Carcross, Yukon

Distance: 31 miles (total 423 miles)

Climb: 1086 feet

Today was a fun day!

I rode down the Alaska Highway, climbing here and there. A man about my age zoomed past me on his bicycle with no saddlebags while I was stopped checking my GPS. He said, “Great job!” Within 20 minutes, he was out of sight.

Show-off!

Just kidding. To be honest, words of encouragement now and then make a difference.

When I stopped at the South Klondike Highway sign to get a photo, Lucy fell over. I picked her back up and finished with the photos but didn’t realize until later my blunder.

About halfway to Carcross, Marsha from the guest house where I was staying wrote to welcome me and inform me that the closest restaurants were 15 and 31 miles away. I told her I was on a bike. Was there a gas station or something closer?

She said she was in Whitehorse at the supermarket and offered to buy me something. I gave her a short list—Diet Pepsi, sausages, and ice cream. All the healthy essentials.

Just before reaching the ranch, the battery for the camera died. I looked for it in the phone pouch, but it wasn’t there. It had fallen out several miles back when Lucy fell over.

Lesson learned: Always zip up the bags and pouches, even if it’s just for a minute or two. And always scour the ground for spilled items if Lucy falls over.

At the ranch, Mamon came out to greet me. She is a French woman in her early 20s. She showed me my room and explained the ranch common area.

After a nap, I met Marsha in person. I thanked her for her kindness in purchasing the essentials for me.

While I cooked my sausages and sprayed hot grease all over the kitchen, I met Kevin, a motorcyclist from Vancouver Island. When he retired, Kevin’s son took over the family home construction business. Now, Kevin is doing what he loves: riding his motorcycle across Canada and other countries.

Kevin seemed to support the R4P mission and admitted that we all need to do better.

Shortly after eating, I met little blond-haired Lucy, who informed me she was four years old.

“Four? Well, how did you get your driver’s license?”

She smiled. “I don’t have a license. I am only four.”

“So how do you drive a car with no license?”

“I don’t drive a car. I am only four,” she said with a bigger smile.

“My bike is named Lucy.”

“It is?”

She dropped something in the trash and ran off to tell her mom she had met a man whose bike is named Lucy.

I was really exhausted but stayed awake late streaming something on the tablet.