Finally, with all the delays behind me, I caught the bus to Deadhorse. It was a long journey, but it gave me a chance to see how the Haul Road looked for when I cycled back!

Tuesday 21 July 2009 – The bus to Deadhorse

I got up nice and early, as after all the delays I was eager to get going. It was a half hour ride down to to the Northern Alaska Tour Company and I arrived at 05.30. There was a full bus of ten passengers, and I was the only cyclist going north. The other people on the bus were a real mix – There was a student heading for a research station, four hikers, and a headteacher heading back to her school in the middle of nowhere amongst them.

Checking out the route I would cycle

On the way up to Deadhorse, I made mental notes of where were good places to camp or get water. I also saw an arctic fox, carribou and a bear. Most of the other people were dropped off before Deadhorse, and I finally arrived at sometime after 23.00. At over $200 a night, the ‘hotels' were way above my budget, and so ignoring the notice which said ‘be careful of the bear', (with its current photo-fit picture), I went around the back of a warehouse behind the Carribou Inn and set my tent up in the shelter it provided from the wind.

The following day would be the official start of my cycling journey from Alaska to Argentina!