Cycling in Alaska

[Muntasir]

Dear All,

I am going to start my Trans Canada ride from Anchorage, Ak, this summer.
I wish to go to Banff from Anchorage. Is there any route suggestion? any suggestion on bear repellent?
Camping information, any blog or budget accommodation in anchorage? 

here is my website www.trashmaniac.com/v2

Looking forward
Muntasir

[windrath]

Muntasir -

Get a copy of The Milepost to guide you Banff.  Essentially, you only have a couple of options anyway.  During my 5 weeks through BC, we stayed in established campgrounds and never took bear spray with us and never had a problem despite seeing bears off and on in the distance.  Of course, we did not do much cooking in camp either.  Any bear spray you have will have to be bought in Alaska since I don't think you can fly with it.

The Milepost is your best bet.

Good Luck - it is a nice ride.

[Muntasir]

Thanks for the tip. I will try to collect Milepost and bear spray. We will depend on cooking thought

[bong_crosby]

Like the previous post mentioned, not many route options in that neck of the woods.  For ideas, you can look at the North Star itinerary.

http://www.adventurecycling.org/guided-tours/self-contained-tours/2014-north-star-i/

[Muntasir]

Thanks for your link. I was wondering is there any map on North Star? I have'nt got any. I have done Trans Ame during 2012 and been to ACA HQ and featured in last years Calendar

Any help?

[bong_crosby]

Thanks for your link. I was wondering is there any map on North Star? I have'nt got any. I have done Trans Ame during 2012 and been to ACA HQ and featured in last years Calendar

Any help?

As far as I know, Adventure Cycling doesn't sell a map for the North Star since it's a supported tour.  But you can look at the itinerary and figure out the route they're taking.  Put the names like:  Banff, Jasper, Yellowhead highway, Cassiar highway, Tok, etc. into googlemaps.com and you'll have your own map.

[Muntasir]

I understood. In that case camping information will be missing. Anyways, I think your suggestion is valuable. Will try that. I was playing with google maps. but sill, ACA maps are great

[bong_crosby]

Some campgrounds are listed on googlemaps.  If you combine googlemaps with the Milepost Guide recommended in the other post, which has a lot of information on campgrounds, you should be good.

[geegee]

The Klondike, Top-of-the-World, and Taylor highway route has been one of my most memorable rides, filled with rugged beauty.

That's a pretty sparsely populated area to be doing a trash awareness ride though. You'll also find Yukoners already a pretty environmentally conscious bunch — the recycling program in Whitehorse is even admirably run by the community as a non-profit business.

One option you could consider if you want more relevant communities to hit is to take the Klondike Highway to its southern terminus at Skagway where you catch a ferry and even stop at Alaska's state capital Juneau before heading to Prince Rupert. The Yellowhead Highway heads inland from there towards Jasper where you can take the Icefields Parkway towards Banff.

[hirundo]

The Backpackers Inn a few blocks from the Alaska Railroad statiom is an ideal low cost place to stay. There is a chain hotel down the street with a good sit-down breakfast.