Thoughts and Fortunate Equipment Failures
Trip Start
Jun 30, 2010
1
18
27
Trip End
Jul 20, 2010
Watson Lake, Yukon, Canada
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
About an hour away from Watson Lake my GPS began going dim, and within a few minutes it was off completely. I fiddled with it at the gas stop in Watson Lake but couldn't get it to come on. To make matters worse, the clip broke that connects my tank bag to the top of my gas tank.
Ordinarily I probably would have strapped the tank bag on back and gone on my way, but with the GPS broken I really needed the map pocket the tank bag provides right in front of me as I ride. I had planned to continue on down the Cassier Highway at Watson Lake, but the equipment problems made me stop for the night.
It turns out that it's a good thing both of those things failed when they did. If they hadn't failed I would have continued on south on the Cassier Highway. The first gas stop on the Cassier is 140 miles down the road. It turns out, that station closes at 6:00 p.m. There is no gas for about 100 miles further. I cannot get 240 miles on a tank of gas. If I'd have continued on, I'd have been stranded until the next morning.
The photos below are other riders I met at the Whitehorse McDonald's this morning. The two guys are friends riding up from Kansas City. They're going to Alaska and not coming back anytime soon. One of them is in the Coast Guard and has a duty assignment on Kodiak Island. The other couple are Harley riders whose bike broke down. They had put 52,000 miles on their 2009 Ultra without any problems. The day before, outside Whitehorse it broke down. They were waiting for the mechanic's verdict, but thought they might have to rent a bike to continue their trip.
Comments
You won't need that cold weather gear as you get closer to home. :-)