Winter Biking the Denali Highway

There are two stories here...
1. The photos do not speak of the difficulty.
2. The story does not speak of the beauty.

Winter Biking the Denali Highway from Josh Spice on Vimeo.

The Denali Highway is a 135 mile-long gravel road across the south side of the Alaska Range, between Cantwell and Paxson. It is 'closed' in the winter, as the state doesn't plow the road. However, local lodge owners groom it for snowmachine traffic and business, which means unless a storm has blown it shut, it's probably bike-able.

The longer daylight of March makes night riding mostly unnecessary, contrary to the rest of the Alaskan winter. 30 below temperatures meant for cold camping conditions and lots of puffy clothes... and incredibly slow, crunchy snow.

The snow was so crunchy and slow, we often had to pedal to continue moving downhill. Riding the flats was like pedaling an uphill grade. So many uphill sections had to be pushed, where as they should have been ride-able under normal conditions.
It was exhausting the entire way.

Day 1: 46 mi, Cantwell to Susitna Overlook
Day 2: 43 mi, Susitna Overlook to Maclaren Lodge
Day 3: 42 mi, Maclaren Lodge to Paxson

Type II fun at its finest.