Reddit user ClimbRunRide recently was declared unfit for the Swiss Army. Rather than being upset, he took a plane to San Francisco. When he landed, he started his amazing journey on a bike and traveled for 87 more days. He road until the road ended. Lucky for us, ClimbRunRide decided to document his entire journey and share it with the world. He definitely took the lemons he was given, and turned them into lemonade.
On May 1st, he began his journey, starting in San Francisco, California.
He said it was a weird feeling when he finally crossed the Golden Gate Bridge and actually thought about what was ahead of him.
The Pacific Coast caused him a few issues due to the high winds. The wind was blowing against him, so he had to get started around 6am on some mornings just to beat some of the elements.
In Northern California there were a lot of bike paths that were very nice and paved. Unfortunately not all of them were made for touring bikes, so he had to lift his bike occasionally to get through.
Because he is so tall at 6 feet, 7 inches tall, it was a pretty cool moment when he was able to ride his bike through one of the tallest trees in the world.
He soon found out that there are many Bike & Hike sections in the State Parks along the Pacific Coast. He used these areas to sleep, which ended up being very cost-effective as they are typically only a few dollars to stay and he gets amazing views like the one below.
This is St. Patrick’s Point in California. It was one of his favorite spots he stayed the night and he got to see an amazing sunset.
Getting to see so many cool things seems like a great opportunity. He’s studying to be an engineer, so seeing large vessels like this made him very happy!
Then he arrived in Vancouver, British Columbia! It took him a total of 3 weeks to get from San Francisco to Vancouver. This was exciting for him because it was his first time in Canada.
He met a lot of really great people during his trip, often opening up their home giving him a place to stay and a warm meal. He typically met them either on the street or through the website, www.warmshowers.org.
The road below was his path after he left Vancouver. It’s the Cassiar-Highway on which he traveled for 7 days. There are no services along this stretch of road, so that meant 7 days without any type of replenishing his supplies.
Now that he had traveled 1,000 miles without any type of fast food, this was a welcoming sign. After visiting a McDonald’s during his journey, he said he got some funny looks considering he was outfitted in his cycling gear. But he had to get his 7,000 calories per day somehow!
When he visited Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, he even stopped and helped his host with a remodel on his house. This wasn’t just a random host family though. It was the brother of a friend of a friend of his brother. Did you follow that?
Bears were not an uncommon site to see while on this trek. In all, he ended up counting at least 50 bears. From his memory, that included seeing at least 35 Black Bears and 15 Grizzly Bears.
During his trek, he also saw a lot of other travelers. The guy below was running from the North Coast of Alaska all the way to Seattle!
The gentleman pictured below is from Japan. He was hiking from Dawson Creek to Prudhoe Bay. Even though English wasn’t his native language, he found this guy to be one of the most content people he has ever met.
The further north he traveled, the heavier the rain was. He had to keep his belongings dry somehow, so creativity was key. This was one way that worked out well.
This adorable small town is called Dawson City.
This area is called Top Of The World Highway. It’s the northernmost road in the US. At this point, he did run out of water. Luckily for him, the border officers in this area helped him out.
The more it rained, the harder it was to continue. But he just kept on biking.
It probably wouldn’t have been as bad if he was in a car, but his bike was not ready for this type of mud.
During his trek when the weather wasn’t cooperating or he just had a little extra energy, he made sure to take a few random hikes. The picture below was taken in Mt. Fairplay, Alaska.
In some areas, it got quite dusty. But he said the dust was always better than the mud.
Because he was on a bike, he always found pristine camping spots. Once he got north of Vancouver, he never paid for a camping spot. There were lots of great camping spots and friendly hosts.
This was the beginning of the legendary Dalton Highway. This may sound familiar thanks to the TV show, Ice Road Truckers. The summer he decided to make this journey though was one of the rainiest rain seasons on record! OOPS.
There were not very many cyclists out there due to the conditions. As you can see, it was a pretty messy ride.
After being on the road for so long, he now realized that fenders would have helped out with the mud considerably.
The road was looking a little brutal after the rain storms, but he just kept on going.
He finally reached the Arctic Circle after a long, grueling day. It was cold and rainy, but he made it.
When he told people of his journey, they were very nice and would give him food from their cars.
From Fairbanks to the North Coast, he had one window of about 7 hours of good weather. It was something he had to take full advantage of and put some miles under his belt.
Somebody obviously did not read the sign.
The view from Atigun Pass. This is the highest and northernmost pass in Alaska. Luckily it is maintained year round.
Because the road could be treacherous due to the constant rain, it was sometimes best to camp on the side of the road.
He made it all the way to the Continental Divide!
Look at all of those mosquitoes. Good thing he had netting to protect him.
The mud had finally taken its toll on his bike. The chain lube had completely dried up, so he used what he had and that option was olive oil. Because he was using up his olive oil on his bike, he had to eat his pasta plain.
His tent held strong during the entire trip, at least allowing him a safe place to sleep night after night.
He was on the North Slope as he saw this thunderstorm roll in. There isn’t much protection out there as you can see, but he did what he could and that included waiting it out.
The trip wasn’t all bad though. There were moments where he would be out in the middle of nowhere, with no idea how close the next person was, taking in all of nature and the views it has to offer.
He had to be a little careful where he was cooking though because of all the bears he had seen during his trip. The view doesn’t get much better than this though.
The temperature got a little colder than he expected, and his sleeping bag wasn’t quite made for those elements. He had a hard time keeping his feet dry and warm, but he managed with what he had by layering up.
He finally made it to his destination, Prudhoe Bay. In the distance you can see a big oil field off the North Coast.
Once he reached his destination, all he wanted to do was sleep and eat for the next three days! It looks like he managed to make some fenders out of trash and duct tape.
At his destination, there were a lot of really cool things for him to see. These rigs are designed to drill on ice.
A victory swim! Yes, he decided to take a dip in the Arctic Ocean. I guess after riding a bike for 87 days straight, you can do whatever you want.
He was able to hang his picture up on the Wall Of Fame at the post office in Deadhorse, Prudhoe Bay.
On his way back, he saw some pretty impressive things as well.
The weather stayed beautiful for about 110 miles, then he was picked up by a fisherman.
This was Dalton Highway around midnight.
And the map below outlines his entire route, to include the weather, any ferries he had to take, and how much he truly traveled.
It looks like he had a lot of fun, and really pushed himself to the limits both mentally and physically. I wonder if he has any plans on doing another long bike ride somewhere else in the world. If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would it be?