Author of a new book goes on a bike tour through Alaska

On a sunny day in Soldotna, about half a dozen cyclists mingle in the outdoor garden of River City Books before setting off on a tour of discovery with a new friend.

The plan is to ride to Kenai on a multi-use trail along the Kenai Spur Highway. The community bike ride is part of author Tessa Hulls’ book/bike tour that began earlier this month.

“Alaska is the place I love more than any other place, so it was a no-brainer for me to just spend a month biking and visiting all my friends,” she said. “The book part is kind of secondary, my publisher thinks I’ve lost my mind.”

The new book, titled Feeding Ghosts, is a graphic biography that follows three generations of women in Hull’s family. She says it begins with her grandmother, who was a journalist in Shanghai during the Communist takeover in the 1940s.

“It basically follows what happened to two generations to teach a century of Chinese history,” Hulls said. “How many people who land in Alaska run away from the darkness of their family and become feral in the wilderness. This book is my homecoming and my confrontation with that history.”

The book tour began in Fairbanks, where Hulls drove along the Denali Highway to Valdez. She then took a ferry to Whittier and biked to Seward, Cooper Landing and Soldotna. She also took another ferry to Seldovia and has other stops on the tour.

Hulls made her first major bike trip in 2011, riding solo from California to Maine. Since then, she’s spent a few months each year touring and taking on seasonal contracts. She says her favorite aspect of cycling is the connection it gives you with people and places.

“I also enjoy the solitude and time to think,” Hulls said. “Like many people who have spent time in Alaska, I think best when my body is moving and I’m finding areas of my brain I can’t otherwise access.”

Since starting her bike tour, Hulls says she has met a lot of new people and seen a lot of new places. During her tour, she was unofficially adopted by a librarian, stayed in a free cabin and was given the keys to someone’s car.

“I think bikes are just a great way to talk to people and watch the scenery go by,” she said. “I don’t think I have an agenda, it’s just my favorite way to hang out with people.”

Although she lives in Seattle, Hulls has been spiritually connected to Alaska since her time as a boat cook in Petersburg years ago. This winter, she is officially moving to Juneau.

“Alaska has been home to me for a long time, and finishing this book kept me tied to my drawing table, which made me pretty miserable,” Hulls said. “I’ve always joked that this is the point in the romantic comedy where I finally admit that I’ve always been in love with my best friend. I think the fact that I’ve finished this book and am taking the plunge and moving to Juneau is just for me, confirming that Alaska really is the place I want to be, and I’m happy to finally be moving up.”

The next stop on Hull’s “Feeding Ghosts” book tour is Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at Kenai Peninsula College’s Kachemak Bay Campus in Homer, followed by a party and bike ride at Writer’s Block Bookstore and Cafe in Anchorage on Thursday at 6 p.m.