Derek Neary
Northern News Services

Fort Simpson (Mar 12/04) - There are faster, not to mention warmer, ways to see the North.

But Shinji Mitsubori wouldn't have it any other way. He's planning to cover more than 1,200 kilometres of NWT terrain on his bicycle.

Shinji Mitsubori, of Tokyo, Japan, passed through Fort Providence, Fort Simpson and Wrigley last week on his pedal-powered journey to Tuktoyaktuk. - Derek Neary/NNSL photo

His two-wheeled trek began in Yellowknife on Feb. 24. He's been pedaling 60 to 120 km per day depending on road conditions and the weather.

He came dressed for the cold, but windy days are especially brutal, he acknowledged, telling of mildly frost-bitten toes.

Although he's fit, cycling all day in a harsh Northern winter takes its toll.

"My knees are very tired, and sometimes in pain, but when I take a rest for one day or maybe two I become fine," said the 29-year-old.

He's not new to adventure travel. He pedaled a good portion of the Alaskan Highway during the summer five years ago. He has also cycled across parts of South America.

He chronicled his progress in a journal and later detailed it in magazine articles back in Japan, where he also works as an outdoor guide.

While on the road, he subsists on tea, soup, macaroni, noodles, nuts, rice, cans of corned beef and a daily vitamin pill.

When he's not able to reach a motel room for the night, he gets his sleep in his tent or in a roadside shelter.

It was in one of these shelters between Fort Providence and Fort Simpson where he noticed the name of a contemporary scribbled on the wall. Nobuhiko Kawaguchi made a similar trip by bicycle in 2000. Although Mitsubori doesn't know him, he said he derived strength from seeing Kawaguchi's name in Japanese characters.

Imminent closure of the winter roads

"Just four years ago another Japanese made this trip, so I think maybe I can do the same thing," he said, although he noted the imminent closure of the winter roads may force him to fly a greater stretch of the distance than he initially anticipated.

The journey can be long and lonely, he said, but he prefers to go it alone.

A few motorists have stopped to talk to him while others, "Say hello in their eyes," he said.

A lover of nature, Mitsubori said he was surprised at how similar the scenery had been from Yellowknife to Fort Simpson.

"Very boring," he said laughing. "I like mountains."