Already in 2010 in New Zealand we were made aware of North America as a beautiful bike destination by a policeman. With our tour through the Canadian Rocky Mountains in 2013, we were then able to gain our first experience on this continent. So soon once a rough sketch for a route from Alaska to San Francisco emerged: After the flight to Anchorage and a train ride to Denali National Park, we will ride from there on the Denali Highway eastward towards Tok. From there we have two route options to Whitehorse (depending on weather and condition). From Skagway we will take ferries to Vancouver Island, from where we will follow the Pacific coast to San Francisco.

Once again the BLS travel center in Gümligen supported us in solving most of the logistical problems with flights, train, ferries and cab.

With our luggage we challenge many service providers on the way. For example, with the SBB door-to-door service, our luggage only barely had room in the courier's car (even though we had registered bicycle boxes). In Zurich, the luggage pickup was then only scheduled for 13:00, although our flight left at 14:00... how it came to this misinformation, neither we nor the staff of the SBB could find out. With the super helpfulness of the gentleman from the SBB baggage counter, we were nevertheless able to pick up everything already at 09:30 and start the check-in adventure. After the obstacle course through tightly dimensioned doors, escalators and elevators, we spent a whole hour with the check-in and the check-in and payment of the sports luggage. Although our luggage is always deposited in advance and the check-in itself runs smoothly, we are always amazed at how long the whole thing takes.

In Iceland we experienced an extremely speedy automatic passport control. The control in front of the gate took forever, because it was done by a single person.

We experienced Icelandair as a do-it-yourself airline. The transport itself they do at a fair price. However, it is better to bring the food yourself, since the sale on the plane takes a long time. You also need your own headphones for the modern and user-friendly in-flight entertainment system.

After landing in Anchorage, we noticed that there were three other bicycles on board besides us... otherwise we were the only ones there.

The immigration control was very fast. But before customs it was difficult to get a luggage cart for our 5 pieces of luggage, because most of them are only after customs. As in New Zealand, our luggage was checked for adhering soil. Thereby all bike boxes were opened and the cleanliness of the tandem was checked.

Afterwards we were brought to the hotel by the ordered cab with trailer. The driver asked us if we were moving to Alaska, as it was not usual to need a trailer for two passengers.

Now we will stock up on food in Anchorage and take the train to the national park on Tuesday.