But the trip continues. A pile o' photos from Alaska. And some road notes, too....
So far the trip has been about equipment failure. Last week my nine year old helmet fell apart. I had been planning on replacing it but couldn't find a good replacement for it, as Bell changed their head shapes in 2015 or so. So now I was forced to buy something and the best fit was a $600 shoei. However, after two hours it develops a painful hot spot on the top of my head, and no time to go find other helmets, I shave down some styrofoam to make it work, and it doesn't buffet with my short shield (not tested with tall shield). Ok helmet works, but not as well as the cheap Bell; the sheild won't stay open on the first detent, it grabs the wind when I turn my head, it fogs up incessantly (but does have a pinlock visor), strap digs into my adams apple (so I don't snug down as much) etc. But it'll do.
I had installed a Shinko 705 rear tire to get me to Anchorage where we'll put on new tires (about 4000 miles). Other than construction we weren't planning any gravel prior to Anchorage, then we'll have fresh tractor tires for the Dalton and to get home. So I figured, if I was going to throw away half a tire, it'll be a cheap (~$150) Shinko. From past experience they wear like iron and stick fine in the dry but I need to careful in the wet. But on Tuesday I looked at, with 1500 miles on it, and it seemed noticeably worn. Sure enough, it had gone from 6.08mm to 3.88mm in 1500 miles. That will never get me to AK. So I installed a Dunlop mission trail with 6000 miles on it which still had 5mm or tread left. It will get to Anchorage, but it will be near bald, which is what I wanted to avoid. Oh well, better than wearing through cords.
