I suppose this is the unofficial start of my big Americas trip. It begins with riding up past the Arctic Circle, to Prudhoe Bay and back to Anchorage. That way I will have ridden from the Northern most part in North America to the Southern most city in South America (and the world). I also plan on riding to Key West next month as a sort of mile stone when I’m in Florida. The official start of my Americas ride is in a few days.. I have a few things to take care of back home (like moving out of my house 🙂 ) before I point my wheels South.

In preparation for riding the Dalton Highway, I mounted my Conti TKC80 knobby tires and completed some basic moto maintenance such as clean/lube the chain, install new rear brake pads, and conduct an overall inspection. From what I’ve read, the Dalton Highway can be fairly challenging if the weather/road conditions aren’t good.. I guess I’ll find out. All added up, the first leg of the trip should be about 6 days and 1,800 miles.. Not much when compared to the 40,000 miles and 15 months I have coming up.

My first day started at 0900 on a Sunday morning. I was planning to ride to Fairbanks and stay there overnight, as a halfway up point. I shot up along the Parks Highway and stopped for Lunch in McKinley at the Denali Dog House. I also stopped and got a pic of the Denali National Park sign since I had never stopped there before.

As expected, I hit a lot of road works along the highway on the way up.. They’re not too bad so long as the mosquitos aren’t abundant. They are also good for meeting other riders who are out riding around Alaska from all over the Country.

As usual when I find myself in Fairbanks, I stay at the University of Alaska- Fairbanks Dorm housing. It’s a clean and centrally located place to stay at in Fairbanks.. and for only $36/single room, it’s a super good deal, especially for Alaska in the Summer. I highly recommend it to anyone that’s riding to Alaska and finds themselves in Fairbanks during the summer. I met a few other ADV riders who were staying the night here and also on there way up to Prudhoe Bay.

I grabbed dinner chow at Sourdough Sam’s, a nice little cafe/diner across the street and conked out in preparation for a big ride the next day.