Always late to the party....... Pantah Holycrapoly this looks like TOO MUCH FUN!!! Lemme get out the crystal ball..... Hmmmmmmm.
Hi Jax You and maybe a buddy should really look into this event. But even if no buddy, we all buddy up soon enough. It's the last one. It has the best route. It is truly a great way to see the Great White North in a supported ride at a very attractive price. You couldn't even do it very well by yourself because some of the best stages require fuel truck support. Add in the luxury of riding light every day because they haul our gear...2014 will be the best. I see the Alcan5000 like a cruise ship vacation for die hard motorcyclists... It is well scripted, well supported, but we get to ride our own dirt bikes through exotic terrain! Add in the competitive element and you have something totally unique and close to our hearts. Don't miss it. -P
Alright guys, we are in. originally i was toying with trying to man up and somehow, impossibly make a husky 450TE go through the torture. But then I got a better idea. we wioll be running 1 or 2 cars, and possibly a bike. team members will be guys from Team Semper Fi, the injured Marine fund. These are guys who came back with TBI, PTSD, missing 1, 2, 3 limbs. So we wil put 2 or 3 guys in each car. If we can find one who is qualified, perhaps we will run a bike as well. The whole thing will be to raise money for the fund (rated A+, one of the top 10 charities in the country, etc) so far 66 million given to marines and other service men to support them in whatever they need to progess and move forward and adjust. One of the things that helps alot, is that they formed the sports team, these guys participate in the para Olympics, the warrior games, triathlons biathlons ebndurance bike rides, marathons, you name it. But we have never attempted something like this before. But i figure marine training, adapt adjust overcome, training in navigation, perserverence, all of that stuff will help us through this. Anyway, their website is a bit sparse, and dated, and they use an old discussion group on yahoo to communicate, so I am hoping a few of the veterans residing here will be able to help me out with advise! thanks guys
Hello Carl, and glad you are entering. It sounds like a good cause. I support something similar called 'Homes for our Troops'. The charity builds specially equipped houses for wounded veterans and gives them away. I have a nephew who was one of the first recipients and he went on to raise money for the cause. Great kid and doing well in life. Just got his bachelors degree. Regarding the event, I think you should send deposits to make sure you secure your entries. They can only field about 35-40 entries and while they never filled up before, they could this time. They had a team competition in 2010 that might be appealing to you. Two cars drafted one bike rider from the entry list and they started training in the months leading up. Turned out the rider they drafted was my buddy from HS. Anyway, the fellow who ran the team taught my buddy his time keeping and they won the whole thing. I was pissed! You can PM me with questions if you want and I'll give you my email address and phone # for better communication. Acerph has run it a couple times too, so he could be helpful. I think the website is pretty up-to-date, but you can always email the rallymaster, Jerry Hines. The main thing is to understand the rules, schedule, itinerary and general route. We don't get specific route sheets until the night before the next stage. Given who you are bringing along, you might need special room accommodations too. Jerry is very helpful in that way. The Yahoogroups thing is set up to protect our privacy I think. BTW: for the riders--- They are considering allowing Rotopax fuel cells with a permenant mount system. They are looking for input so send Jerry your thoughts if you are for or against. Motorcycles need 170 miles fuel range. Some of the bikes entered would require an aftermarket tank, which can be extremely expensive for one event.
Being active duty military going to this, all I can say is....AWESOME!!! I have always admired the marines, and often wish I would have gone that route. I spoke with Jerry on the phone about ten days ago. I am sure they will do ANYTHING to help out, as their son is a marine finishing his IRR time. Can't wait to meet you guys there!
I would be happy to help, but before any of you ask any questions, you should know that I didn't place very well in either of the two events. What I did was have a fabulous time, meet some great folks, see amazing country, eat really good food, ride every day for about a month, and get that traveling fever that never goes away.
Thanks guys, I am sure i will be leaning on you often to get information and ideas. We have only entered one car so far. simply because i do not yet know how the fund raising will go. i need to raise money for each entry to get 2 marines to the race, and back home. and if i need more than one car, i need to find a way to cover that as well. I take care of all my expenses, but I cannot fund the marines, and I do not want this to come out of the charity budget,. This is all about 3 things, 1. Marine Participation, 2. raising the awareness of the fund -3. adding money to the charity! (Ie the charity is not funding this, I am raising money to fund the marine portion of the venture, with hopefully a significant amount left over to contribute to the fund! so thats why I started with one entry, we will see how that progresses!
Well, I am really, really interested in this, I have to get my buddy onboard and then run it by the Opposition Minister, I mean my wife, save some money, get a new bike, find out about shipping it to Washington, and then home again from Anchorage and we're all set. Damn I hate living on the east coast sometimes. Next years practice for this will be the NFLD T'Railway and then the Trans Labrador Highway, that should be a good shakedown run.
novaboy - There are several Canadians entered from the east part of the continent. Maybe there is a way to tow a box trailer with all your bikes and gear to Seattle and back. That way you can get some economies. Shipping one way to Seattle on a pallet is about $600. In 2006 Crankshaft and I both towed coast/coast and back a couple hours apart! There is a possibility of getting space on the sweep trailers from Anchorage back to Seattle too. But it's still a 3.5 day trip trailering or riding...
I have a lot of interest also. I have been mulling this over for several weeks. I need to figure the logistics as well and arrange about a 3 week parole from work. In the meantime, I can prep bike and body. Add some cool shit to the fat girl and get my lazy ass out there and do some long rides.
Hum Deco.. maybe we can get a group from Austin, I'm mulling this over as well 2014 gives me time to plan
Not that this really is a great help, but I will probably be hauling my bike out from Great Falls, Mt, on a trailer big enough for a few bikes, plus a pickup bed. If anyone needs to stage their bike out of my place it is always an option. I plan on riding the ferry from anchorage to seattle, and just camping on the deck hopefully. Then the transit back to Montana. Still looking at the details of everything. Also, beyond the money for the race, gas, and food, what other expenses should I plan on? Trying to get a list together to start saving/raising money for this adventure.
Thanks Pantah, definitely something I'll look into. We have a little meeting tomorrow to discuss this in greater detail. Possibility of putting a team of 4 together. Now we have to figure a plan out on how to break the news to our better half With any luck NEWFIE BULLET RACING will be at the next Alcan. In case some of you don't know The Newfie Bullet was what the Newfoundlanders nicknamed the old trains when Newfoundland had a railway, and it wasn't because it was fast. My father said it was so slow on hills he had time to jump off pick some berries on the bogs and jump back on before it crested the hill.
So far I've got the option of taking my well farkled 650 Dakar or a new to me 1100GS that I'm going over right now. Replacing the clutch and some key bearings but everything else looks good. I'll add a 21" front wheel and a steering damper. Which bike should I take?? BTW, a buddy has an 800GS that he thinks I should buy and sell the other two. Thoughts appreciated.
I'm planning on taking a 650, not sure what yet. KTM 690, Husky 650 Terra, BMW or a KLR. From the sounds of things it's mostly dirt this year and will favour a thumper. Although the 800 would be good too. I wouldn't want to be flogging a big 1100-1200 on muddy roads.
2004 ALCAN5000 Motorcycle top ten results by machine regardless of class: BMW F650GS BMW F650GS KTM 950A KTM 950A BMW 1100GS Suz DRZ400S BMW R100GS Suz DRZ400S BMW 1100GS BMW F650GS 2006 ALCAN5000 Motorcycle top ten results by machine regardless of class: BMW F650GS BMW F650GS Suz V-Strom Suz V-strom Kaw KLR650 Kaw KLR650 BMW 1200GSA KTM 640A KTM 950A BMW 1100GS Even though I rode a KTM twin, I think the smaller bikes had an easier time of it in the mud. Some singles had the toughest time in the cold because they couldn't power heated gear. The big bikes probably had a comfort advantage. Roughly 1700 miles will be on dirt surfaces but for the most part they are groomed and fast. The Blackwater, Kispiox, Canol and Telegraph Creek runs will be more challenging since they can be crude and less maintained. Top-of-World can be anything, as can the Haul Road I think. The Denali was slow and beat up in 2006, but fast and smooth in 2010. We should have considerable rain, since it always seems to when we get north. For mud I imagine the tires will be more important than the machine.
I hummed and hawed this and ended up buying an 1150GS for this trip. Comfort to me is crucial The mileage to get home (for me Anchorage to home is 6500 kms) and mileage to get to start ( for me its 4200 kms). So sitting on a bike for almost 20, 000 kilometers...ya I want to be as comfortable as possible. Perhaps this means giving up some stability in the muddy section, so be it. I'm hoping a 21 inch front (Dunlop 606) and a 18 inch rear (Dunlop 908) will make a big difference. Bike currently has 170, 000 km on the odometer.. 20 more months to save $, prep the bike and bank vacation time
Yeah, you are planning a whole lot of seat time! :huh The main thing is going to be a good DOT front knobby for thr nothern part of it and a decent lasting rear D/S tire like a Scout or Mefo. You won't have an issue and if you flop in the mud you'll have plenty of friends to help pick her up. My riding buddy has a KLR and we do some long dirt road trips together. I told him I was planning on riding my 250 because it was fast enough to make the transits in time. He laughed and said;"Right, you're gunna' ride that thing 500 miles per day?..." Jeepers, he's onto something there I think.
