I was unauthorized to blog about this last night but here is the real reason for us coming to Anchorage. Eric had a crash on the first section of gravel road we encountered after leaving Beaver Creek, Yukon. We were moving along at around 40 mph and his front wheel got a little off track and before he could correct it, the wheel washed out to the right. He hit the gravel on his left shoulder and slide for only a few feet. Thanks to all this gear we wear, there was no bodily harm except for a small scrape on his right hand. The bike on the other hand suffered the damage. His windshield broke into a bunch of pieces, headlight shattered, and a bunch of scraped and broken plastics.  The worst part was his clutch reservoir, which holds the clutch fluid cracked and fluid was everywhere.  The bike was only slightly ridable, so we turned around and headed back to Beaver Creek.  After trying to come up with a fix for a little while, a pickup pulled up to ask what was wrong. We ended up putting the bike in their truck and Eric in the cab for a ride to Tok, AK, about 100 miles down the road.  We got to Tok with no problems and unloaded his bike near the side of the road. Eric got on the phone with his Insurance company and located a man who could trailer him into Anchorage that afternoon. That's where we decided to split.  Four went north and Eric and I headed south to get the bike fixed.  From there I headed to Anchorage alone and and Eric followed in the pickup with his bike.  They arrived to the Hotel around 2:00 am, we unloaded the bike and went up to the room for some much needed sleep.

Today we got up and headed to the BMW shop to see if the parst we had ordered over the phone were going to be delivered with the Saturday delivery.  After waiting most of the day we find out the part won't be here until Tuesday when the shop is open again.  

Instead of staying at the expensive hotel for three more nights, I got on my ADVrider.com website and requested a place to stay. I had four phone calls within the hour and ended up staying with a local named Mark Haldane.  His dog Comet is sitting here with me while Mark is at REI working. Now I just have to figure out what we will do for the next few days.

After waking up with a new fear for dirt roads and then Eric's crash; I had to face my fears and ride through the rough roads and block out the image of him hitting the gravel. I really had an emotional day with all that was going through my head. Once I began my ride to Anchorage alone I felt much better. The roads were good and the sun was out, a perfect motorcycling combination.  The mixture of "gravel fear", hunger, exhaustion, and being very far from home while being homesick, made for a tough day. I made it here and feel really good. Now I need to plan some day trips.

Woke up at 4am because of the sun. Just arrived in Anchorage at 11:45 pm.  Very long and tough day. Lots of gravel sections. Very nerve racking.  Too tired to write anymore but here are some photos from my long rainy ride.  Southern Alaska is amazing. Look forward to seeing Anchorage tomorrow in the daylight.