So we’ve gotta say goodbye for the summer

So, we’re one day short of the official end of the expedition. Riding ended about 5 days back, and we’ve been going around for our “rest and relax” part if the expedition, and tomorrow, we’ll be hopping on the plane home.

Thanks baos and everyone else for your well-wishes on the blog; very much appreciated and they’ve brought alot of warmth in the cold summer nights! Thankfully, after Lesley’s accident (wanna know what happened, read this), riding had been pretty smooth sailing. I think we’ve all been extra careful, especially at the downhills.

Honestly, the trip seemed too short and it feels like we’re going back too soon. As much as cycling had been tough, and battling nature’s forces had been really challenging, in retrospect, it had been great fun too. As much as we concentrated on overcoming the difficulties while riding, we’ve had much laughter on the road as well.

And after-cycling activities wont be as enjoyable if not with this bunch of people. I’ll miss this expedition terribly (I think I’m missing it already), as is missing my teammates.

(You can click on the images to get a slightly bigger view)

Final riding destination: Skagway. Complete with champagne and party poppers.

The team and our team banner

Climbing yet another hill; what’s new with Alaska and the Yukon region? We’re so used to climbing slopes that we dont complain about it anymore. It’s still tough to climb a hill, especially when your entire ride seems to be full of it; but Alaska has really broken my phobia of climbing hills.

Scenery on the last day of the ride. These are mountain-top lakes, so we were looking at beautiful azure lakes with snowcapped mountains as the backdrop all the time while riding. It’s extremely picturesque! And we were blessed with a glorious sunny day, so the ride couldnt have been better except for one thing: with the sun came impossibly strong winds.

The last ride was probably one of the most difficult rides we’ve had. It was almost 80km worth of uphills (no kidding), and the headwinds were so damn strong, I was threatened to be thrown off my bike a few times. Our usual speed was 28km/h, but for that day, our speed was about 15km/h. Uphills reduced our speed to about 8km/h, and we even have to paddle when we’re going downhill!

Me with the impossibly adorable Golden Retriever, Jacks. Somewhere in Yukon.

What we’ve been doing other than riding
Whitewater rafting at Denali National Park. This was during the initial part of our expedition; it feels so long ago.

Took a tram ride at Whitehorse, Yukon

The quaint gold-mining town of Skagway

Took ferry from Skagway to Juneau. The whole ferry ride was sooooo scenic; ranges and ranges of snowcapped mountains, with intermittent sightings of whales and dall porpoises.

Reached Juneau! That’s the Mendenhall glacier in the distance.

Went whale watching at Juneau. It’s only unique to Alaska that a group of humpback whales congregate to feed for the summer, and we’re very lucky to have seen it.

Glacier kayaking! The weather wasnt too good, it was raining; but it was something not to be missed…

…because, the view is like this.

Bestie Bry and me, kayaking in the midst of ice bergs and basking in the majesty of the Mendenhall glacier. It was raining quite heavily then, and it was extremely cold. But it’s all worth the pain.

While we were kayaking, HY and leong saw a black bear fishing for salmon!

Beauty after the rain

Traipsing on another glacier in Anchorage: Matanuska glacier. This is one of the few glaciers in Alaska that they allow people to just walk on it.

The ice was slippery (duh), and all of us have fallen at least once.

It’s in Alaska, where the land is shaped, in many ways, by the forces of nature that you truly understand the its power, and how insignificant humans seem to be.