Spoiler alert!!! They were drunk.

I am lying in my tent at Eagle Plains and listening to two cyclists talk about their day tomorrow. And yes, you read that right CYCLISTS. As in a bicycle. That you pedal. These guys are cycling the Dempster Hwy and are on their way back to Dawson.

If I had pants on, I might just make my way out of my tent to chat with them because the obvious burning question is, “why?”.

Is their life so ho-hum that they needed to cycle some death terrain for 700kms (each way!!)? And where signs like this…. are commonplace?

One of the guys is worried that his knee is bothering him a bit much to make it all the way tomorrow, as there is a 43km climb and such. Other guy is all, no problem dude, if we have to slow it down, we can totally do that. (Ummmm did you READ the sign?? I wouldn't be slowing down if I were you, I'd be giving ol weak knee a speed em up pep talk. Like the faster we go, the faster we're done kind of thing. And, you know, more likely to be alive.)

Amazingly, there have been a lot of cyclists on my routes. Some are the Lance Armstrong's, some are German and the rest seem young and still thinking they're invincible. I just don't get it.

Forget the amount of actual work that is involved, I can't get past the part where bears chase you. I have seen SO MANY bears on the side of the roads and some get all bent out of shape about a car slowing down, but a cyclist? Why not just walk around with some bacon grease slathered on you? - at least your end might come quicker.

Enough with the cyclist rant, I was going to write you a description of the first day of Demptser driving and how I survived the mudslides and insane driving but it's all rather anticlimactic after cycling dude's conversation. So I will lie here, trying to sleep, but not because it's as bright and sunny as it was at 1pm even though it's now 1130pm, and I will continue to apply Benadryl to the approximately 643 bites I have from the stupid noseeums that fit through every mesh screen I have. It would be easier to just have a can of spray Benadryl. Someone should invent that. Like bug spray but not - it should be bite spray. I will also spend some time contemplating the drive tomorrow and hoping/wishing/praying that it is easier than today or I might come home addicted to something.

I will write a lovely and detailed post all about it when it's over and I've calmed down. (Although, the frought with tension version might be entertaining. We will see how tomorrow goes.)

Oh, I will tell you one thing, I stopped to help some tourists who got a flat tire and DID NOT HAVE A SPARE.

They did have a tire patch kit though, so I supplied the tools needed to get them back on the road. When they arrived at Eagle Plains a few hours behind me, the lady saw me and gave me huge hug and kept saying “thank you, thank you” (they were not English speakers so it might be the only words she knew!). I'm pretty sure when I stopped to help them she was setting all kinds of curses upon her husband - understanding the words was irrelevant, the tone told me all I needed to know. Anyways, I'm sure tomorrow will bring new adventures. I’ll let you know...