nancy sv

As far as we know, our boys are the very first kids to ever cycle the Dalton Highway in Alaska - and they did fabulously!! I am so proud of my boys right now - they took on the Dalton and never complained once. It took us 16 days, with an average daily mileage of about 32 miles.

If you are considering doing it, make sure you take lots of food!!

You can read about our journey at www.familyonbikes.org/blog

jamawani 

Hi Nancy -

Congrats to all of you!!

Ah, yes. The bugs. For me in the Northwest Territories it was the blackflies - thousands of them. I was, at first, overwhelmed by them - - then a grew to accept them as a mere nuisance. Of course, I was covered from head to toe - including ski glove liners and a neck bandana. Still, those boogers would light onand bite thru the fabric. So I would have another bandana available to wisk even while I was riding.

Sending good vibes for sunshine and tailwinds -

John

nancy sv

We got some of those black flies too - but they weren't that bad. The mosquitoes - YIKES!!! They were NASTY!!!

JoeMan

How did you keep the bugs out of the tent? Did they chase you when you rode?

nancy sv

We brought a lot of bugs in with us when we got in the tent, but then all four of us went hunting to kill them all before we went to sleep. Once the tent was closed up, we were find until morning... We did have problems with the bugs when we climbed hills, but lots of DEET mostly took care of that problem. Not that I like swimming in DEET, but I suppose it's better than the alternative.

Clarenza

Hi Nancy, great news, congratulations to all the Vogels! I notice that you took the ExtraWheel -- how did it go so far? From what I could see in the video it seemed to be tracking pretty well. Good luck with the next leg of your journey.

nancy sv

The ExtraWheel has been great so far - I have no complaints at all. Well - there's one tiny one... Sometimes it squeaks - loudly. We can't figure out why it squeaks sometimes and other times not at all, but it does. Now that we are off the dirt road for a while we'll try putting some chain lube on it and see if that helps.

There is definitely a learning curve involved in learning to pack it right, but once I figured that out it was very easy. The bags are easy to put in and take out, which makes it convenient during the day. We find the BOB more of a hassle to open, so we close that one in the morning and don't open it until it's time to set up camp.

That being said, we aren't sure if we will take the ExtraWheel all the way down. The connection appears to be fine at this point, but it is metal on metal - and we're afraid it will wear down in time. When it wears, it might be just fine - but it might not. We're not sure if we want to take that chance. In any case, I'll use the ExtraWheel for the next few months through Canada and the USA and then we'll decide.

Rogerinchrist

Great video on your site! (i gotta pee) LOL!! Quite the little wagon train you all have going there. Each boy can stoke or ride solo? Clever.
~Roger

nancy sv

So far this setup is working very well. Davy spends most of the time on the single bike, but Daryl takes over occasionally. The single is still a little bit big for Daryl, but he'll grow into it within a few months and then they should both be comfortable on it.

I love that video of Daryl being silly in the tent!! He's such a little ham and he cracks us up all the time!

Machka 

I'm glad to hear that it's going well.

nancy sv

Thanks Machka! All four of us are having a blast - hope that continues!