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Anchorage Daily News August 4th 2002
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Pat DeFeo hadn't driven a motorcycle in a
decade. Earlier this summer, the Delaware pharmaceutical company employee
found herself soaking in the soothing waters of Manley Hot Springs after
a day spent straddled across a Suzuki 650, dodging bugs, loose gravel,
mud and the occasional moose.
DeFeo and her boyfriend, Mike Martin, both of Wilmington, Del., were among
a group of five who rented motorcycles in Girdwood and drove to the Arctic
Circle, with stops at Manley and Chena Hot Springs outside Fairbanks.
Their $2,500 per-person guided trip, booked through Alaska Rider Tours
of Girdwood, covered roughly 1,220 miles in eight days. The group pitched
their tents under the midnight sun most nights but otherwise didn't rough
it, DeFeo said.
"We had halibut the first night. We had chicken curry one night.
We had pasta primavera with salmon in it another night," said DeFeo.
Mornings began with eggs, pancakes, breakfast meats, fruit, coffee and
orange juice, all of it prepared by their guide, Phil Freeman, owner of
Alaska Rider Tours. Freeman, a former fly-fishing and rafting guide who
grew up in Anchorage, started the company five years ago.
Rumbling across Alaska by motorcycle is a niche market that's not for
the faint of heart. But it's a healthy and growing segment of the state's
visitor industry, according to riders and business owners.
At least three companies in and around Anchorage rent motorcycles or offer
guided tours to scenic spots including the Arctic Circle, the Denali Highway,
Prince William Sound, the Kenai Peninsula, and Canada's Yukon territory.
Although Alaska state officials don't keep statistics on motorcycle tourism,
more visitors rent motorcycle every year, business owners said, and the
companies keep adding to their fleets to keep up with demand.
When Nancy and Keith Hull launched Hull's Alaska Motorcycle Adventures
in Palmer nine years ago, they started off with two bikes. This summer
they have 13, mostly BMW touring motorcycles designed for both pavement
and gravel, Nancy Hull said. The couple offers four trips a summer in
Alaska and the Yukon, with guests staying in hotels and bed and breakfasts
along the way. Prices range from $3,000 to $4,000, with everything included,
she said.
The Hulls work in partnership with Edelweiss Bike Travel, an Austrian
company that books motorcycle tours worldwide. The Alaska couple provides
the equipment, the food and the guides, and Edelweiss does the sales and
marketing. Many of the customers are European.
"It's been a good partnership. We've been doing their tours for five
years," Nance Hull said.
Like other high-end motorcycle tourists willing to pay thousands of dollars
for a trip, the Hulls' clients defy the classic biker stereotype, said
Joanne Berndt, who works the front desk at Klondike Kate's Restaurant
and Cabins in Dawson City. Berndt served an all-male group of 10 recently.
She described them as laid-back yuppies and aging baby-boomers.
"They were definitely the vodka martini type. They weren't pounding
beers," said Berndt, who joined the visitors at a local pub after
work.
One of the men brought his son along, she recalled.
"They all acted like mother hen around him."
Fire and Ice Motorcycle Rentals on Spenard Road in Anchorage is also cashing
in on the tourist market for motorcycles. The family-run company has not
only beefed up its inventory, but it has opened similar shops in Phoenix
and Manchester, N.H. Steve Perrins, a hunting guide and Internet entrepreneur,
started the business in 1998. His teenage son, Steve Jr., manages the
Anchorage shop with help from his four younger brothers and occasionally
his mom. Even the extended family pitches in.
" My uncle is running the New Hampshire location," said Steve
Jr., 19, a Dimond High School graduate.
The older Perrins was a motorcycle enthusiast who saw a need in Alaska
for a place that rents bikes. Because the season only lasts from May to
September, the family decided to bring the motorcycles down to a warm
spot like Phoenix to round out the year. Hence the name, Fire and Ice.
Business was so good they expanded to New Hampshire where relatives live,
Perrins said.
Unlike the businesses in Palmer and Girdwood, Fire and Ice specializes
in daily and weekly rentals, not guided tours. And it rents Harley-Davidsons
only, which is just fine for riders like Geoffry Rockwell who like to
set their own schedule.
The Anchorage cab driver has lived in Alaska for 22 years and doesn't
need anyone to lead him around the state on a tour. He has owned five
motorcycles off and on since he has lived in the state. Fatherhood and
then divorce put a stop to his biking trips, Rockwell said. Although he
didn't ride for many years, the itch never went away. The night-shift
cabbie finally broke down and stopped by Fire and Ice last summer.
"I couldn't stand it anymore," Rockwell said. "I can't
quit riding. It's in my blood."
He has rented two or three times and usually goes down to Seward or up
to the Mat-Su area. Last weekend, Rockwell headed to the Talkeetna Bluegrass
Festival. Between insurance, rental fees and gas, the daily price tag
for a Harley runs him around $195, he said.
Most motorcycle rental shops require a $1,000 security deposit at the
time of pickup - usually done with swipe of a credit card.
Riders must be 25 years of age or older and have a motorcycle license.
At least a year of experience on a 600 cc motorcycle is advised.
For Dan Reida, a chiropractor who lives on Cape Cod, south of Boston,
a motorcycle trip he took to the Arctic this summer with his son fulfilled
a 20-year-old dream. Reida had always wanted to crisscross Alaska on the
back of a bike, but the birth of his children threw a hitch into his plans.
His son, Austin, how 21, reminded Reida of his back-burner goal last winter.
The two decided to do the trip together. They contacted Freeman and booked
the same trip that DeFeo and her boyfriend went on. Reida described it
as thrilling and hair-raising experience that exceeded his expectations.
"The highlight was surviving each day," Reida said. "Getting
to the Arctic Circle was our mission, and getting back from the Arctic
Circle was our mission too."
The riders endured three days of constant rain before the sun broke through.
The bugs and potholes added "a great deal of intensity to each day,"
he said.
One rider wiped out and broke her foot three days into the trip, Reida
said.
Freeman said the accident was the first he's had during the five years
he's been in operation. It taught him that he needs to be more disciplined
as a guide, regardless of his clients'skills, Freeman said.
"I learned that I need to hold the reins a little tighter,"
he said. "These guys are accomplished riders. But this is Alaska."
On lonely stretches of Alaska roads, medical help can be hours away and
cell phones often don't work. Those, combined with wildlife and unpredictable
weather, are among the special hazards the state poses that riders are
made aware of before they rent, Nancy Hill said.
Motorcycle riding is inherently dangerous, which is big part of what makes
it so exhilarating, riders said. That's not unlike a lot of other thrilling
Alaska-type activities. "Its part of river rafting. It's part of
sea kayaking, "Freeman said.
Riders either savor the risks or they turn around and bring the bike back,
several owners said.
Even after the wipeout this summer, the clients walked away happy, Freeman
said.
"They left with smiles and sunburns."
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Anchorage Daily News
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