Well, phew, I’m here, Alaska.  Fairbanks.  Check out ‘Where am I‘ option at Sladeride.com to see my latest location (uses a GPS tracker thingy seeing as I’m a bit of a wayward child and need to be monitored!).  I fly to Prudhoe Bay (‘the top’) with the bike on the 27th…

Leaving the UK was of course hard and … very difficult at the airport but chin-up as they say and onward.  Charles (the bike) is packed and so far has been on 2 of the 3 flights to get to the starting point at Prudhoe Bay.

I had a lovely few days with Frank, Dawn and Eamon (aka ‘Eamo’) in Seattle (great city) which was needed after nearly 6 months of pure ‘hecticness’ in the planning and prep (bike, kit, flats, visa, getting my head around it all) and am currently sitting in ‘Billie’s Backpackers Hostel’ in Fairbanks sharing a room with someone from Shropshire, as you do.

Next few days will comprise: sleep, chilling, films, writing, last minute kit purchases (mace, ‘bear bell’, spare tyre for bike just in case oh, and a lock!) and food purchase for 2 weeks plus of ‘wild camping’…

Lastly, thank you again to everyone who has been so supportive of what I’m doing – it counts for a huge amount see ‘Thanks’.