Alaska 2023

[Sadlsor]

Between real and artificial intelligence, one has to wonder which one is the real threat.

I maintain it was less a matter of "intelligence", and more a matter of her display of power and control over someone... maybe because Phil is a man, maybe because he was on a motorcycle, maybe just because she leads a very unhappy life.
Or maybe she was just having a very bad day.
The possibilities are exactly limitless, but in the end, we'll never know.
One thing is for sure... @Uncle Phil bore the unfortunate brunt of her decision and behavior on that day.
EDIT: And as for her insensitive quip, "Well you almost made it", I'm thinking "Yeah, and I ALMOST turned in my Man Card in exchange for the enjoyment of punching you in the face!"
But even though he fell down, Phil took the high road. (I suspect that although injured and in pain, he could have actually summoned up the strength for one good knockout blow.)
"I ain't as good as I once was, but I'm as good once as I ever was."

 

[Jethro]

Power tripping

 

[Uncle Phil]

More than likely a simple case of Hanlon's razor -

"Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity."

 

[Erdoc48]

"I ain't as good as I once was, but I'm as good once as I ever was."

Geez, I know this sooooo well.

UP, hope you heal quickly and you’re back on the horse(s) again.

 

[W0QNX]

UP, hope you heal quickly and you’re back on the horse(s) again.

Pssst, this is a secret but he rode 3,500 miles home already!

 

[Erdoc48]

Pssst, this is a secret but he rode 3,500 miles home already!

I know, I meant after his ribs and everything heal

 

[W0QNX]

I know, I meant after his ribs and everything heal

I thought you knew but it was a chance for me to brag on SuperPhil! You just can't knock him down!!

 

[Uncle Phil]

I thought you knew but it was a chance for me to brag on SuperPhil! You just can't knock him down!!

Oh, the Yukon Pilot truck driver knocked me down - but I just didn't stay down for long!
Off to MNSToc and WoodSToc afterwards on Wednesday ...

 

[randii]

@Uncle Phil , you can't sneeze, can't cough, and what's not funny is that you can't laugh either.

Hiccups are worth avoiding, as well!

 

[randii]

I had a few adventures with pilot cars, as well, but on the Dalton and the Alaskan Highway. The Haul Road bypass was bad, but the new roadbed they were building was worse, though... calcium chloride cocktail in what seemed like two inches of standing jello/mud. I will add to my gratitude list that I didn't have to fight ruts.

In my opinion other than Burwash Landing <-> Beaver Creek, the Canadian roads were better than the Alaskan roads where they were paved AND where they were under repair.

Randii

 

[Sadlsor]

Maybe we're "past" this thread, maybe not.
However, perusing earlier Alaska posts on ADVrider found this one about options for carrying spare fuel, and it reminded me of @Uncle Phil and his delightful meeting with the stop sign lady - yes, I've already been slapped once and reminded it was on the Yukon - but close enough to suggest these DOT (cough!) "ladies" are hostile to motorcyclists for some reason.
Enjoy (from May 2023)...

"Btw, be very careful when the girl with the stop sign at the construction zone "waves you to the front of the line". We rode to the Arctic Circle. She waved us up. As the follow me vehicle came and turned around to take us thru a Terex Earth Mover (you know, the dump truck with 15' tall wheels) got in front of us and started dropping baseball size gravel. Before I could say "uh, this ain't right" the follow me truck heads off and the sign girl says "go!" Instead of doing the smart thing and pulling off... Because it hasn't processed in my mind and clicked yet exactly what is going wrong... We went.

Now, imagine baseball sized gravel that has never been packed down while on two wheels (I was two up) & vehicles behind you that you already got ahead of who can negotiate such gravel much faster than you... riding your ass.... Yeh, it was not a pleasant experience. We were literally sliding about a foot side to side as the gravel rolled settling in.

Yes, the stop sign holders are female. It prevents arguments, fighting and, well, it's Alaska, so guns and alcohol are pretty common. "

 

[Sadlsor]

Well, would you lookie here. Another upvote for UP, and this one was a more successful outcome with "flag lady", also in the same ADVrider thread from May this year.
Check it out.

"Prevents arguments? Well maybe, sometimes.

Spousal Unit prefers to be last in a group going thru a construction zone. She doesn’t like to be pushed by a semi when riding on mud, unpacked soil or large rocks. On one of our trips between AK and the Sates we stopped at a construction zone and pulled to the shoulder so other vehicles could go around us. We were about fourth in line. The flag lady motioned for us to come to the front. SU shook her head no, another call to the front, another no and then a third call and denial. Flag lady moves towards us screaming what was essentially, “YOU MUST RESPECT MY AUTHORITY!” SU shakes her head touches her helmet near the ears and with equal gusto shouts, “I CAN’T HEAR YOU!” Flag lady approaches with a face as red as her flag, gesticulating wildly and again demands our obedience. SU quietly hits the engine cutoff switch and informs flag lady her bike will not start. The pilot car was nearing so flag lady returned to the front of the line to let everyone pass. Miraculously, SU was able to get her bike restarted and away we went, last in line. I’ve learned to remain silent in these sort of situations: say nothing, do not laugh or giggle, just stare at the horizon."

 

[randii]

I encountered another flag person at the old Happy Man Hill (65.62578141576712, -149.09142088172334 bypassed and closed since the early 90s) north of the Yukon River on the Dalton -- she had a dog named Trevor, who was enjoying her air conditioned vehicle. Nice dog, and nice lady, IMHO. Maybe me being nice to her dog was the key?

I didn't speak to the pilot car lady directly, but I did hang back far enough so that I could pick my line carefully. The worst bit was when the pilot car slowed down to 10mph for fresh cobble by Hess Creek, a speed where it is tough to maintain steerage in baseball-sized cobble. That's about where you transition from driving on top of the cobble to where gravity brings you between the cobble. :/ Rolling stand-up and loose through cobble is easier from the top, and I was grateful that she accelerated back up about when I was deciding whether to pass her or continue with the upper body bar-wrestling workout. Maybe the pilot car folks aren't trained on 2-wheeled equipment?

If I find myself in line at a construction zone next time, I think I'm going to try to hang back and take my chances in line, instead of pulling to the side to make eye contact and get waved to the front. No way to hide on the Dalton (too little traffic), but easy enough on the longer backups on busier roads like the Alaskan Highway. SadIsor's SU may have the right idea with assuming the caboose position.

 

[Sadlsor]

Ha!
My SU won't ride with me to the grocery store, much less to Alaska -- she HATES motorcycles.
Both those posts were from ADVrider in May of this year.
I tossed them out there because @Uncle Phil was seduced (or threatened) by a flag lady, and he got the worst of the encounter, by far.

 

[sirbike]

I am in Dease Lake BC on the Cassiar. When I asked a traveler in a Jeep pulling a small camper about roads north, he gave a stressed answer about how bad the road from Dawson City is. Sounds like the rut that UP made deeper is still there.

 

[Uncle Phil]

That road construction made the Top of the World highway from Dawson City to the border look like an interstate ...
If you go that way, be aware that the border is only open for certain hours - not 24 hours a day.
8 AM to 6 PM IIRC.

 

[Firstpeke]

Phil.... I am, well stunned at your ability to ride through various levels of pain and keep going.... I remember you riding after your first knee replacement and thinking that perhaps you were just being a big ruff tuff guy.... turns out I underestimated your abilities by some margin.

"Semper fi" doesn't cover your ability to get up and get going....

"Per virtutem per ignem" is perhaps more appropriate for you.

My favourite of course, most appropriately for you, from Philippians 4 v13 "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me"

Ride on.

Heal well.

 

[Uncle Phil]

Well as Paul Harvey would say - 'NOW, THE REST OF THE STORY!'
I went for my semi-annual check-up this morning.
I misunderstood what the phone message they had left previously said about my ribs.
My doctor told me this morning that ribs number 5 and 6 were cracked but not displaced.
Which means there was nothing that needed to be done which was the basis of the phone message.
That explains why I was having a little trouble breathing laying on the ground after the get-off.
So I was not broke or badly bent, I was actually cracked .... but some of you know that already!
That explains why the whole affair hurt so badly and is still a little sore.

 

[catcher]

Actually cracked! Little wonder that you had something to say about rough roads on the Friday ride at WoodSToc!

 

[Sadlsor]

Cracked ribs are no joke.
And doncha hate it when people tell jokes in your presence, and you try so hard not to laugh.
Gives a whole new meaning to "laughed till I hurt."
Don't take long, does it?
And heaven forbid you have to sneeze...