Published: May 27, 2007 11:06 pm            

Q & A: Lockport native plans bike trip to Alaska

On June 12, Lockport High School graduate Aaron Wolfe will be embarking on an expedition from the coast of Anchorage, Alaska, through the Canadian Rockies, all the way to the Calgary, Alberta. He’ll even go as far as Oregon, depending on the weather.

Wolfe, 22, recently graduated from the College of Environmental Science and Forestry at the State University of New York in Syracuse with a degree in biotechnology. He’s taking a year off to “find himself” before pursuing a doctorate.

He expects the trip, which will take a minimum of 2,400 miles, to take up to eight weeks.

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QUESTION: Have you ever been on a trip like this before?

ANSWER: I’ve never been to Alaska and I’m really excited to go. This is probably one of the biggest trips I’ve ever done in my life. I’m going alone — that’s the biggest danger I’m adding to the mix this time.

But when I was 14, my uncle and I hitchhiked through Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and Belize. It was just a fantastic trip that taught me how to interact with other cultures and be my own man in the world.

I also did a bike trip in 2005. I went through Syracuse up to Vermont, New Hampshire, Quebec, Nova Scotia, all the way to Halifax. Then from Halifax to Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York City and then New Jersey.

I started with my friend, another Lockport kid ... . He left the trip in New Hampshire due to illness, about 500 miles in. I did a total of 2,300 miles for that trip.

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Q: What safety precautions will you be taking?

A: I won’t be staying in any hotels, the whole trip I’ll be camping outside. So I’ll be wearing a brightly-colored jersey, have lights on my bike, and I’ll be wearing my helmet the whole trip.

I’ll also have GPS, but I’ll be spending two or three days between towns a lot of the trip. I’m going to be in the Yukon territories. It’s really pretty desolate, and not actually even a province, just a territory.

The main safety worry, for me, is losing my food supplies to wildlife. If I lose my food and I’m on my bike, it’s my gas, my fuel. So then I won’t be able to continue riding. That’s the only serious problem I could see happening.

My food will be in a bear-proof canister that I’ll have to keep a mile or two outside of camp, to keep animals away from the campsite.

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Q: How are you funding the trip?

A: I have some sponsors, and they are providing me with equipment. Dudley Benedict, the owner of Shifting Gears Bike Shop, has helped me out quite a bit with equipment and knowledge.

Design Concepts, my father’s (Arnold Wolfe) company, and Micro Graphics helped my dad put together my jersey’s, which will have the logo for the “Wolfe Solo Tour Team” on them. We came up with that idea because my dad helped me out with the logistics of the trip.

Also, Silsby Insurance worked with my dad to put together a trailer for my bike. That way, the weight will be in the back of the bike, rather than on side-bags, so everything will be smoother and safer.

And I can’t thank my parents enough, because they support me so much it’s ridiculous.

But as for the actual currency, I’ll be supplying that myself.

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Q: What’s motivating you to do this?

A: My main motivation is that I love being outside, and I love things that take basic, primal guts.

It’s going to be difficult, mentally and physically, but I don’t want to be like most people who spend their whole lives being comfortable. I just want to see and do some adventurous things.

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Q: What’s it like being alone for such long periods of time?

A: When I’m in English-speaking countries, I’m never really going to be alone. I’ll meet a bunch of people.

The bike is a great way to meet people, because I don’t need anything from anybody. I’m not a threat. I’m just meeting people and they’re nice to me. You just picture being out on the bike somewhere, in a small town out in the wilderness of Alaska.

People are like, “what are you doing in my little town?” and you tell them what you’re doing, and they get really excited.

They ask why I’m here, and I tell them, “I wanted to be here,” and they say, “really?”

Thomas Halleck is an intern for the Union-Sun & Journal.

        

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