Monday, December 3, 2007

Free Plane Tickets to Alaska

It all started in 1993 when I received 2 free plane tickets from Minneapolis to Achorage, AK. These two tickets represented freedom. I didn't really know what the definition of freedom was, but in my mind it meant that I would finish college, quit my job, leave my friends and go to Alaska to see what happens.I spent months planning the trip. I studied maps. I tested equipment. I read books. After a couple months of planning, I finally had my route. Here is the short version.

Anchorage
Kenai Peninsula
Denali
Fairbanks
Kluane
Haines
Skagway
Juneau
Inside Passage
Bellingham
Highway 1 through Oregon and California
Utah
Moab Fat Tire Festival
Home?????

This was going to be the trip of a lifetime filled with biking, hiking and who knows what? The hardest part was figuring out what to do with the "extra" free ticket. I had several friends that wanted it. One wanted to do a short version and ride all of Alaska and ferry the inside passage in 4 weeks. What? Are you kidding me? I wanted a looooongggggg trip and I had thoughts of possibly not returning. After all, I had finished college and who knew where I'd end up?

In the end, my buddy John came with me. Here we are outside a bike shop in Anchorage, Alaska. Pretty sporty outfit huh? I wish someone would have straightened my shorts out before this shot. Oh yeah, for retro grouches and bike geeks, I'm on a Bontrager Race OR and my buddy is on a Bridgestone MB-1. Damn fine bikes that proved worthy of our challenge.

2 comments:

Jason said...

Yeah, I wish you would have straightned those shorts too! I'm a little uncomfortable! :)

Guitar Ted said...

Again, welcome to the blog-o-sphere! I look forward to going along for this ride!