Clarkston graduate Keith Voorheis was a member of the Alaska Adventure PAC tour, which completed a tour of Alaska along a 12-day, 1,300-mile trip that started in Anchorage, Alaska on July 9.
‘It was absolutely beautiful,? said Voorheis, a 2006 graduate of Clarkston High School. He added getting use to the sun lighting the sky 20 hours a day was difficult. Voorheis said when each leg of the trip began at 6 a.m., the sky was already perfectly lighted.
The Alaska Adventure PAC tour consisted of several stops in large cities such as Valdez, Fairbanks, Anchorage and Denali National Park, where Voorheis was able to see Mt. McKinley, North America’s largest mountain at 20,320 feet in height. There were riders on this elite-level trip from many countries including Germany, Australia and Canada.
Voorheis said the riders were split into groups of three or four and travelled an average of 110 miles per day for up to eight hours. The riders maintained an average of 16 to 18 mph on the trip.
That was not the case, Voorheis said, during the day they traveled the greatest incline en route to Valdez.
‘That was probably the most physically challenging part,? Voorheis said.
He said the first day the group started riding, everyone faced headwinds up to 35 mph out of Anchorage (also the place the trip returned to at the end).
Voorheis trained for the event all spring. He received a reduced entry fee into the event because he was a crew member for the trip, helping set up stages and repair bicycles between stages.
This was Voorheis? first PAC tour event and he said he would love to make the trek again.
Voorheis said he loves riding his bikes to and from Kensington Metropark in Milford Township and Indian Springs Metropark in Springfield Township.
‘There’s a lot of stuff out here for bicycling,? Voorheis.
Voorheis said his father instilled the passion for bike riding he still has today. He also said he owns a mountain bike, but road cycling is more ‘his thing.?
‘My family has always been really active’we did a lot of biking.?
Voorheis will travel to Northern Michigan University in the fall where he will be a member of the cycling team. He said he got his interest in politics from being part of 52-2 District Court Judge Dana Fortinberry’s 2002 campaign. He was also part of the teen court program, serving as a prosecutor.