Anchorage to Phoenix Bike Ride: Day 14

We woke up to cold weather. During breakfast we took inventory of our food and made a list of supplies to buy in Whitehorse. We were anxious to reach Whitehorse so we broke camp and started off quickly.

I was riding in front when my safety vest and Crocs shoes fell off my trailer. Paul brought them to me.

I ran out of water so I filtered some water from a swamp full of swimming insects. This is conceptually gross but the water tasted good.

Kosuke pulled ahead of Paul and I and we reunited with him at 6pm a few miles outside Whitehorse. We started cruising down a long gradual hill and I noticed m bike was going slow. I had run over a staple and my trailer tire was flat. I replaced the inner tube.

We came into Whitehorse and checked out the grocery store to see what kind of food was available. While Kosuke and I went into the store, Paul stood outside and watched our gear. Apparently a homeless guy approached Paul while he was outside by himself. The guy had hair to his shoulders and he wore a 1980‘s ski jacket, unzipped, with no shirt underneath. He offered Paul a box of Chinese food. Paul accepted the food and we all ate some of it.

Then we went for burgers, fries, and milkshakes at Lil’s Diner. We were feeling happy at that point. Lil’s was decorated like a classic 1950’s American diner.

We headed towards the home of our hosts, the Battersby’s. When we neared the house we got lost but a car pulled up to us and it was Leah Battersby, one of our hosts. Leah showed us the way to the house and we met the rest of the family: Blake and Lee.

We showered and unpacked. I called Leah because she had invited us out for drinks. She picked us up and we went into town. We met Leah’s friends and Kosuke and I ended up visiting another bar with a dance floor and a younger crowd. We had a good time that night and we laughed a lot.