good sweat by the time we got to the top, the sun playing a pretty big role in that on a day like today. We found 2 nice rest areas at the top of the pass, one of which had picnic tables! We made some mac and cheese for lunch and enjoyed the pretty views of the mountains all around us. The rest of today's ride was still rather hilly. At one point we found a really nice bike path that ran parallel to the road, which was perfect timing because the shoulder had gotten rather narrow again. That bike path took us for about 5 or 6 miles. We could see the canyon river below, people white water rafting, and be able to enjoy the view because we didn't have to worry about the cars running into us. More climbing for the remainder of the day, the good news is that tomorrows ride should have less climbing than today. We haven't done that much climbing since just outside of Fairbanks, and my knees could feel it. Right before reaching our planned destination, we went through a pretty long stretch of construction, but luckily the shoulder was still intact even though the main lanes were a mess. We made it to Cooper Landing, and found a restaurant/hotel/RV park. We stopped at the RV park and used one of the tables to make some rice for dinner. We enjoyed snacking on a couple chocolate creme Oreos, I didn't even know they made that kind until I saw them in the store in Anchorage! After dinner, we continued riding for a little bit to find a place to camp (for free). The road had gotten so narrow that there was no shoulder at all. The mountain were on one side, a lake on the other, and the road was jammed in between. To make matters worse, it was already about 8pm, and the sun was setting. The glare from the sun was so bad that I could barely see Joey ahead of me. I was so worried that we were going to get hit by a car because of that; there wasn't anywhere for us to go on that narrow road, so we just had to pray they would see us. Luckily we only rode about a mile before finding a gravel road. It didn't look like a driveway, so Joey rode up the hill to see what he could find. He met a couple sitting in their car up at the top and asked them if it was someone's driveway, but it wasn't. They said that we had found the "premier camping spot in Cooper Landing," and they were right! The view from the little pull off at the top of the gravel road was spectacular. The turquoise lake, mountains, and sunset were beautiful. After we got everything all set up, were working on hanging our food and another car showed up. A nice lady, Arden, had come up to this spot to show her friend the view. She said that no one except the locals knew about this hidden treasure, so apparently we got very lucky in finding it. A few minutes later, another car appeared, a couple of guys who just wanted to hike the little trail to the top of the hill we were camped on. This must be quite the popular spot with the locals! Arden gave us her contact information in case we wanted a shower, laundry, or a home cooked meal on our way back through, so we may get to see her again! Another great day of cycling, we will definitely sleep good tonight! Our miles totaled 66.20 today.
|
|