Doug has a problem on the Dalton Highway
I am posting this because Doug is fine. I just talked to him and he is at the hotel. So here is the story.

After leaving Deadhorse this morning at about 11am I received a call from him on the sat phone that he ripped his tire on the side. In other words it is unrepairable. He was about 30 miles south of Deadhorse on the frozen tundra north of the Arctic Circle. I was so worried because not only does it get bitterly cold there are bears in that area.

Doug figured out a quick solution to get him moving again. He put three plugs in the ripped section and filled the tire with air. The air would last for about 2 miles when he would stop and fill it up again.

I was in my hotel room trying to get help for him. It was very frustrating since this is Sunday and most places are closed. I called Trail's End BMW and they had one tire left. I darted over and bought it. I then rode to the airport and prepared a care package for Doug that included the tire and some tools. Alaska Air will have it to Deadhorse tomorrow before 10am. Doug will have to change the tire himself but he should be fine. Thanks goodness for the sat phone and for George at Trail's End.

Now for those none BMW Motorcycle folks George is a legend up here. I don't think he is really a BMW authorized service center but he is darned good at repairing them. I am told if George doesn't like you chances are you will not get any help from him. Consequently everyone is on their best behavior around George. It sort of reminded me of the Soup Nazi from the old Seinfeld show.

Here is what I saw when I arrived at Trail's End. There was barely enough room to get my bike through.




Here is a picture of George and me. When I told him I was almost 60 years old he said he couldn't believe it. He though I was under 50! I was flattered and smiled. When he told me he was 72 years old I just kept quiet. He seems to be doing well though, he rides a bicycle around his property to save his knees because he has heard that old folks always have knee problems.

Anyway it was a really neat experience to meet George.


With the new tire attached to the back of my bike it was off to the airport.

Hopefully tomorrow I will have a story of Doug's successful return to Fairbanks. It can't be too soon for me as I am really tired of this Super 8 hotel room. I am anxious to move on. However the rest has been great for me so I won't complain.

Dell
- posted by Dell @ 7:05 PM