It's gotime today. In the morning I still have to do my groceries, the packing and the cleaning of the house. I am quite happy that I can load the bike with 5 days worth of food without even using my backpack. I assume I slowly get better at both packing and shopping. Around 1:30PM I finally start pedaling out of Valdez.


I took a whopping 6 day rest in Valdez which is quite long but that's actually how I'd like the trip to be. I love to cover big distances over days and weeks [I guess I better do, since that's a bike trip, right?] and then have an extended stay at a nice place and get to know it a bit better than just a quick visit. Even though I am feeling super well, I think these kind of breaks will also keep me physically and mentally fresh in the long run. I just started and it's a long way ahead of me...


For now ahead of me are 850km towards Canada. The border will open in exactly one week from now and I for sure want to be there before they change their mind about travel restrictions. It feels great to be back on the bike and ride in very sunny conditions. With the wind it's a bit fresh, but I ride in shorts today. Might be the last chance to do this in a while.


I ride through Keystone Canyon again. Still very impressive but what a difference to last week after all that heavy rain fall. It comes to me that outstanding nature experiences are often dependent on so many factors, so that it is very unlikely to get them all aligned [see my experiences in Denali for example]. That's nature, right? ! I sticker a big fat post-it note in the section of "do not forget" in my brain. In turn the glaciers around Thompson Pass and the mountain views are much nicer today with the sunny weather.


Even though the bike is quite loaded and I am now basically going up from sea level I manage the climb to Thompson Pass in a surprisingly dignified manner. After 120km I call it a good first day back on the bike and finish it with a nice campfire.