On March 3rd, 2010 I arrived in Ushuaia, Argentina and ended my journey to the southernmost city in the world.

On July 25th, I left for Prudhoe Bay on the north shore of Alaska to begin a solo bicycle journey 15,000 miles south along the Pan-American Highway to Tierra Del Fuego, the bottom of South America. I traveled through the vast Alaskan wilderness, into Canada and crossed into the forests of northern Washington. From there I followed the coast down, all the way through the deserts of southern Baja, where I took a ferry to the mainland. I continued to follow the coast south through the rainforests of Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama. Then came South America: Colombia, Ecuador, the endless deserts of Peru, Northern Chile and then finally Argentina. I will ended in Ushuaia and the bottom of the Americas.

This ride is a reminder of what can be accomplished through perseverance and a little hard work. It’s a reminder of what we as people are capable of, of what the human mind, body and spirit can achieve. I hope that I can help people realize that while it may take time, and it may be harsh and lonely at times, we can make our lives how we dream them to be. I do not want to be guilty of owning a life devoid of any living. Comfort and convenience are not synonymous with happiness!

For some reason I am under the impression that I will find both myself and God somewhere along this road. Maybe I won’t find either, but I must look! I want to allow the light of introspection a pure and undiluted chance to examine my soul. I have found greater value in thoughts born in solitude than those that spring from the fray of ordinary life. I hope this trip will be the beginning to a life full of experience, beauty and understanding. I don’t ever want to forget the way the world felt when I was a child: magical and huge, full of possibility and hope. I won’t let go of that. I am an artist at heart, and this, I hope, will be my first great work.

I am riding to raise awareness for 'Acirfa,’ a non-profit organization which provides quality bikes to the people of Zambia, giving them the means to help themselves, rather than depend on charity. A bicycle changes the life of a Zambian in ways that are difficult for Americans to imagine, allowing doctors to see more patients, parents to make a living and teachers to get to school.

To clear the air and clear your head, ride a bike once a week!

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Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Recent News

As I plan the trip I would love help from anyone who knows people I might be able to stay with along the route I described above. Also I am in the process of getting sponsorships, so if you have any contacts at companies who may be interested in getting some publicity through my ride, let me know!!

 

I need all of your prayers right now! I have been having pain in my knee which gets aggravated with prolonged riding, and I may need surgery before I leave on my trip. 

UPDATE ON MY KNEE: First I want to thank everyone for praying for me, I received a tremendous response, which really means a great deal to me, so thank you. For those who want to know the medical details, I saw a Dr. Kharrazi at Kearlan-Jobe clinic in Pasadena, and have been diagnosed with superlateral synovial plica. I am going to get a kenalog injection on Wednesday which is an anti-inflammatory and may permanently relieve my symptoms. Blah. Most of you probably don't care about all that so heres the basics: I have agitated my knee over the years of distance running and biking, inflaming tissue which causes pain when I bike. So the hope is that an anti-inflamatory injection will calm the tissue and reduce the swelling and 'fix' the problem. If the anti-inflammatory does not work, I will need arthroscopic surgery to remove the plica before I leave. The good news is that the problem just causes pain, and is not integral to the structure of my knee. The bad news is that I am running out of time before I leave and that I may still need surgery, so please I could still use your prayers! I'll keep you updated.