On August 19th I hitch-hiked with my bike to Dawson City, Yukon. The plan was to go in Alaska but I really didn't know what to expect. I had 37 days, a ferry ticket from Haines and an idea: to make a travel video of Alaska. I have always wondered why there are so few videos of Bicycle Touring.
Now that I've finally gotten a chance to do it, here is the trailer:
...and the video:
Here is a bit more info:
Read below about the music, people who helped me, travelers I've met and my sponsors
If you want to read the blog, it has a little more detail (it all opens in new window):
THE MUSIC
All but one of the tracks in the film are from people I've met in Alaska or during my travels. I want to thank all of them for letting me use their music.
photo: driftwood holly
Most of the soundtrack is by Driftwood Holly. I met him at Dawson City, Yukon and he played the first song in the video (in the bar).
He is currently in a contest on CBC music, if you liked his tracks you should go and vote for him! Link: CBC Searchlight. I used the same track, Lafeya during the ride into Denali National Park.
(to get his music, you can contact him via Facebook or lifelovesus@hotmail.com)
Second track is by Ben Peck from Prince Rupert. I stayed with him for few days after arriving by ferry from Alaska. He and his wife are currently on a year+ long trip and cycling down the west coast.
Poncho and Lefty cover by Emil from Whitehorse. I met him in the Yukon's capital while I was hitch-hiking north before the start of the trip.
When I was cycling through Death Valley, California I met an amazing group of people at remote hotsprings. Backpack Wayne played the third song (Original #2 or "Home") and also the credits song. Him and his friend Cody did a cover of Guaranteed and Cody and Harrison played a cover of "I've been everywhere".
The instrumental song while climbing the mountain in the Brooks Range is by Max Buschini (also used for the trailer). It was recorded at Yosemite National Park by the campfire, best improv ever!
Harmonica song during the snowstorm on the Haul Road is by George McKonkey (Harmonica George). He also played the first song with Holly.
The other instrumental songs are by Dave Savage (youtube channel) about whom I heard by meeting a backpacker from England.
I used a piano song by Chris Zabriskie from freemusicharchive.org Here is his website: LINK
Carol Reid, an Athabascan native whom I met at Denali sang the amazing song about the mountain. She lives in the remote town of Minto, Alaska.
Tom Ross - tallest man on earth (cover). I met him on the last day of tree-planting and recorded some of his amazing guitar music!
Kevin somewhere in Argentina, Photo: Kevin
THE TRAVELERS
The first cyclist I met, Babbette from Holland had gotten there from Calgary, Alberta. I haven't been able to get in touch with her but I heard from some people that he was a week ahead of me on the ferry.
photo: Joe
Joe Campbell, I met on top of the world in Alaska. He continued his ride up to Inuvik and then back to British Columbia. He is now working in South Korea. Here is a link to his blog, very well written!
photo: gabor
In Chicken I met Gabor and Sal, hitch-hiking from Alaska to Argentina. Sal had to return home but Gabor continued his project: Hitchhiking Through Paradise
What Gabor says about his adventure:
"The current plan is: to hitchhike to Alaska, then on the Panamericana to Tierra del Fuego. Last, but not least I will try to get somehow to the Southpole."
photo: Hui Hon
Hui Hon (X) decided to go to Siberia. However he found a cheap ticket to St. Petersburg so he went there instead. And since 2012 he has been walking to Nome, Alaska in hopes of reaching the Bearing Sea. I ran into him in Fairbanks a week after meeting him in Delta, he bought a raft and took The Yukon River west.
Unfortunately the on setting winter stopped his journey at Kaltag.
Tetsugo in yellow, photo: tetsugo's camera?
Tetsugo I met on the Parks Highway, we ended up camping at a viewpoint. He continued to cycle the Denali National Park.
Later (as in December 2014) I almost ran into him at Grand Canyon, he is now back in Japan getting ready for his next adventure... i think!
me and sarah in yukon
In Yukon, on the final stretch to Haines I met Sarah Outen. Going around the world on human power. London to Japan by bike, 5 months at sea rowing across the Pacific and kayaking the Aleutian islands in Alaska.
Sarah crossed Canada/USA (west to east) in the heart of winter, I would often look at her pictures while I was battling those crazy winds at -30C in Wyoming and say to myself "Glad I'm not the only one biking in winter!"
Sarah is starting her row of the Atlantic in May 2015. Check out her website!
PEOPLE WHO MADE THIS POSSIBLE:
With no home base, making this movie while on the road was not possible without all these amazing people (and many more whom I have not mentioned)
Georgi from Michigan gave me his old laptop to do all the movie editing. Thank you so much!
Carol and Bob from St. George, Utah - for offering me a place to stay both when I passed through there in February and when I was editing the film in March
Jason and Sarah, whom I met in the middle of nowhere in Death Valley. I am staying with them for few weeks in California, editing the video and maybe even another one!
MY SPONSORS:
Chris Murray WHeelworks
click for his website
If there is one person responsible for the success of this trip it would be him. He not only built my wheels but has helped me along the way with bike and non-bike related issues. I spent thanksgiving dinner with him in 2014.
It may look like I know what I'm doing here but I don't.
Chris did an entire overhaul of my bike when I visited him in Colorado
I would often go with him with a question like:
"can I do the Great Divide in Winter?" and he would say "knowing you, yeah!"
Great, what did I get myself into! (that would be SEE THE WORLD 3: GDMBR in winter)
Eureka Tents Canada / Jonson Outdoors
click for the website
When I first started in April, 2014 I desperately needed something better than $30 tent/sleeping bag, etc. I got in touch with Jim from Jonson Outdoors and he provided me with Eureka camping kit. Midiori Solo tent, Casper sleeping bag, sleeping mat and more.
After nearly 11 months of sleeping in the Midiori it's still going strong. Jim has been in touch constantly with me throughout the trip and I am looking forward to putting the tent through another year or ten of travel!
The Midiori is amazing, easy to setup & take down, even a caveman could do it. But wait...cavemen don't need tents, they have CAVES!
Sinewave Cycles
link to sinewave above ^^
Shooting a film requires a lot of battery power. At least I do, I randomly flail my cameras as I ride along (I literally had to go through 30 minutes of footage per day!). I used the sinewave cycles USB charger to keep everything topped off through out the trip.
the sinewave revolution: simple & easy to install and use.
Squarespace
check out squarespace here ^^
I knew I wanted some sort of a website for this trip. Before I started using Squarespace I didn't know what HTML stands for (I still don't).
It's amazingly easy to use and I honestly won't be writing this blog if it wasn't. Or maybe my entire website wont be here.
Arkel Panniers & OMM Racks
"Well Iohan, how do you carry all that gear?"
Arkel & OMM offered me great discounts on their products. They have made it through some very harsh conditions. Rain or shine (or a snowstorm!), they have done amazingly well.
Do you see this giant crack? and how it's covered in snow? I didn't.
Brooks Saddles
For the Alaska kit, Jason from Brooks England outfitted me with a Cambium Saddle. I love it, maintenance free, comfortable and after all the craziness of Alaska, GDMBR and few more months in USA - it's doing great!
So how would YOU describe Alaska? Have you been there? Do you want to go there? What do you think of the film?
Tell me in the comments!