Alaska-Canada Adventure Ride

Day 14 - Tok, Alaska to Fairbanks, Alaska (221 miles)

Alaska-Canada route map The plan for the day was to make a beeline to Fairbanks, find a campground, and then spend the rest of the day servicing our bikes. After about 5000 miles of riding it was time to change my oil. Jon and Vicki decided to change their tires, but I was still fine with my Heidenau K60's (these things are like vampires, sometimes you would like to kill them, but they just won't die). After setting up at the Chena River campground, I was able to pick up some motorcycle oil and cheap drain pan/funnel at the local Walmart. It is also a good place to resupply your freeez dried food stock (Mountain House is my preference). I also looked for a replacement GoPro mount, but oddly they did not have anything.

The biggest challenge with changing the oil was doing it without the local ranger noticing, by parking my bike toward the back of the campsite. But I was able to it cleanly using some spare paper towels, and make amends by taking the used oil and filter to a local waste transfer station just a couple of miles away, and giving away my oil changing stuff to another local.

The other hazard with camping within the Fairbanks city limits is the number of vagrants and parasites roaming the area. It was necessary to always have someone present at the campsite to prevent anything left behind from being stolen. While hanging out there, I noticed one particular unsavory character ride around on a BMX bike with different backpacks on each time he would pass, undoubtedly with new loot from each new trip. After worrying about bears raiding my campsite the previous night, my view is that the problem with these human raiders in Fairbanks is worse. In the future I think it would be a better idea to get a motel room when stopping in Fairbanks.

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