Snow Biking ...
Carol Livingston
We spent the last day on Kodiak Island walking around to see some more of the sights close to town where we were staying at the Russian Heritage Inn. Michell and I wandered down toward the docks and saw the following:
The original Russian well, which has been preserved.
A tour bus that we could take during the summer to view bears ... they were hibernating while I was there.
A group of 13 eagles sitting on the railing outside a restaurant ... the proprietor let us come inside and then told us that if we opened the door to their back deck very slowly, the eagles would not move and we could take pictures (here are four of them) ... ya think they maybe feed these birds so that they stay near? 
We saw our ferry leave for the day, the Tustumena, which Michelle called the "Trusty Tusty" since it has been serving the islands of the Alaska Marine Highway since 1968. It would be back to take us to Homer later that evening.
We also toured the Baranov Museum where I bought a set of Russian dolls ... sorry, I packed them and mailed them home so no pic of the dolls.
On our way out of town to catch the ferry that night, my dad and I stopped by get a bottle of local brew from the Kodiak Island Brewing Company to share on Christmas day. That's a 64 ounce bottle. The label is PAINTED on so it is permanent! I'm saving it to put wild flowers in it back home.
As I was leaving the brewery, I glanced over and nearly fell over laughing when I saw this poster advertising Sarah Pale Ale! Don't tell me those folks from Kodiak Island don't have a sense of humor!! You betcha, it's good!
Since our ferry left at nearly 10:00 pm and would arrive back in Homer at 7:30 am, we had a sleeper cabin for the return trip. Here I am in my bunk.
We stopped for gas and saw a truck with two sets of moose antlers sitting on a mattress in the bed of the truck. I positioned myself in front of one set ... and then did a little photoshopping to make them look like my own ... heheh.
Here's the sunset over Cook Inlet on our way back to Anchorage. Since the weather was nice, I was able to get back in time for Christmas Eve Candlelight service.
About the last day we were in Kodiak, I discovered that Michelle had brought her Giant "Cypress" hybrid bike to Alaska. I used to see that bike leaning against the wall on their porch in Gatlinburg ... rather neglected and missing its saddle. I used to feel so sorry for it.
But now I felt its full potential!
I had looked into renting a bike to ride around town, but at $30 per day (and for just a couple of hours in the mid-afternoon, it was gonna cost me a fortune AND I would be on the roads when there was a lot of traffic AND I would have to depend on someone (likely my dad) to drive me there and pick me up.
Since the sun doesn't come up here until about 10:00 am local time (1:00 am Alabama/Mississippi time) ... and since my dad and Michelle wait until sunrise to arise, I had been finding myself rising at 7:00 am back-home time, which translated to 4:00 am local time ... I decided that I had a lot of time on my hands in the morning and it would be more cost-efficient to simply have Michelle's bike tuned up so that I could ride it during the early morning hours when they were still asleep (along with most of the rest of Anchorage). We carted the bike to one of the local shops, where I discussed what the bike needed to get it back into riding shape. Tune-up, bike computer, lights ... not bad for a bike which had probably had forgotten how to keep the rubber side down.
On our way out of the shop, we saw this sign for a local group ride.
Too bad I won't be in town any longer ... Larry Pierson would be so JEALOUS!!! Probably the one ride he has NEVER done!!!
Believe it or not, all the bike shops are open on SUNDAY up here, so I was able to get the bike yesterday afternoon and take my first timid spin around the roads of the condominium property.
There I go!
Gee, I look like kid who has just learned how to ride her new Christmas bike without training wheels!
So Monday morning rolled around, and I took off on the 7.1 mile route I had mapped out for myself. As you can see, Anchorage is bike friendly even in the winter, since the bike path out on C Street is kept clean by an itty-bitty snow plow. The path is a decent distance away from traffic ... and you can see that there was no one out on the road at 5:00 am local time.
Didn't realize that shot was blurry ... I'll try to take another one tomorrow.
Here I am after those 7.1 miles sitting, eating breakfast, and reading the newspaper at the IHOP. They let me bring the bike in.
That funny little skull cap I have on my head is something that they sell up here at the Walmart. It's called a Gator "Hot Noggen" and sells for about $22. I also bought a Gator "Duo" for $17 which is a combination face protector/neck gaiter. It's very nice since it fits around your face with velcro.
Speaking of Gators, I was really impressed that news of the Gator Nation is SO IMPORTANT, that it makes the first page of the local sports even up here in the frozen north!
To be frank, cycling in the snow was much harder than it looked. Since it was about 28 degrees, the snow was "dry" which only meant there was no slush to get me wet, dirty, and cold. Riding on the packed snow was pretty easy, although I never got any faster than 12.9 mph. There was one spot where the big snow plows had thrown sluff onto the bike path and the itty-bitty plow had not been by to clean it. I had to walk my bike along that portion.
I also discovered that riding in the loose snow felt very much like riding in slightly damp sand, like on the beach. There is no coasting ... ya gotta keep pedaling or else you crunch to a stop.
And I will have to admit that I had to walk my bike through the loose snow as the bath went back up the hill toward Campbell Green. Campbell Green is a local bike path along Campbell Creek, but I could not ride on it. The guys at the bike shop told me that it was graded for cross-country skiing.
I may try for a few extra miles as I head out for breakfast each morning, and I will certainly try my hand at climbing that hill with loose snow.
But now I've gone and done snow biking! That's certainly another cherry lost!
