Day 52
   
   6/18/01
   Mile 4730
   Near Healy, AK
   
   I left Fairbanks this morning, the northernmost point of my trip; from
   here I loop back south to Denali on the Parks road.  It's too cloudy
   to see the mountain, but that should change.
   
   Dragonflies are abundant in this area, flitting past me as I breeze
   along.  They're just about my favorite insect, for several reasons:
   they look so prehistoric (predating the dinosaurs), they have an unusual
   wing design, and they eat mosquitoes.
   
   Here's my recommendation on dealing with mosquitoes: DEET is OK, but I
   was better off with mechanical methods, such as impenetrable jackets
   and netting.  If you miss even the smallest spot with DEET, the insidious
   buggers home in on it and attack.  Even with a perfect job, a few
   misfits will bite anyway, and all of them will still swarm close about
   you threatening to bite.  The time for DEET is when it's too hot to wear
   long sleeves and pants.  I brought a bottle of it and actually used very
   little.  I also tried a miniature electronic repeller from Coleman.
   Don't bother.  While in laboratory tests they may show a "substantial" 
   decrease in the number of mosquitoes, the word "substantial" may mean 30%. 
   A cloud is still a cloud.
   
   There were only a few hundred miles left to cover.  I briefly
   considered doing the entire remaining distance continuously since
   daylight permits this.  I had done a similar stretch before, going diagonally
   across Ohio in a single nonstop marathon session of over 300 miles.  If I did
   not have a climb to do, I might have taken a shot at it.  But doing
   that now, fully loaded and already depleted, would likely wipe me out
   for days afterwards, and I'd risk blowing out joints or tendons.  The idea
   is to arrive in good condition, so I needed to protect my body from
   even small insults.  At altitude, injuries heal much slower due to the
   lack of oxygen available for rebuilding tissue.
   
   The mountain was never visible the entire day due to the clouds that
   covered it.  That's pretty common here.  But biking itself was a
   pleasant proposition, sun shining and birds chirping in an endless
   succession of hills and creekbeds.
   
   After cranking out a good century ride, I pitched camp in the bush
   again, listening to the sounds of the wilderness.  This road gets
   quiet late in the evening, unlike the Richardson Highway, and I heard a
   variety of birds and insects sending out their songs.

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