Find out more about our PPP rides HERE.
07-16-2025 - Birch Hill-ish Solo
Report by Monica
It was one of those perfect Fairbanks summer evenings… you know the kind. Sunny, but not too sunny. Some clouds, but not too many clouds, and no rain clouds in sight! Warm, but not too hot. As I said, just a perfect evening.
With my co-leaders out for the next couple weeks (they are headed to Iowa to do RAGBRAI), I had a solo ride tonight. I rode out to Trax and decided to turn back before heading all the way up Birch Hill. After all, the sooner I turned around, the sooner I could be at Lat65, sitting in the sun and drinking a cold brew!
07-03-2025 - Airport Hot Lap
Report by Ginny
Tonight's PPP ride #9 around the airport couldn't have happened on a more beautiful night.
Six riders started from Pioneer Park about 10 minutes late because of stragglers (i.e., ME) headed under the Peger Road bridge and through the Riverview neighborhood, where we picked up another rider (Rulon!). After that, we rode past Chena's Alaskan Grill and Evee saw Neil and Kieren (sp?), and hollered at them to meet us at Black Spruce Brewing. They quickly hopped on their bikes and joined the group.
With a bit of a headwind, which seems to happen to me no matter which direction I go around the airport, we were able to watch the firefighting planes fill up in the float pond and circle around towards the fires. This time of year, I really have a love/hate relationship with Fairbanks summers.
Once at Black Spruce Brewing Company, Matthew & Nita joined us for a visit. Some of us even gobbled up some Gyro goodness. After some cold beers and marionberry sodas, we headed back to the park. I quick ride and we were back.
A great crew, a beautiful night, and a fun ride. 10/10, would recommend.
06-25-2025 - Dam It
Report by Monica
Last night's ride was definitely an adventure! There were three of us that met out in North Pole, braving the dark clouds and sprinkles on the drive out. By 6pm, it was blue skies and sunshine, so we headed out towards the Chena Lakes Rec Area.
Hurst Road has a nice bike path along the side of the road, and we saw a handful of people using it. Nelson Road has no bike path, and not much of a shoulder, so we tried to stick to the edge as much as possible. I recently got a Garmin Varia bike radar, and can highly recommend it. It was great to get a little warning when vehicles were coming up behind us so we could make sure to get single file and be considerate riders.
The main goal of the ride last night, aside from health and fitness and all that stuff, was to nab the Summer Trails Challenge sign, which is (supposedly) on the Chena Lakes bike path. The path was replaced last year, and let me tell you, it is gorgeous 😍. It’s sleek and smooth and shiny and everything you could want in a bike path!
We followed it to the Lake Park cut off, and still not seeing the Trail Challenge sign, decided to hop on to the road and ride to the dam. Well, you can only get to the River Park due to construction. And still, no sign. So we consulted the Oracle (the Trail Challenge Guide) and found out that we hadn’t been looking in the right place for the sign. So we turned around again and headed back to the Lake Park turn off.
I don’t want to spoil it for you and tell you exactly where the trail sign is. And honestly, I couldn’t even if I wanted to, because we still didn’t find the damn thing!
Despite the earlier sunshine, the darker clouds were starting to roll in, and we decided it was probably best to head back to our cars. We battled valiantly against a strong headwind, and tried to ignore the sprinkles of rain that were starting to fall. Our speed increased… if there were Strava segments, I think we would have PR’d them.
Thankfully, we managed to stay dry, and had a nice 21-mile ride (thanks to a few circles in the parking lot so I could end on a round number).
Pics of threatening skies by Evee.
06-04-2025 - Mush to Mushers Hall and Ice Cream
Report by Ginny
Wednesday night’s ride was a good one. Evee, Elle, Gus & Ginny took off from Pioneer Park riding toward Mushers Hall. Anne was running late so she decided to ride from her house (near the Mushers Hall) then ride back with us.
It was a rocky start when we observed a gentleman on the side of the bridge that needed help. Thankfully, 2 women he knew helped him out so we didn’t need to intervene.
The ride itself was a bit chilly, but once you got moving you warmed up really quick.
We met Anne around the UAF Taku lot on Farmers Loop and headed toward Mushers Hall. Anne wore a neon orange jacket that you could see 200 miles away! We eventually lost Elle to her driveway before the Mushers Hall and Gus at the same spot on the way back.
The rest of the group - Evee, Anne and Ginny - decided a trip to Hot Licks on the way back was in order. Anne agreed to doubleback again for some ice cream!
Unfortunately, their ice cream machine that makes the hard ice cream was broken, so we had to suffer with giant waffle cones filled with soft serve and Oreo chunks. I’ll forgive them.
After ice cream, Anne headed back home and Evee and Ginny continued on to the cars. Despite the dark clouds we never felt a drop.
05-28-2025 - Dark and Stormy But Dryness Prevailed
Typical Fairbanks summer weather, right? Looks nice all day long and then at 5pm the wind picks up, the dark clouds roll in, and it starts to look like rain.
By 6pm, the dark clouds were moving out of the area, so 2 brave souls headed out on the Badger Rd Bike Path. Rain jackets were brought along, just in case, but we were optimistic that they wouldn’t be needed. There were a few others on the path, who were also hoping not to get caught in the rain (although we did catch a 4-wheeler who definitely didn’t belong!)
The longer we rode, the better the weather got, and as we turned around to head back to the start, the sun was actually trying to peek out. We ended our ride under bright sunlight, a double rainbow, and a pair of bald eagles circling majestically overhead, screaming out their cries of freedom.
Ok, just kidding, we didn’t see any eagles… but it is a pretty great feeling to tempt fate and escape without getting hit by a single raindrop!
05-21-2025 - Snacks After Almost Battling the Death Star
Report by Monica
The PPP’ers had a great ride last night!
Seven of us started out, modifying our route slightly to make sure we all got counted by FAST Planning’s annual bike and pedestrian count. Unfortunately, Rachel’s tire blew out less than a mile later, so she called it a night and walked back to Pioneer Park. Hopefully she got counted a second time!
The rest of us kept heading towards the airport, enjoying one of the best bike paths in town; the one along Boat St / Hoselton Rd. It’s so smooth and nice and wide; we definitely need more bike paths like it!
We headed down Dale Rd (which is not nearly as nice and smooth!) and took a quick break to hydrate and regroup before turning onto the Airport Industrial Rd and starting our trip around the airport. You never know how windy it’s going to be, so in my brain it was a bit like commencing the bombing run on the Death Star…
But, we lucked out and had very little wind to fight! That definitely added to the enjoyment factor of the ride. Our goal in sight, we picked up the pace a little bit, taking Van Horn Rd to Peger, and then turning in to Black Spruce Brewing.
We had some drinks and some food… Evee got the most delicious looking cheesecake stuffed strawberries! It was very pleasant hanging out, but we eventually had to restart the Garmins and head back to Pioneer Park.
05-14-2025 - Headwind, Tailwind, Mysterious Mechanical
Report by Eric
We had a fun ride on the PPP outing this week! Nine total came along. Henry was on his bike swap bike, and Hazel had Henry's old bike, which meant it was her first ride on a geared bike with hand brakes! Most awesome!
On the down side, we had a couple of mechanicals. Monica's was right out of the starter chute. We flipped her bike upside down and it didn't look right. (Well, most bikes don't look right upside down!) But her derailleur look wonky. Must have been from her Major Crash last week. But we decided it would probably work good enough for tonight. And we were right! (But she's going to take it to the shop to get fixed.)
We also had a mysterious mechanical that convinced us Amber had done some chain magic. The chain had somehow gotten outside the guide that sits almost right on top of the first gears. There is absolutely no room for the chain to get outside of that, but somehow Amber found a way! Unfortunately, she didn't know the magic to get the chain back around the guide. Fortunately, we had science (i.e. a multitool) to fix that.
We also had to deal with the headwinds for part of the ride, but that meant when we turned around we had tailwinds. Wheeeeeeeee!!!!!!!
Pic by Eric
05-07-2025 PPP Ride - First Ride of the Season
Report by Monica
Six riders braved the cloudy and cool weather tonight for a nice ride around town. We were lucky and only had a few sprinkles of rain, although Evee swears she got hit by a hail stone.
We had to share the bike path with walkers and runners from the Water Walk, but once we got through Pioneer Park and headed under the Peger Rd bridge, we had the bike paths all to ourselves. They were all in really good shape, hardly any loose rocks on them.
I’m not sure how I managed it, but from a complete stop while waiting for the traffic light on the corner of Danby and Johansen, I tipped over and fell off my bike. Everyone sprang into action quickly and made sure I was ok. We got my knee cleaned up, neosporin applied, and a bandaid put on, and then put an ice pack under my bike pants. I was able to finish out the ride thanks to everyone’s help!
We rode down the Johansen to College Rd to Illinois, and then along the Chena River Bike Path back to Pioneer Park. As we passed the Water Treatment Plant on 2nd Ave, they had the DJ playing some sweeeeet tunes, so we got to sing along to the Macarena.
We loaded up our bikes and headed for home, looking forward to next week’s ride.
