We started the day with everybody congregating around the RV. We got all the bikes (still in their boxes) out and slowly started to put them together. Every tool imaginable between Dave and Farid meant that it went really smoothly. Suneet and and I got into the RV with all the chaos of the bags and the food and started to try to put things away (thanks Lori you’re an awesome shopper). We had our last coffee from ‘Baked’.

Once the bikes were assembled we thought we better pop by the bike store to make sure we had done everything correctly. There were a few minor adjustments and then a few major purchases (guess who?). What’s worse then a bunch of gearheads in an awesome store? The people at ‘Icicle’ biking were amazing.

Last-minute groceries and then we hit the road. I have to say the drive to Dawson city was like something out of a Harry Potter novel because the drive just seemed to get longer as we were driving.  In that optical illusion way, I thought we were going up, Suneet thought we were going down, and Dale thought we were driving flat.

We passed some gentle smoldering full forest fires and evidence of significant burns. The road intermittently detoured through sandy sections with us wheel clutching. Finally as we got closer to Dawson city we put on some rock ‘n’ roll and started to sing because we knew we were almost there!

The current bet now is: Who will get the first flat? How long till the first flat? What day will we get a flat tire on the RV?

Sourtoe – Farid’s notes

A while back I was chatting with a friend about cycling the Dempster highway. Having been to Dawson city, he told me that the “right of passage” of any visitor of Dawson is to have the Sourtoe cocktail.

Now that we are finally here, after a lot of arm twisting and convincing, I got 4/5 of us to commit to drinking this cocktail. A person forever known as X, the most sensible of us, remained resistant… here is why:

In 1920, a rum-runner (alcohol smuggler) named Louie Linken and his brother Otto were doing a cross border delivery. A terrible blizzard hits. To direct his dog team, Louie stepped off the sled into icy overflow. Prolonged exposure to the cold caused Louie’s toe to freeze completely. To prevent gangrene,  with an Axe, Otto cut-off the toe. They preserved it in a jar of alcohol. 

Years later, in 1973, Captain Dick Stevenson found the preserved toe in a jar. He wanted to capitalize on the summer tourists heading to the Top of the World Highway. He created a club – The Sour Toe club – and crowned himself the Toe Captain. He put the shriveled toe in a glass of champagne and called it the Sourtoe Cocktail. 

To join this club, you have to order the drink and let the toe touch your lips. Of course we didn’t have Captain Dick, but rather Captain Al. He poured us a shot of whisky, added the shriveled toe, and said: “Drink it fast or drink it slow, but either way, your lips must touch this gnarly looking toe!”

There are a few rules… 

1. No tongue touching
2. No biting
3. No swallowing

Yes, people have swallowed the toe…. It used to be a 500$ fine but now increased to 2,500$.

The club is still running based on donations. People who loose their toe, donate it to Captain Al, for maintaining admittance to the club…….