Ooh look at 'im with 'is arty stuff - who does 'e think 'e is? David bleedin' Bailey?!

Courtesy of www.SladeRide.com…

(Video approx half way down & Gallery at bottom of post)

So, the 27^th of May 2009, a hotel room in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, USA on the Arctic Ocean Coast, 250 miles INSIDE the Arctic Circle, 240 miles south by mostly dirt road to the next Service Station (Coldfoot) and potential re-supply. Between here and there is the ‘North Slope’ of Arctic tundra, the 4,700 foot Atigun Pass, snow-bound and avalanche prone. Oh, and some bears. And after those 240 miles services are sporadic for the next 260. And I’m GOING TO DO IT BY BICYCLE! Alone. WHAT!?

The bike, Charles, is in a box and needs to be rebuilt by me in the hotel room. I’ll need to wild camp on the tundra / mountains / valleys, carry 2 weeks worth of food. At this time of year (spring) temperatures can still go below -10c. And then there are the infamous arctic winds.

If there is such a thing as being ‘out of ones comfort zone’ then I know for an absolute fact that I’m out of it about 10 times over. I think the phrase is ‘I’m bricking it’. I can’t remember when I was last so, well, scared.

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Hi from Roger (Jonathan’s Dad).

Kay and I are very proud of what Jonathan is doing. We do not ask “why?”. We know. If you know the answer to “why?” you do not need to ask and you understand. If you need to ask “why?” you will not understand the answer.

Jonathan rang last night – midnight UK time Thursday 4 June 2009. He is camping at Coldfoot with a nice warm diner to hole up in.  He is tired, and resting for a day, but upbeat and elated by his experiences.  Half way to Fairbanks and over the crest of the Brooks Range is excellent progress.

I will keep any relevant news posted on this site either directly or via Jason.

PS. Where does Jonathan get this from? Maybe in part from us. Feel free to visit my website http://www.rogersladephoto.co.uk. I work in Antarctica each winter. And I have just bought a large motorbike.

So, “keep on trucking Jonathan”.

I couldn’t have been more wrong when I predicted that Jon would be going through Wiseman in 2-3 days.  He’s done it in one day and almost double the distance again!  Tonight he’s resting outside of Coldfoot, AK on the Southern edge of the Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve.  He is also over the half-way point to Fairbanks where we expect to see him wrestle the site away from me and fill up the gallery with tonnes of pictures.

If you don’t pay close attention to the comments then you probably didn’t see the update from Tommy Cate.  Tommy wrote:

Hey guys -
Visited with Jon on Sunday and Monday (my way up and back to Deadhorse). His spirits were high and he was still feeling great. He was a little distressed that his progress was so slow. The road from Deadhorse is a steady uphill climb to Atigun Pass. That, combined with brutal headwinds, had dropped is speed to an average of about 4.5 MPH. I would add that his progress is also slowed by everyone that wants to stop and visit with the crazy Brit on a bicycle!

Keep up the good work Jon! You’re an inspiration to all of us!

Tommy Cate
(motorcyclist from Kentucky)

Thanks for the update Tommy, we all really appreciate it back home.  This also explains why there was such a push yesterday as he finally hit the down-hill.

Finally, I have changed the Route page for now so that you can accurately see what Jon has done to date.