Name: Melinda Rae Duplisea
Place you call home: North Pole, Alaska.
What you ride:
I ride a Suzuki z400. Next season I should be riding Yamaha YFZ450 and I am pretty excited!
Tell us a little about your life:
Well I was born and raised in Lincoln, Maine. The paper mill my dad worked at ended up shutting down, and my parents decided to move to Alaska. We visited almost every summer, because my sisters live here, and my dad is originally from Anchorage.
Tell us about your town - North Pole- come on girl, spill it. Does Xmas make it a crazy place?
North Pole, it’s a pretty small town… id say you could visit every store within 5 minutes. However it’s pretty nice here. We have quite a bit to do for a small town. We have a skate park, BMX Park and an MX track. That’s about it, but its a lot more than my old town. ~Laughs~ Christmas time here, people think would be hectic, But really its not. Santa’s house is right down the road, and it’s during the summer that it’s crazy with motor homes and stuff. However it’s a beautiful time to be in North Pole during the Christmas season. The Light poles are all wrapped with red ribbon, to get the candy cane effect. Different Santa decorations, it’s really neat. The town is really creative. North Pole is a good place to visit for sure. Although…. Santa goes to Hawaii over Christmas vacation; he puts the sign up and goes! Hope you catch him!
What is the riding like in Alaska?
Riding in Alaska is unbeatable! Maybe it’s because I grew up in a place where riding was basically outlawed. But Alaska riding is awesome. Not only do we have some amazing MX tracks, even one right here in my hometown, but the most scenic trails you can imagine. Not only that, but they go everywhere! No matter what road you’re on, there’s a ATV trail rite along side of it. Then they branch off into the woods and go for miles. There’s also lots of different terrain. We have lots of mud, so if you’re into that, Alaska's the place to go. We have dirt, and dirt tracks, so if racing or just riding smooth is your thing, come to Alaska. We have the rocky areas as well. So if your into a challenge, Alaska is great! Just everything you can imagine. Even winters are great when it’s not to cold, it’s always a blast to get a bunch of your buddies together and take your quads out and do some sliding! Getting stuck in the snow, pulling them out, and doing it all over again! Great place to make some riding memories! And if you’re into snowmobiling, that is HUGE up here, as you can imagine! All in all, id rate Alaska #1, for a place to ride!
What are the winters like? And explain this whole day/night deal.
If I could describe winter in two words, id say cold and short. Last winter was my first, and I froze. I member it first starting getting down to like.. 20 and 30, then 0.. and I wanted to quit. But by the end of the winter, everyone celebrates when it hits 0! The coldest it got last winter was I think –54 in this area. Mom wouldn’t let me go to school. We don’t have snow days, rarely we have ice days.. but when it gets –50 or colder, its optional to go to school. And it’s not really what people think, is not always 50 or 60 below, that’s just a couple of weeks. Most the time its around –20 or –30. Darkness, ya.. we do have that. ~laughs~ Its not dark all day, we do have a couple hours of daylight. But its when I’m in school, so I don’t see it. I wake up in the morning, go to school in the dark, come home in the dark; wake up and do it over again. And during that light couple of hours, its not bright daylight light, its “okay, at least I can see” light. Not complaining though because we have the most beautiful Northern Lights ever. Everything you hear is true, there amazing. Pictures can’t justify. They move around fast, shimmer, and change colors, varying from green to red to purple, blue and so on. It’s a pretty magical sight. |
