Just a picture to remind Austin. If anyone wants to follow along, I have a thread going on ADV: West and North (Canada) - 1972 Moto Guzzi
Nice one again Nick. Like reading stories of a shonky old bike getting well used and getting fixed en route
Fantastic Nick. I saw some stuff on FB but was too busy trying to upload the Goodwood pics and videos to reply properly. Home now. Are you going up the Dempster? Mind the bears if you do.
Ooooh, yes you are. For those that don't know, the Dempster highway is probably the most remote road in the Americas. It goes from the middle of nowhere on the Klondike Highway in Yukon, to Inuvik virtually on the Arctic coast about 500 miles to the North, and all of it on gravel. Its an epic undertaking with just one place/service station on route. The place is infested with bears (or so I was warned) and a spell of bad weather can see the road impassable to all but the toughest 4x4s and lorries. It makes the Dalton highway in Alaska seem like a motorway. Respect really is due to Nick for doing this. When I was there it was pissing down and we sheltered under the garage canopy at the its Junction with the Klondike Highway for a couple of hours. A 4x4 came down the Dempster slipping and sliding on the wet slimy mud with only the wiper cleared windscreen not plastered in mud. The guys in the 4x4 said NOT to go up there as it was impassable 20-30km further up due to the rain. They had turned back and it wouldn't be open for several days after the rain stopped. It continued to rain for about a week so god knows what anyone already up there was doing. Good luck Nick.
I was wondering whether you had headed up there Austin. In fine weather it still would have been an adventure two-up, even though I had dry roads and saw (astonishingly) no bears (although I saw dozens on the Alcan). That slop dries to hard ridges which plays havoc with my mix road and knobbly tyres - although, if I'm honest, so does pavement - I guess I'm just used to the fat girl dancing.. It's the freshly laid gravel on top of that ridged hard clay that really throws me around. But then, I'm not travelling at warp speed.
