Friday, July 3, 2009

Some Q&A

Originally Posted by shrkb8





Thanks for the ride along................now that you are at your destination.......I have a couple ?s



You ride all the way to Prudhoe Bay and then they stop you and will not allow you to continue on to the Artic ocean?????????why???????? is it a national security thing w/the pipeline????????






Yes, because just past Deadhorse, Prudhoe Bay is private property owned by BP (and another oil company who's name I forget) so you need permission to continue. Plus, they do an actual background check on you, so yeah,if you're a registered terrorist or something, you could be denied. Anyway, Prudhoe Bay is indeed right on the Arctic Ocean, so the ride out to the beach is really only a couple of minutes, but before you get there, you get the tour of the area and facilities. It's pretty cool!




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How far is the guide/tour/ride to the artic ocean??? from Prudhoe Bay??? is this a full day event?? if so what else is provided in this ride/tour and how much does it cost???



The tour was $36 US and it lasted around an hour. That included a 20 minute presentation that was quite interesting, and the swim and certificate upon completion .




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WOW!!! 180.00 per night!!!!!!!! I guess if your the only game in town then you can charge what ever you wish.



You got that right, but let me tell you, it was worth it. Here's what you got for the $90 (per person) - shower, 24-hour meals at the cafeteria at no charge, laundry, warmth and dryness. It is actually quite the deal. I believe the Caribou Inn is $250 per person.




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I saw that you guys ride most day and night, did you by chance ever stop while in/on the tundra region and camp/rest/nap or was doing so too risky of a venture w/bears, wolves, etc.



There were plenty of places to pull over on the tundra, but apparently pitching a tent is not a good idea. I mean, you could pitch a tent in the pullouts, but it's too close to the road, and on the tundra itself, well, it's too spongy and thick with vegetation and just not condusive to tents. Plus wildlife, high winds etc. There may be others here who can chime in why it's not a good idea. But all in all, there's just no need or reason to.




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What were the temp ranges you experienced during this ride??



On the whole ride, I'd say from 40F in Prudhoe Bat to 85f or so in Fairbanks. It wasn't that bad. Brauhausbier had a thermometer on his bike and could probably answer the question better than I can. I'd say the average temps for the whole trip was between 45F and 55F. Some days I wore longjohns and some days not.




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Thanks for the adventure..............now I'm looking forward to the report on the trip back





Thanks for the kind words, and it's feedback like this that motivates me to continue on. It's a little bit of work to write up these reports, and I have to admit, there's somedays that I just don't feel like it.


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Sorry for the noob ?s



Yeah, whatever They are excellent questions and I'm glad you asked them. All questions are welcome.

Originally Posted by shrkb8

why would they not allow you to wash your bikes???






The place is actually extremely environmentally clean. When a semi pulls up to fuel up, for example, they slide a little baby inflatable swimming pool-looking thing under the engine to catch any drips. If anything more than a 1/4 cup of oil hits the ground, they have to call in an independent cleanup team. It's environmentalism gone wild, but I'd say without it, the potential for it being a filthy, oily place is there. With regards to washing the vehicles there, you can imagine the accumulation of oils that would take place from the engine, tranny, diffs, etc, so they just don't allow it. They do have a windshield washing station though, but it looked unused to me.

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