Day 04 - Break Down!
The day started off well. We made it past an enormous wildfire that closed the highway not five minutes behind us.
Life was still good as we crossed into the Yukon. Beautiful weather; beautiful ride.
Disaster stuck 30 minutes later. Yes, that is Gertie's chain. Middle of nowhere. No cell coverage. Rain on the horizon. Life was no longer good.
I set up camp in the ditch while John headed to Whitehorse (4 hours away) to find a new chain and rear sprocket. I expected to be there for days. I was wrong.
John stopped for fuel at a sketchy roadside station not 70 km down the road, where the elderly gentleman running the station thought his buddy "might have something lying around". Incredibly, he had a chain off an old VStrom (with master link) that was close enough! Our hero was heading back to save the day in less than 90 mins.
John repaired Gertie as I struck camp. We were back on the road after only a four hour delay, but the Frankenchain meant Gertie could safely do no more than 80 kph. It was painful, but nowhere near as painful as spending three days in a ditch!
We limped in to Teslin at 2300, in the pouring rain. We set up camp and crashed.
From jaws of defeat, John snatched victory!