Sometimes Plans Just Don’t Work Out

I am currently on a 2-week vacation from work. I was supposed to be racing the Trans South Dakota but with COVID-19 and Alaska travel restrictions I really couldn’t go.   So, I made a Plan B.  I would do my own virtual race, here in Alaska. I decided to do a big loop from home to Denali, in and out of Denali, across the Denali Highway, up to Delta Junction and back home.  Around 550 miles total.   The second week, Eric and I would head down to bike, hike and explore in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park.  This sounded like an excellent plan B and Eric and I were both happy with it. 

As the date got closer for vacation, though, the forecast looked bad. Rain, rain rain.   I kept checking the weather websites every couple of hours, but the forecast didn’t change.  I really didn’t want to bike for 4-5 days in the rain.  I know I could, but why?  I’m not really racing.  I just want to get outside and enjoy biking and camping.  That’s not fun with rain every day.  Time for Plan C.

Earlier in the week

Eric and I looked to see where in the state there might be better weather.  Dalton Highway?  Nope, rain mixed with snow.  Kenai?  Nope, more rain.  The only place in the entire state with a good weather forecast was Nome.  Really?  Nome?  Eric and I talked about it. Neither of us had spent time there and biking was supposed to be good on the 3 roads leading out of town. I could change my race and do it there.  This would be a great Plan C.

We started to get really excited to explore a new place. But then we checked travel restrictions and we found that Nome, since it is more remote, has more stringent criteria for visiting.  We would have to get a COVID test there and then quarantine for 7 days.  We checked with the city council who thought there might be a way around the quarantine if we just took off into the wilderness.  No shopping in the stores. Only deliveries to a hotel room. This was getting complicated and I didn’t feel good about it.  

Sigh. . .  Instead, we spent the weekend at home getting chores done and thought about a Plan D.  I also kept checking the weather which wasn’t changing.  What’s with all this rain in July? It feels like August. 

On Monday, I finally made up my mind. I was going to bike, rain be damned.  I felt like I was wasting my vacation.  I could do an abbreviated bikepack to Denali, across the Denali Hwy and back up to Delta Junction.  Eric would meet me there and we would head over to Nabesna.  We had a public use cabin off the Nabesna Road rented for 3 days so it wouldn’t matter if it kept raining (still the forecast).  Plan D was a go.

I took off early Wednesday morning and within 5 minutes had to put on my rain gear.  Oh well, I had already made peace with it raining all day, so I was okay with that.  The ride to Denali was mostly uneventful.  Pretty much on and off drizzle mixed with showers but also with periods of cloudy skies only. Really not too bad.  And for the first time ever, there was almost NO headwind south of Nenana.  

In spite of feeling good, I really wasn’t enjoying the ride.  I tried to tell myself it was because it was on pavement, there was traffic and I’ve done the ride before.  I told myself that tomorrow on the Denali Highway, away from traffic, it would be more fun. I was riding a lot slower than expected, but then I was on my fully loaded mountain bike.  I finally got to Healy (mile 115 for the day) when I got a flat.  

I know. I still use tubes.  I had been strongly considering switching to tubeless this summer but hadn’t done it yet.   I stopped to change tubes. (At least it wasn’t raining, and the bugs weren’t too bad!) I was proud of how quickly I was able to do everything, until I had to inflate the new tube.  Every time I tried to unscrew the pump from the valve, it unscrewed the valve core and I would lose all of the air.  Then I had to use the hand pump again to put in more air, only to not be able to get the pump off without having the valve core unscrew.  I did this multiple times, getting more frustrated. 

Finally, after an hour I was able to get enough air in to make it the last 10 miles to Denali.  I called Eric to whine and complain.  This was not making me want to continue on my bike ride.  But after getting to my campsite in Denali and eating dinner and finding somebody with a floor pump to pump up my tire, I had an attitude adjustment.  Tomorrow would be more fun. The weather was supposed to be better and I would be on gravel roads.

I set my alarm and was back on my bike by 6:30 AM.  But I still wasn’t enjoying the ride.  Why? Usually, I love to ride my bike.  A while later I stopped at McKinley Creekside bakery for a treat. When I came out, I had another flat.  What the heck?  I hadn’t had that many flats in the past 5 years! Was this a sign that I needed to change to tubeless tires?  Was it a sign that this ride wasn’t meant to be?  I did have a patch kit so I could fix the flat, but I decided I was done. It seemed like everything was pointing to me going home.  I texted Eric and he graciously agreed to drive 2 hours to pick me up without hesitating.  He’s the BEST! 

As I biked back to meet Eric, I kept thinking about why I wasn’t having fun.  Sure, the weather wasn’t great, but it wasn’t terrible.  My body was doing fine.  It was only a flat tire (well two actually).  I just didn’t want to be doing this ride. 

I felt like I was doing it because I should, not because I wanted to.  My heart wasn’t in it.  Was I wanting to ride something new and not the same old routes?  Did it have to do with not having our typical warm and sunny summer? Was COVID and how it affects us finally getting to me? Did it have to do with me stepping down as medical director on June 1 (which was my choice but is a big change for me)?  Probably a little of everything. I didn’t even second guess myself when I met Eric about 7 miles north of Healy.  I was ready to go back home (and not beat myself up about not following through). And come up with a new plan. Plan E. 

Even though I quit the ride, there were several positives. I did ride 125 miles yesterday and 40 miles today on a fully loaded bike. And I got to practice changing flats which is good.  And it definitely cemented my plans to switch to tubeless tires!  As soon as we get back from Plan E - the rest of our vacation.  I just hope we don’t have to come up with a Plan F!