Thursday, May 26, 2011

First stop... Primera parada



Hi folks
After 6 days on the road we got a 2 days holidays in a nice campground in Tok,AK to do the washing, check up the bikes and catch up with the world through the Internet, we are not far from the Canadian border and we need to get food for the next week that we are going to be into wildness, in the meantime here you can see some of our pics...
see ya folks!!!
 That our host in Fairbanks thanks to you the beginning of this adventure was so nice and easy
Thanks Helena



First day just before this first pedaling that we have been thinking about for the last 3 years, and We have to say it was a heavy one we are carrying tones of stuff, the food is so heavy :) and there are no shops in distances like 200 miles and we love food unfortunately although between us food we can get in here is crap
as you can see :)
and more in beautiful places.....
that is one of our lunch brake not bad eh?
We are heading south to where the Alaska Highway starts
that could have been the last picture finishing the Alaska Highway, but we are doing the wrong way, because it will be downhill  ;) so the last mile of Alcan is our first mile

That is some of the wild life we passed by on the road (Moose and eagle)....
That is how we try to fight with some of the wildlife... 

 but these "little" one we didn't managed yet....
The ice is still melting this time of the year is called in Alaska the "break up" which means spring in Europe

the sunset  over here starts at 11pm and  lasts for over an hour, it is just unbelievable 


 
That does not look like one of the Edinburgh front garden doesn't it? That how most of the front gardens look like, they love to collect junck-treasures. I love it!(raul)
 Going to the toilet in Alaska is "an experience", imagine my friends from the UK 40C below 0C going for a poo
Rivers in here are hugeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee as you can see its a bit cold over here
After 40 miles cycling a straight flat road through the forest we've realized how much we love curves!!!

It sounds like a joke but some partts of Alaska are extremely dry over the year like deserts and spring comes with storms that cause huge fires
Ok Folks that is us for now xxx and hugs 

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

We are in Alaska?Estamos en Alaska




Hi folks,
Whether you believe it or not we are in Alaska, the bikes are almost ready and in a couple of days if everything goes fine we are setting off down south.

We arrived to Fairbanks last Friday at night, a friend Helena our host was waiting for us at the airport to take us to her cabin a beautiful house on the outside of Fairbanks in the middle of the woods we met her through a friend of mine and without knowing us she has opened her place and her life to help us out getting readies for our adventure. I';s inspiring and difficult to believe until you dont see and meet the people and the places that there are still so many people that live in a great contact with nature. Listening to theirs chats you can grasp all the time the relation ship they have with the space were they live as you can imagine and if not I'll tell you the folk I'm meeting they live with no running water in the middle of the wood with a toilet outside sometime severals meters away from theirs cabins in winter the temperature can go under -40 C, snow everywhere, wild animals and if they are no well prepared when that comes every September they just can die extreme isn't it? And the best things is that all the folk we have met they love it. Talking with Marta about it the feeling that comes to us when we see these people is a deep respect for the way of life they have.

The second night at Helenas we made a bonfire with Helena's friends who came to meet us, the one that impressed us the most was a woman call Gina, this beautiful being works as a nurse part time at the local hospital, well Gina at the party offered us to spend the night at hers. Gina lives far into the wood on the top of a mountain with no electricity, with no running water and on her own @hey guys I want to share with you the way I live do you want to come with me and spend a night sleeping outside in the woods, I've got a shed there with just a roof where you can sleep outdoor. 

Marta and me we looked at each other to confirm that such a present was fine with both and we accepted straight away Gina's offer on the way to her place Gina offered us to stop for a drink in a local pub where we ended for an hour or so dancing like mad to the rhythm of a local band, that was fun. Once in her place she shown us her cottage and we had a cup of tea while Gina was playing the piano after a wee while chatting out and about we went outside to meet the place where we were suppose to spend the night, just few meters away from her place like 40 or so Gina has built a shed with a roof and just one wall facing the forest that totally surrounds her place, if it's not below -2C she likes to sleep outside, crazy :) isn't it? But once you are on this comfortable mattress with the moon facing you, staring at the forest fully covered with all this warm blankets on the top of us you realize that she is not crazy she is just far more intelligent than many of us, where could you sleep better that in there I have to say that it was one of the most beautiful places we ever slept in our life. Ki kiriki the hen was saying to wake us up and there it was Gina too asking us "tea or coffee darling" and she came to where Marta and me were still in bed to bring us the breakfast in bed, that was a moment a big one :) thanks Gina

We are finishing our bikes, putting them back together and getting few more gears that we needed before setting off, hopefully tomorrow We will tighten the spokes and perhaps the day after tomorrow it will be the big day where we will look ahead, the road in front Marta and me together start, take this challenge, this life present giving the firs pedaling down South
Fairbanks, Alaska May 2011
Wish us good luck
we are setting off
:) 

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Our bikes are readies.... Las bicis estan listas....





Hi Folks,
We wanted to share that our babies are readies to grow strong and big along the Americas, these images are from after I tighten the last screw :)

That is Marta´s I know the pannier-rack is not centered yet ;)
We need to get a saddle to Marta something soft for Martita´s lower back :)



And that is my machine ;)
I got my new saddle but you need to wait till we are in Alaska to see it, as you can see the handlebar is to low down so to bring it up I will put an extension apart from that and the pedals that are not in these pictures yet the rest are those are our reliable friends


Do you like them? we love them It´´s difficult to believe and also to put into words how we felt the first day we try them on After more than 2 months building them it was a moment when they were there in front of us.
When you see such a "ride" is difficult to believe that are recycled isn´t it? Yet they are

 
 
 Hola gente,
Aqui teneis a las burras ya estan listas para la acion la primera es la de Marta y la segunda la mia