The plan for the day was to be writing this blog entry from Homer, after having reached Anchor Point, the Westernmost point in the continent, reachable by continuous road. The result of today is quite different. I am instead writing from a Motel 6 in Anchorage. Fifty seven miles north of Anchorage, and a few miles north of Wasila, the BeMWu stopped running. I had started noticing earlier that the clutch pull seemed lighter than I am used to. I knew this was not good, so I kept the ride in 5th gear, hoping to ride it as close as possible to Anchorage, where I knew a BMW motorcycle dealership could be found. I was able to keep this up for a few miles, but then, a mandatory stop at a road-work spot forced me to stop. I made the choice at that point to call the ride off, and press the roadside rescue button on my Spot Tracker. I got a call within five minutes, and thanks to the flagger lady, who I will call the Angel in the Bright Yellow Suit, I had the number to the mechanics on hand. This lady made sure I had all the info I needed and kept checking on me until shortly before the tow truck arrived. I helped the truck driver load the bike up on the truck and off we were to Anchorage.
When we arrived at the mechanics shop I was told that this could be the clutch slave, which would be easily taken care of, or it could be something more serious, which could take up to a week to complete, if parts need to be ordered. Right now, I, and a whole bunch of people, are praying for option 1. So, for the next two nights I am staying at a not so cheap Motel 6.
I am bummed, to say the least, even though I am thankful, and feeling blessed, that this happened where it did. If I would have insisted on sticking with riding to Dead Horse or the Arctic circle today, I would be staring at a whole lot different picture. God has indeed ordered my days.
Last night I did ready myself for a long riding day. I was ready for over 570 miles to Homer. I got up at 6 am and was on the road at 7, bundled up like the tick. Nope, not the superhero, but the young boy in the Christmas Story. As I looked South, the day looked promising. However, soon I noticed that the road out of Fairbanks heads North first. This lead me into a foggy, cold, twisty road. Still, I was feeling good, knowing that eventually things would go south. Boy did they, but you already know about this.
Still, I the day was full of joys, especially every time the sun would peek out of the clouds near Denali. I continue to enjoy thousands of trees I see every day, along with the rivers, and lakes. For now, it is a waiting game.
Magic Landscape