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Billie Cook

I mentioned to Mike Welch on Thursday that his plan to ride a unicycle to Prudhoe Bay might best be attempted in June or July.

Welch stayed one night at Billie’s Backpackers Hostel before setting off for the North Slope. He says he can ride through up to six inches of snow on his knobby tire. Anything less than that and he’s good to go, arms extended and pedaling all the way. But his life is a balancing act of risk and adventure.

He had just completed a month of travel on the Richardson Highway, riding on one wheel from Valdez, when he rolled into Fairbanks on Wednesday. Welch said he’s been living on the road for a few years, but his last fixed address was in Cincinnati. He has gone on three tours with the Broadway show “Blast!” as a musician and also plays on cruise ships.

“I love playing trombone, bass trombone, tuba and didgeridoo. I love to practice yoga regularly, do long distance running and live life physically, mentally and spiritually as healthy as possible,” he says on his MySpace page.

“I am a slight adrenaline junkie so I dig roller coasters, bungee jumping, skydiving, rock climbing, unicycling down volcanoes and other things dangerous in nature,” he adds.

He told me he hopes to reach the north end of the Dalton Highway in about a month and will camp out along the way or when the weather is too bad for riding. This is the longest trip he has attempted on a unicycle, though he has faced difficult rides before in the mountains. On his MySpace page, he has a video of himself riding down some awfully steep sections of Mt. Fuji in Japan.

We encounter all sorts of highway travelers at the News-Miner who make the trip north on two wheels, but he is the first one I recall who wants to do it on one.

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OFF AGAIN: If your traveling south on the Parks Highway, keep a look out for Fred Knutson, the walking retired carpenter from Fairbanks. He’ll be wearing a reflective vest as he marches toward Cook Inlet.

Knutson is resuming his walk to Anchorage, picking up where he left off last year near Cantwell because of a bad ankle.

He expects it will take 11 or 12 days to reach Anchorage, proceeding as he does back and forth each day to where he parks his truck. Then he drives on down the road and continues in leapfrog fashion.

Knutson 62, is a retiree who walks 12 miles a day throughout the year. He has missed 75 days in the last six years and is closing in on a distance equal to a trip around the world. Most of that travel has been right around Fairbanks.

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HISTORIC HALL: Candy Waugaman plans to open her First Avenue museum Monday for the season.

It will be open most mornings to begin with. Elementary school classes are welcome to drop by, she said, when the kids are touring the downtown area. The museum, a treasure trove of Fairbanks history, is in what used to be known as the Odd Fellows Hall, along the Chena River near Cowles Street.

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CLOSING: Grubstake Feed on Fideler Road plans to close sometime this summer. The store, which caters mainly to mushers and livestock owners, will be open normal hours. Lori Wilson said they have loyal customers, just not enough of them.

Hot Tamale has closed, in keeping with a demolition plan by the state to make way for the new bridge at Barnette Street.

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POP STARS: My request for reader comments on whether Elton John is the biggest pop star to book a Fairbanks concert led to many responses. The youngest member of my household mentioned Destiny’s Child, while older people had responses ranging from Crosby, Stills & Nash (the first group to play the Carlson Center) to Johnny Cash, who performed outdoors.

“And let’s not forget KISS playing in a hangar out at Eielson in like ’73 or ’74. They were opening for Savoy Brown,” Gary Wells said. Sandy Bone said the KISS concert was a huge deal during the summer of ’74.

“I was wondering what the price was for a ticket? I would think it was $5 or less. I can’t remember, but I am sure somebody does,” Bone said.

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RETURNING: John Prine, who is my favorite songwriter, is returning to Fairbanks for a concert Aug. 22, Trudy Heffernan advises. Tickets go on sale next week.

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PENNANTS: Graduates of Hunter Elementary School, this is for you. Those who attended that fine institution and went on to complete studies at college or some other postsecondary institution are asked to contact Sue Hull at 479-5729 or hull@gci.net.

Teacher Russel Brovold had the idea of collecting college pennants from the schools attended by Hunter graduates. Hull, whose eight children all attended Hunter, agreed to handle the logistics.

“We’d like to get a long line of pennants circling through the halls to inspire current Hunter students to aim beyond high school,” Hull said.

Sounds like a great project.