Day 71
   
   7/7/01
   Mile 5045
   Anchorage, AK
   
   I came once again into more mountainous territory as I approached the
   Chugach range, with its green, fog-laced peaks.  Alaska has spent a
   lot of effort on bike trails, and I started seeing more of them as I went
   farther south.  Well-paved, in Anchorage they even lead underneath
   roads via large culverts for completely safe and uninterrupted travel.  I
   find it counterintuitive that in North America, the farther north you
   go, the more attention is paid to bike trails.
   
   Months ago, I had posted a message on an internet newsgroup
   (rec.bicyling) asking about route info for my trip.  An Anchorage
   local and fellow cyclist, Ken Mathis, had intercepted it and offered to 
   let me stay at his house when I got to town.  This guy had seen, on the
   TV news, the remaining fragment of the collapsed Iron Creek bridge that
   I'd crossed in Canada, so he knew exactly what I was up against - and 
   was predisposed to think I was some kind of animal, a wild-eyed "cyclist 
   from hell" or something.  He and his wife Nancy took me around town to 
   show me the sights, and we stayed up late discussing the cycling world.
   
   I have a few days to kill, since I'm leaving on the Inside Passage
   ferry out of Seward, and it only sails once a month on that segment -
   Friday the 13th.

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