Trans Americas 2009 - The Blog

After another good night's sleep I woke at 6am, showered, breakfasted (yet more waffles, my maple syrup addiction showing no sign of abating... thanks Steve!), and online in search of Tracy. No such luck, so updated the blog and then had to get on with fixing my handlebars (which had come loose in transit) and prepare for the day's outing.

Leaving the hotel just before 10am, with Richard & Karen, Chris, Danielle and Gerald, stopping for a group photo as Kevin wanted something to show interested parties back home, we headed out of town, following my sat nav with Richard at the back using his to ensure the group stayed together. After a short while Richard pulled alongside as his sat nav was showing a completely different route... odd, as they're exactly the same and loaded with exactly the same maps. Seems I'd left my preferences set to avoid toll roads, and with the tunnel being a toll road, it was taking me on a “slight” detour... that would have had us arriving in Whittier at 8pm... oops!

With that corrected, we followed Richard and then the group got fragmented at a set of traffic lights, so the lead riders pulled to the side of the road to wait. And a large recovery truck pulling a dead car got “stuck” behind (actually, as it was an empty 3-lane highway, “stuck” isn't technically correct), so the driver, a real redneck, leaned out of his cab and started shouting abuse at them. This continued even after the group was back together, as at the next set of red lights he was hanging out of his cab, going red in the face and yelling at the top of his voice, expletive after expletive... This being the US, and knowing their taste in weapons, we simply “high-tailed” it out of there... disturbing...

Now we were on the right road, we followed the Seward Highway along the coast with spectacular views over Turnagain Arm. As we came round a headland it started to rain, so we pulled over and did the “Dance of the Waterproofs” as we squeezed into our rain gear, forcing heavy boots into tight trousers... Now riding in the pouring rain, we turned off onto Portage Glacier road which led to the entrance to the Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel. This is the longest tunnel in America, a single-lane, traffic-controlled tunnel that also doubles up as a railway tunnel. The traffic is held in a waiting area, then once an hour flows in the direction to Whittier, for 15 minutes, before it is used by the train, and then vehicles leaving Whittier. Motorcycles are sent through after all the cars, in single file, and given a special safety leaflet to explain how to avoid hitting the rails and coming a cropper in the tunnel (and what to do if you do). With wet rails, a wet road, and a narrow 4' wide strip to ride the length of the tunnel on, none of us was looking forward to it... first-day nerves, perhaps. As it was, there was no drama, and before long we emerged from the 2.5 miles (yes, it's really only that long, so much for everything being bigger in the US...) into more rain and the small town of Whittier. Where we dithered over finding a parking space, before settling in right next to the boat terminal.

Once on board we were shown to our seats, the best on the boat, on the upper deck right at the front. We had 2 tables more-or-less to ourselves (Chris and I sharing our table with a couple of retired American women who had been on a cruise up to Alaska and were now travelling round in a hired car). Then we were off, and immediately served lunch. Which was battered fish, served wrapped in a foil wrapper (think naan bread from the Indian take-away!), with a portion for each of the 300 or so people on board.... but it was really good, the fish here is so fresh that even fast food is very tasty...

Soon after we'd pulled away from the berth and eaten lunch, Marie, the on-board Forest Ranger (yes, the whole are around Prince William Sound is a protected forest, the Chugach National Forest) started waffling over the tannoy, explaining all about the history of the sound, the forest, the glaciers, the wildlife, the weather, etc... She was very informative, but also slightly irritating, in the “patronising American” way... But the glaciers were very impressive, in a way that the photos probably don't convey...





and we got to see some huge chunks “calving”, including this one, which must have been the size of a 4-storey building...





and then we got to see some sea-otters, lounging about on the ice (which according to the ever-informative Marie was a rare sight, as they prefer the cold water, and this represents sun-bathing, otter-style...)...





Eventually, though, we had to leave this beautiful scene and head back to port, with one final glance back to the glaciers...





The ride back through the tunnel was as uneventful as the trip in, despite the continual pouring rain, and once again as we crossed the headland the weather improved and the rain stopped. Then we encountered a long traffic jam, with what looked like a real commotion going on at a slight rise in the road... the cause wasn't an accident, it was a BEAR!! The tide had gone out, and there on the sand-flats was a small black bear... no wonder the traffic had stopped... but it was too far out to get a photo (I'm now looking for a small camera with a good optical zoom!), so you'll have to take my word for it...

Back at the hotel we parked up the bikes, showered and went out for dinner (back to the Snow Goose for a good pizza and some more Red IPA). Here we met up with Nick, Al and Nigel, the team now almost complete – although word has it that Andrew had missed his flight!!