Having completed 4,800km of a cycling trek for charity, Ben Cunninghamis happy to be on Highway 101
AT THE TIME of writing, in San Francisco, we have made steady progress down the Pan-American Highway and are ahead of schedule. It's great to have received so much support from our friends from home and sponsors, d4hotels.ie, after a tough opening week of the trip.
After leaving Alaska, the next challenge for the group was Canada. Measuring 2,560km, it took the entire month of July to complete, allowing for rest days in between. After a brief spell of excellent roads and plenty of services along our route in southern Alaska, we entered Yukon Territory and then on to British Columbia. Yukon Territory has an area of 480,000sq km, and a population of just 30,000, 20,000 of whom live in its capital, Whitehorse.
While cycling through these remote and extremely sparsely populated provinces it was difficult to come across shops to replenish supplies and fuel for our support vehicle. Due to the high cost of transporting goods so far north, groceries and fuel are extremely expensive. These regions are populated mostly by Natives. As meat is so expensive, these people still hunt the plentiful herds of caribou and elk.
In northern British Columbia we cycled west onto Vancouver Island, which led us into Vancouver city. The island, about the size of Ireland, is only a two-hour ferry journey from Vancouver itself.
When we arrived in Vancouver, 4,200km from our departure point in Alaska, we took some time off to relax and to fix our bikes, which had endured some damage on the roads. We stayed with our friend, Marcus, whom we met on the road in British Columbia. Marcus's hospitality was typical of the extremely friendly and helpful people we have met along the road, both in Canada and the US.
From Vancouver onwards the cycle has taken on a completely new dynamic. More of our friends have flown in to take part in the next stages of the journey in the US. With the inclusion of Eric, Mike, Anthony, Tom, Killian and Bryan, the group has grown to 13 cyclists.
We crossed over into the United States on July 30th. After not experiencing one puncture in Alaska or Canada, it was strange that on the better roads in the US this became a regular occurrence. Combined with the larger size of the group, we soon had up to four punctures a day. With unavoidable spells cycling on some of the main interstate and highways roads, heavy traffic has also become something we have had to get used to. Cycling is far more dangerous in more populated areas.
As our number is so many now, route planning has to be undertaken to avoid dangerous intersections, and also not to bother the Highway Patrol, many of whom have been amazed to see such a large group cycling south. Using a combination of roads through Seattle, we eventually established ourselves on Highway 101 in Washington.
Highway 101 is our main route, and will bring us all the way down to the Mexican border. Coming through Washington and Oregon, the road closely hugs the coastline, displaying incredible backdrops of the Pacific Ocean.
It was not until Highway 101, and after 4,800km, that we first met with the Pacific Ocean that will escort us south for the remainder of the journey.