My husband and I rode the Alaska Highway in 1996 with Cyclevents http://www.cyclevents.com/full/alaska1.htm/
, their first Alaska Highway tour. There are two main differences between our tour and the current tour. First, we camped every night, the current tour stays in motels for eight nights. As a result, the current price is about twice what we paid. The price included the shuttle from the Fairbanks airport to Delta Junction (100 miles), and the shuttle from Dawson Creek, BC to Edmonton, AB (370 miles!).
Second, we went north to south, while the current tour goes south to north. The chief advantage of the north to south route was that we got to watch caravans of Winnebagos headed north without having to worry much about the drivers’ driving skills. The disadvantage was that we weren’t going “North to Alaska,” and that we had to do BC last. BC ‘s Highway Department brags about how they (1) eliminated 132 curves from the Alaska Highway in BC, (2) cleared trees and brush for 50? meters on each side of the road, (3) dug deep ditches on both sides of the roads. While these conditions might reduce the chances of motorists and moose colliding (I haven’t checked for statistics), it makes for a very BORING bike ride. Better to go through the boring section while the trip is new and exciting, and you haven’t seen the fantastic scenery further north. In 1996 BC also had very few rest rooms (or even outhouses). So, when you needed to “download water,” you faced a deep ditch and a long sprint to the nearest bush. The only practical choice was to follow a driveway to the trees, and hope the folks couldn’t see you from the living room.
Ed Noonan http://www.tailwinds.org/
started his trip from Fairbanks, rode north to the end of the paved road, then turned south to ride with the Cyclevents group from Delta Junction. After finishing the tour in Dawson City, he continued on to Florida! He has a lot of helpful information on the Alaska trip, his other tours, and touring in general on his website.
If you don’t want to do a supported tour, buy a copy of The Milepost, http://www.themilepost.com/
and start planning. There’s also Bell's Mile by Mile Travel Guide for Alaska, Yukon & British Columbia, http://www.bellsalaska.com/
, which isn’t updated as often, or as full of ads. It doesn’t weigh nearly as much, or cost as much, either. You can also print out these pages http://www.bellsalaska.com/alaska_highway.html
to use as “cue sheets.” Or, choose from here http://www.bellsalaska.com/highways.htm
, if you prefer a different highway.
Things to remember:
1. It’s a long, long way between facilities. If you go self-supported, you must be prepared.
2. The weather will probably be cooler than your typical U.S. summer tour. It may rain—hard. Oh, we woke one morning to snow, http://www.tailwinds.org/canada/yk/day16.html
. Plan for “winter riding,” and “winter camping.”
3. It’s a real adventure! Have fun!