On a sunny Sunday morning I borrow a bag from my dad and a bike from my mom and catch the train to Seward. The four hour ride passes mountains and glaciers and streams from one port to another.
In Seward, I eat a pastrami sandwich and start pedaling into the wind at noon to begin my 127 mile ride home.
Two miles down the road, I ditch my pants and fleece by the side of the bicycle path for the climb out of town.
Thirty miles down the road I stop for coffee in Moose Pass. It’s early tourist season in Alaska; little traffic and roadside merchandise is sparse. The offerings are a mix of country and city. Homemade rhubarb pies share shelves with Little Debbie. Everything is monster sized. I pack a snickers and roll on.
Riding a road bike is fun, especially on a sunny day, even into the wind. I listen to music, sprint up hills, sneak nips from my flask and soar free.
I stop for a frittata and a bagel and a juice at a log cabin.
Chilled by sunset, I buy a sweatshirt at the gas station in Girdwood.
Ten miles out of town it is dusk in Potter’s Marsh– as dark as it gets this time of year in south-central Alaska.
I make it home before midnight, my skin soaked in sun and evening chill, my brain and legs a little numb, but happy.
I would do it again, even into the wind, especially on a sunny day.
lael's globe of adventure 