Pedal to the Midnight Sun info...

[Timmy]

Hey there!
This summer I am looking at doing the ride like the moive "Pedal to the Midnight Sun" From Seward to Prudhoe Bay

My question is it better to do it south to north or north to south? What are the earliest or best start dates for each? If possible, I would like to cross the arctic circle on or near the summer solstice.

Also, looking for the best deal for a shuttle to or from Prudhoe Bay/Fairbanks

Any info you guys have would be great

Thanks
Timmy

[yukon2012]

Timmy,

I'm not sure where the route is for the "Pedal to the Midnight Sun", but I live kinda next door in the Yukon. We also have a road that crosses the Arctic Circle. To give you an idea of temperatures, the ice usually breaks up on the Yukon River in Dawson City around the first week in May. The roads are pretty dry before that, but it's still fairly cold out in April, especially at night. By mid-May the daytime temperatures really pick up and even above the arctic circle you can expect quite warm weather. I checked the historical weather data for Old Crow, Yukon (above arctic circle) for 2010 and in late May 2010 the temperature got up to +28C. I can't remember anymore what that is in degrees F, but it must be in the 80's. Google the conversion.

I don't know much about roads or wind in Alaska, but if I was going to bike from Whitehorse to the Arctic Circle in Yukon, aiming to get there on the solctice, I'd probably go south to north and I'd leave in early June.

Good luck. Take bug spray.

[litespeed]

Tom Snyders, "The Bicycling Comedian", has biked Prudhoe Bay to Tierra del Fuego in stages. His website is http://www.bikecomedy.com/. You can e-mail him at bikecomedy@aol.com. He has toured all over the world and can give you tips. I met him three times while cycling up the east coast one year.

[Jcorrea]

Two years ago my son and I traveled to Prudhoe Bay via Alaska Airlines - at that time Alaska Airlines was bike friendly, $50/bike baggage charge from California.  We hopped on our bikes in Prudhoe Bay  and rode south to Fairbanks and then continued to Denali National Park and rode the gravel road into Wonder Lake and back out.   Started from Prudhoe Bay on June 24th, patches of snow and ice along the road, weather was variable to say the least