Other Cyclists

Hobobiker.com Podcast #1 - Tim Malloch on his way north

rfay — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 18:26:34 +0000

Here's our first podcast, with Tim Malloch of www.pushonnorth.com. We met Tim in Guachochi, Chihuahua, Mexico and spent a delightful day riding to a Copper Canyon overlook.

The Mexican "Ciclonautas" - Dulce, Andrei, and Fernando (Español y Inglés)

rfay — Fri, 04 May 2007 16:30:44 +0000

(Esta historia es debajo en inglés y español).

In Querétaro we visited with Dulce and Andrei, whom we'd heard about from our Dutch cycle-touring friends Dick and Els. We had a delightful evening and day with them enjoying the area and hearing their stories. They're now temporarily retired from bike touring - and have a delightful 18-month-old named Emiliano and are living the life of a young family. Here is their story, in both English and Spanish.

The Story of the Cyclonauts of Mexico, from Dick and Els' Website. Translation to English in Blue.

La Historia de los Ciclonautas

Supongo que los viajes en bicicleta empieza casi siempre igual, y el de los Ciclonautas no es la excepción, es decir se comienza con planear un recorrido en bicicleta que creemos durará poco tiempo y concluye mucho tiempo después; muchos aún siguen viajando.

I suppose that all bike trips start out about the same, and the Ciclonautas trip is no exception -- that is to say it began with a trip that was supposed to be pretty short, but when the planned time was used up, we still had a long way to go.

En 1996 nos bautizamos como "Ciclonautas" un grupo de amigos (Flor Trejo, Andrei Montero y Fernando Quintero) e iniciamos un viaje en bicicleta por la parte central de México, recorriendo cinco estados de la república (Querétaro, Guanajuato, Jalisco, Colima y Michoacán) en tres meses, esta primera aventura nos animo a planear uno más larga. Durante dos años estuvimos juntando recursos para el viaje y tratando de c onseguir patrocinadores ya que el nuevo recorrido ahora abarcaría América central y del sur.

In 1996 our group of friends (Flor Trejo, Andrei Montero, and Fernando Quintero) christened ourselves as "Cyclonauts" and we began our bike tour in the central part of Mexico, visiting five states (Queretaro, Guanajuato, Jalisco, Colima, and Michoacan) in three months. This first adventure inspired us to plan a much larger one. Over the course of two years we gathered resources for the trip and tried to get sponsors for a new trip to Central and South America.

Los patrocinios nunca los conseguimos por lo tanto debimos hacernos del equipo de viaje con nuestros recursos económicos (ahorros, liquidación en nuestros empleos, y la venta de lo poco que teníamos), para economizar utilizamos nuestras antiguas bicicletas de montaña y fabricamos nuestras alforjas (mochilas de viaje).

The sponsors never came through so we had to make do with the resources we had - our savings, quitting our jobs, and selling what little we had. And we economized by using our old mountain bikes and making some backpacks for the trip.

Los Cilonautas ahora lo conformábamos: Dulce Maria Montiel, Andrei Ortiz y Fernando Quintero. El 31 de mayo de 1998 iniciamos en nuestra Ciudad de Santiago de Querétaro un viaje que supero nuestras expectativas, ya que el recorrido planeado era de viajar s&oacut e;lo un año de nuestra ciudad en México a Buenos Aires, Argentina y retornar en avión. Al primer mes de viaje nos encontramos en Guatemala lo cual significo para nosotros dar nuestro primer paso fuera del país, al inicio contábamos con un plan de viaje que procuramos seguir para cumplir con el tiempo estimado, más los imprevistos nos retraban y al segundo mes ya habíamos lanzado a la basura nuestro itinerario, puesto que nos dimos cuenta que para disfrutar de este viaje no precisábamos de itinerarios.

Now we Cyclonauts were Dulce Maria Moniel, Andrei Ortiz, and Fernando Quintero. On May 31, 1998 we started out from our home town Santiago de Queretaro on a trip that exceeded our expectations and certainly the planned time. We had expected it to take about a year to get from Queretaro, Mexico to Buenos Aires, Argentina, and then we'd return by plane. In the first month of the trip we found ourselves in Guatemala - our first time outside of Mexico - and we started realizing that if we were going to enjoy the trip we weren't going to be able to stick precisely to the schedule.

Nuestra bicicletas en poco tiempo comenzaron a fallar, la cadena, los cambios, las llantas, las parrillas, en fin, el presupuesto se gasto rápidamente y aun no cruzábamos América central. Al llegar a Tegucigalpa, Honduras en una entrevista en la TV el reportero comento que precisábamos de patrocinadores ya que viajábamos casi sin dinero, la respuesta no tardo y al día siguiente una empresa de electrodomésticos "CURACAO" nos llamó para patrocinarnos con 1000 dólares a cambio de hacerle publicidad mientras que viajásemos en el país. Por vez primera creyeron en nuestro viaje y con este patrocinio pudimos continuar tranquilamente por el resto de centro América. A nuestra llegada a San José, Costa Rica nos encontramos con Manuel Quiroz quien tiene una "Casa de Ciclistas" en estos lugares los ciclo viajeros podemos contar con un espacio para descansar, ahí nos dimos cuenta que no éramos los únicos locos que viajaban en bicicleta, ya que estas casas cuentan con un libro de registro y encontramos muchos ciclistas registrados, y direcciones de Casas de Ciclistas en otros países de América del sur.

Our bikes started failing in no time - the chain, the derailleurs, the tires - they were falling apart and we hadn't even gotten through Central America. When we got to Tegucigalpa, Honduras we were doing a TV interview and the reporter commented that we really needed sponsors and we were getting by with almost no money. The answer was swift and the next day the Honduran home appliance maker "Curacao" sponsored us for US $1000 in return for doing publicity for them while we were in the country. For the first time we believed in our trip and with this sponsor we were able to continue calmly through the rest of Central America. When we got to San Jose, Costa Rica, we met with Manuel Quiroz, who has a "House of Cyclists" there where cycletourists can count on a place to rest; there we realized that we weren't the only crazy people who travel on bikes, and on reading the guest book we found lots of cyclists written there, along with directions to "Casas de Ciclistas" or "Houses of Cyclists" in other parts of South America.

Salida de los Ciclonautas 30 mayo 1998

Recorrido por la ciudad

Santa Ana, El Salvador

Bomberos en Costa Rica

A Colombia entramos por el Turbo un pequeño puerto junto al Darien (selva que separa a Colombia de Panamá) esta zona es de alto riesgo ya que el constante enfrentamiento entre militares, paramilitares, fuerzas campesinas y FARC (fuerza armada revolucionaria de Colombia) son peligrosos para los turistas, al segundo día de viaje nos encontramos con un grupo armado que después de interrogarnos sobre nuestra procedencia y al enterarse de que éramos mexicanos hicimos buena amistad, su interés sobre los problemas de guerrilla en nuestro país EZLN (Ejercito Zapatista de Liberación Nacional) afianzo nuestra amistad con el grupo armado, nos invitaron a comer intercambiamos monedas mexicanas por insignias de su uniforme, cuando les pedimos tomarles una foto se negaron y nos sugirieron que continuáramos nuestro camino, sin mencionar que habíamos estado con ellos.

We came into Columbia at El Turbo, a tiny port next to Darien - the jungle that separates Columbia from Panama. This is a high-risk area that is constantly under threat by the Army, paramilitary organizations, peasant groups, and the FARC (the primary guerrilla group in Colombia). It's not a very good place for tourists. O the second day we ran into an armed group who after interrogating us about where we'd come from and realizing that we were Mexican became very friendly - they were quite interested in the problems of the EZLN (Zapatista) guerrilla movement in the Chiapas region of Mexico. They invited us to eat, traded Mexican pesos for insignia from their uniforms. When we asked them if we could take a photo, they did turn us down and suggested that we hit the road... and not to mention that we had been hanging around with them.

En ruta a Colombia - On the way to Colombia

El genio de la chatarra en Colombia

Nuevas bicicletas en Medellin, Colombia

Un descanso en el desierto de Sechura, Perù

Nuestro primer año de viaje lo celebramos en Lima, Perú, nuestros planes de viaje seguían a la deriva ya que aprendimos a vivir día a día y la ruta la planeábamos conforme lo ameritaba la ocación, el objetivo de viaje ahora era llegar a Ushuaia, Argentina, y sabíamos que esto nos llevaría más de un año, pretendíamos conocer lo más que pudiésemos en este trayecto ya que no habría una segunda oportunidad. Nuestros escasos recursos nos obligaron a detenernos el las capitales para trabajar y ahorrar para seguir en viaje. Dulce de profesión estilista llevaba consigo sus herramientas (tijeras, peine, secadora de pelo); Andrei por su parte al ser camarógrafo cargaba con el equipo de fotografía (cámara fotográfica, triple, rollos de pel ícula, flash y cámara de video); Fernando Diseñador Gráfico encargado de los mapas y escribir el diario de ruta. Los trabajos que desempeñamos no solo fueron dentro de nuestras profesiones, ya que los trabajos que más desempeñamos fue en los restaurantes de mexicanos como: cocineros o meseros; cualquier oportunidad de trabajo la tomábamos desempeñándonos en diversos oficios como: pintores de brocha gorda, meseros, dando cursos de manualidades mexicanas, ayudantes en un circo, y artesanos, la artesanía al final fue uno de los trabajos que más desempeñamos ya que no implicaba el mantenernos demasiado tiempo en un solo lugar, en Brasil un artesano nos enseño a fabricar pequeñas bicicletas con una sola pieza de alambre éste tipo de artesanía nos agrado ya que era un buen recuerdo que podíamos dejar a los amigos en el viaje además de ser un buen producto para vender, hoy en día muchos amigos que nos ayudaron comprando una de estas piezas nos escriben diciendo que aun conservan la artesanía que tiene una historia de cómo la adquirieron, y esa historia es la de los Ciclonautas.

We celebrated our first year of the trip in Lima, Peru. Our plans for the trip now became just day-by-day living the route. And the objective was now to get all the way to Ushuia, Argentia; we knew that that would take us more than a year, but we decided to continue on because we knew we might not ever have another chance. Our scarce resources required us to stop and work and save to continue the trip. Dulce, a hair stylist, got her tools (scissors, comb, hair dryer); Andrei the photographer got his equipment together (camera, tripod, folls of film, flash, and video camera); Fernando the graphic designer, was in charge of the maps and writing the trip journal. We also did work outside our professions to get out of debug - cooking and waiting tables at Mexican restaurants, and whatever work opportunity presented itself: we did housepainting, waited tables, gave courses in Mexican etiquette, helped in a circus, and did artesan work. The artesanry was one of the jobs that helped us out the mostanad helped us not to stay in one place for too long. In Brazil an artesan showed us how to make little bicyces with just one piece of wire, and this type of artesanry also helped us with a nice little remembrance that we could leave with our friends on the road as well as being a good product to sell. Stil today we hear from our old friends from the trip who write saying they still keep the little piece because of its history, the history of the Cyclonauts.

Frente al Cotopaxi en Ecuador

Contraluz en Perù

Desierto de Sechura, Perù

Frontera Perú, Bolivia

Tomando el sol en el salar de Uyuni, Bolivia

Dulce Montiel Arroyo

En la playa de Las Grutas, Argentina

Dulce y las flores argentinas

Cafayate, Argentina

Falos en el Valle de Tucumán

La Boca, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Frente al Obelisco, en Buenos Aires, Argentina

Florianópolis, Brasil

Frente a las Cataratas de Iguazú, Brasil

Brasilia, Brasil

Andrei y las bahianas en Salvador, Bahia, Brasil

Victoria, Espiritu Santo, Brasil

Una nueva compañera de viaje "La Pancha" en Uruguay

Los tenis de Andrei murieron en el desierto de Perú

Para finales de 2001 nos encontramos en la ciudad mas austral del mundo Ushuaia, Argentina, habíamos logrado uno de nuestros objetivo que era el de llegar al fin del mundo. Ahí nos encontramos con: Lorenzo Rojo del País Vasco, Jun Miyashita de Japón y Daniel Fernández de Brasil, con estos tres ciclistas celebramos el fin de año y nuevamente cada uno de nosotros retomamos nuestros respetivos caminos, Los Ciclonautas comenzamos el retorno a casa, en abril del 2001 llegaron a la capital Chilena. Dulce y Andrei ya no deseaban continuar el regreso en bicicleta y a través de la embajada mexicana consiguieron un el patrocinio para retornar a México en avión, Fernando por su parte deseaba continuar por un tiempo más el recorrido, De Santiago de Chile dos Ciclonautas dieron por terminado el recorrido.
Fernando por su parte se dirigió a una de las casas de ciclistas más concurridas por los ciclo viajeros, la casa de Eric Savard y su esposa Kelo, 70 Km. Al norte de la capital en los Andes. Esta casa cuenta con una simpática familia que por muchos años se ha dedicado a recibir ciclistas de diversas nacionalidades y cuenta con grande libros de registro donde se puede encontrar miles de historias de ciclo viajeros, dentro de los datos interesantes que se pueden destacar es que desde el 31 de mayo de 1992 hasta el 31 de mayo del 2000 se hospedaron 255 ciclistas de 30 nacionalidades, esta familia ha viajado por todo el mundo sin salir de su casa ya que todo el mundo llega a ella en biccileta.

At the end of 2001 we got to the southernmost city in the world - Ushuaia, Argentina, having accomplished one of our objectives - arriving at the end of the world. There we met with Lorenzo Rojo (a Basque), Jun Miyashita of Japan, and Daniel Fernandez of Brazil. With these three cyclists we celebrated the New Year and then we all went our separate ways. We Cyclonauts began our return home, and in April, 2001, we got to the capital of Chile. Dulce and Andrei no longer wanted to continue the return on bike, and by means of the Mexican Embassy got sponsorship for a return to Mexico by plane. Fernando wanted to continue on for a while longer on his trip. The two Cyclonauts finished their trip in Santiago; Fernando for his part rode on to one of the "Casas de Ciclista" most visited by cycletourists, the house of Eric Savard and his wife Kelo, 70 kilometers north of the capital in the Andes. This house has a very kind family that for many years has dedicated itself to taking in cayclists of various nationalities and has a huge guestbook where you can find thousands of stories of cycle tourists. Among the facts you can find there: Between 31 May 1992 and 31 May 2000, they hosted 255 cyclists from 30 countries. This family has traveled all over the world without leaving the house; the entire world comes to them by bike.

Del pueblo de los Andes a la frontera son 50 Km. de duro ascenso, siendo el más difícil el tramo de "Los Caracoles" 32 curvas muy pronunciadas para llegar a la línea fronteriza, el resto se convierte en bajada del lado Argentino, hasta llegar a Mendoza. El viajar solo fue una nueva aventura al no contar con los compañeros de siempre para pelear, conversar en los caminos solitarios, sobretodo ayudarse y animarse mutuamente el los momentos difíciles, por otra parte fue una buena experiencia para medir los miedos y las dudas.

From that town in the Andes to the border it's 50 kilometers of hard ascent. The stretch of highway is called "Los Caracoles", and has 32 significant curves before you get to the border, followed by a descent on the Argentine side, until you arrive at Mendoza. The trip was a new adventure without the old companions, who always fought or chatted in the lonely highways, helping each other or sympathizing with each other int he hard times.

Los constantes amigos que en el camino se presentaron aislaron la soledad, al cruzar por tercera vez la Argentina por un nuevo rumbo fue pasar de nuevo por casa, Paraguay se convirtió en el reencuentro con la familia Mendoza que adopto a los Ciclonautas como hijos; Brasil por segunda vez recibió a Fernando ahora con mejor pronunciación del portugués y desde el sur del país hasta el norte transcurrieron seis meses. En este tray ecto los inconvenientes no faltaron y la rodilla izquierda Fernando empezó con una pequeña herida que no sanaba, al poco tiempo se desarrollo una bola que segregaba pus con sangre, al mes se asomaba la pequeña cabeza del gusano que salía para respirar, a este bicho que se alimenta de la carne y vive bajo la piel (Berne, o gusano barrenador) se le aplicó métodos tradicionales para sacarlo más no funcionaron, como el colocar un pedazo de tocino para que el gusano al no tener respiración se alojase en el pedazo de carne y removerlo fácilmente, el otro remedio fue el de presionar desde la raíz para botar al gusano, esto sólo hizo que se partiese por mitad y durar mas de tres días con el pie hinchado, en estos casos siempre suele estar alojado más de un gusano el segundo sobrevivió y continuo alimentándose, al final después de un segundo intento por sacarlo nuevamente un fuerte presión y se acabo el problema, una semana después por la herida salio toda la materia muerta mezclada con sangre y pus.

The friends he met on the road increased the solitude, as he crossed the third time through Argentina through a new route to Paraguay. This turned into another visit to the Mendoza family that had adopted the Cyclonauts as children. Brazil for the second time received Fernando - this time with better Portuguese pronunciation and from the south of the country to the north he had taken 6 months. On this path the snags in the road still came along, and Fernando's left knee, with a little wound that didn't get properly cleaned, soon developed into a huge swelling that was oozing pus with blood. By the time a month had passed the little head of a worm stuck its head out to breathe. This little creature was living off the flesh and living under the skin. (Berne, or boreworm). The traditional methods they used to remove the worm didn't work (like putting a piece of bacon on the wound so the worm couldn't breathe and would come out and be easily removed; the other remedy was to push from the root of the swelling to push the worm out - this one only worked partly and ended up with three days of his foot swollen up. In these cases the assumption is that there's more than one work and the second survived and continued eating) Anyway, a week later the blister broke with all the dead matter mixed with blood and pus.

Cruzar la amazona fue una experiencia extraordinaria ya que la inmensidad de la selva impone respeto, y admiración por sobrevivir al constante deteri oro que sufre por las talas de árboles clandestinas. Los sonidos son diferentes a lo acostumbrado empezando por las parvadas de pericos que alborotan la quietud, después de un largo silencio los aullidos de los monos Araguatos en más de una ocasión dejaron con los pelos de punta a Fernando al encontrarse solo en dicho paraje. El viaje de Belem a Manaus de una semana en un barco donde la convivencia con los lugareños hace el viaje más placentero, encontrase un río que en partes es tan angosto y en otras es tan amplio que no se ven sus costas, hacen de esta aventura un deleite difícil de describir.

Crossing the Amazon was an extraordinary experience - the immensity of the forest demands respect and admiration for surviving the constant attack of loggers and clandestine loggers. The sounds are different - the songs of parakeets that break the silence, later a long silence and the scream of a howler monkey that more than once put Fernando's hair on end just to find himself in such a place. The trip from Belem to Manaus was a week in a boat where the convenience of the locals made the trip the more pleasurable. Some places the river was narrow, and others it was quite wide; it was such a delight it's difficult to describe.

Entrando a Venezuela la "Gran Sabana" recibió al ciclista con llanuras inmensas y cascadas que forman pequeños oasis en la planicie, ofrecen excelente espacios para acampar, y hacer nuevas amistades con las comunidades indígenas, como Araimaitepuy donde descanso por una semana debido a la hinchazón del pie derecho por las lluvias constantes e infecciones de piquetes de moscos.

Coming into Venezuela the "Great Savanna" greeted the cyclist with enormous plains and waterfalls that formed little oases in the plain, making excellent places to camp, and there were lots of opportunities to make new friendships with indigenous communities, like Araimaitepuy, where he rested for a week due to the swelling in his right foot from the constant rain, and infections of mosquito bites.

Para mediados de agosto del 2002 ya en Caracas Fernando retorno a México dando por concluido esta aventura por nuestra gran casa llamada América.

In the middle of August of 2002 Fernando got to Caracas and returned to Mexico, giving an end to this adventure in our great house called America.

Entrada al Parque Nacional Tierra del Fuego

¡Los Ciclonautas en el fin del mundo!

Podcast #4: Swiss Bike Tourists Philippe and Miriam on the banks of the Yukon River

rfay — Sun, 13 May 2007 23:34:04 +0000

Yes, this is a little bit out of order, but we recorded this in late June, 2006, with Philippe and Miriam on the banks of the Yukon River just outside of Dawson City, Yukon Territory, Canada. We always wanted you to hear it, and now we have the technology, so here they are!

Philippe and Miriam are now home, establishing their new lives in their architect careers. But you can see their website with the complete story of their trip.

Lucho and the Casa de Ciclistas in Trujillo, Peru

rfay — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 23:00:45 +0000

When we came down from the mountains of Peru to the coast we stayed at the fabled Casa de Ciclistas (House of Cyclists) in Trujillo, Peru. Lucho Ramirez started offering his simple house to passing touring cyclists clear back in 1984, and is on the edge of crossing the one thousand mark. One thousand groups of cyclists have signed his journal and stayed there over almost 25 years! One cyclist stayed a year! Many stay far longer than they expect to, often for a week or more. It's a delight to browse through the journals and see famous cyclists that we've either met or heard of who passed this way. Our friends Dick and Els, from Holland, signed the book about 5 years ago. Our friend Andrew signed it just a month or so ago. Our friends Pat and Cat also passed through about 3 years ago.

Many of you have asked us if we're setting some kind of a record or something, and the answer is no, we're really slow, and lots and lots of people have gone farther. Although not all the cyclists who have stopped at Lucho's house were doing rides as big as ours, many were doing rides much bigger. One fellow, Hans Stuecke, has been cycling for 46 years!

Anyway, Lucho provides a tremendously friendly place for cyclists stop, recharge, get their equipment worked on, and generally have a wonderful memory. We left our bikes safely there for our trip home, and came back to find them waiting for us. Lucho also worked all night to get our bikes maintained and in tip-top shape (he's a professional bike mechanic). And he has info on all the routes, and knows what places to avoid due to criminal attacks on cyclists.

Lucho is also an incredible promoter of cycling in his town. He organizes bike races for kids and adults (we helped with one) and is also a racer himself - he used to be the champion of the area. His young son is named Lance, if that gives you a clue.

Thank you Lucho! You're famous, and your fame is well-deserved.

Note: Lucho has the original Casa de Ciclistas in Latin America, but he has also inspired others. We stayed at one in Cali, Colombia.

Here are some links:

Lucho's website about the Casa de Ciclistas in Trujillo
The list of Casas de Ciclistas in Latin America
Our visit to the Casa in Cali, Colombia
Don't forget about Warmshowers.org, the hospitality site of which Randy is webmaster. People all over the world offer hospitality to touring cyclists through Warm Showers.

Cyclists before us at the Casa de Ciclistas

rfay — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 23:39:25 +0000

People often ask us "Has anyone ever done this before?" or "Are you setting a new Guinness Record?". The answer, of course, is an authoritative NO! We know this, of course, but stopping at the Casa de Ciclistas in Trujillo and looking through the logs makes us really feel humble. We were the 998th entry over 24 years. Plenty of people have been through here! There are slow people and fast, many rides as long as ours, but many much longer. Here are a few links and a few details about some of the folks who have signed their names in the logs at Trujillo.

Hans Stuecke: Hans has been bike touring for 46 years, and has visited at least 193 countries. He really HAS set a Guinness record. I don't think we're going to touch his record anytime soon!
Dominic Gill: Dominic started his ride about the same time as we did, and we actually met him for a few moments in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory. But Dominic just finished riding a tandem (most of the time by himself, alone) with gear for himself and a guest, all the way from Alaska to Patagonia. His gear weight was incredible, but his idea was "Take a Seat". He invited anybody who wanted to to come along for a ride for as long as they wanted. He had incredible experiences.
The Ciclonautas: We met Andrei and Dulce (and not Fernando), the "Ciclonautas" in Queretaro, Mexico, but they passed through the Casa de Ciclistas several years ago. As young Mexicans with very limited resources, they set off on a journey all the way from their home city to the bottom of South America, Ushuaia, where we're going too, and they made it. They worked along the way, getting a tiny sponsorship in Honduras, but mostly just working at their trades in each city until they had enough to continue. And they made it all the way, on no money.
Andrew Morgan: We met Andrew on our yacht trip from Panama to Colombia. (There were 5 of us cyclists on that boat! Pius and Stefan were on it too). Andrew is teaching everywhere he goes, and working with teachers and students around the world via his website.
Pius and Stefan: Pius and Stefan are the blazing fast guys on the recumbent bikes WAY ahead of us. They're young and full of vim and vigor. They race each other between cities and go farther in a day than we go in three. And they're great people.
Pat and Cat Patterson: Pat and Cat hosted us when we were going south through California and they had just gotten home from four years riding around the world (North America, Europe, Africa, and South America back up to California). They're even older than we are, if you can believe that! And they have yet another adventure planned for this year. Pat is 68 and Cat is 55 and they're going strong!
Florian and Rebekka (and Chan): Florian and Rebekka and Chan are three of our favorites. We met them in Oregon and spent several delightful nights in the same campgrounds. Florian and Rebekka were young people riding across Canada and planning to ride down to South America about 5 years ago when she discovered she was pregnant. They got jobs in Vancouver, got stable, had Chan, and waited for him to be old enough to continue, and that's what they did. When we met them in 2006 they were pulling Chan (then 3) in a kid-trailer, with all the gear for the three of them. They have now made it all the way to Argentina and plan to get to Patagonia sometime in the next 6-9 months. They are heroes!

And of course these amazing people are just a drop in the bucket. 998 parties (including us) have signed the log to date at Lucho's Casa de Ciclistas.

We are not the only riders! Check this out - Dominic Gill

nancy — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 16:31:03 +0000

Dominic in Tierra del Fuego

We are not certainly the only ones who are riding or have ridden their bicycle from the most northern part of North America to the most southern tip of South America. When we started this trip over two years ago we met a young man, Dominic Gill, in Whitehorse, who was riding a tandem by himself so he could pick up riders along the way. He recently finished this incredible journey, in the middle of the frozen Patagonian winter! (By the way: We decided a long time ago that if we're running late to get to Patagonia before the winter sets in we'll take a bus to speed things up!)

Here is a short interview with him on CNN:

His website with incredible photos and stories is at takeaseat.org.

He has tried throughout his trip to raise money for homeless children - you can help here.

Bike-Dreams: A Supported Ride from Quito to Ushuaia

rfay — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 14:56:47 +0000

If you want to ride the length of South America, you don't have to do it self-supported! We ran into a group, Bike Dreams out of Holland riding from Quito, Ecuador to Ushuaia at the tip of Argentina. They are fully supported and having a grand time. For just 8,900 Euros (about $11,400 right now) you could do the entire ride without having to carry gear. It sounds like a pretty good deal. They also do Paris to Dakar.