A Year on the Road

Current Location: Dean Funes, Argentina
Distance Cycled to Date: 18,092 km
Longest Distance in a Single Day: 204 km
Length of Time Since Leaving Home: 1 Year

It was exactly one year ago that we first packed our panniers, trying to figure out just how to attach everything to our bicycles as our family and some close friends watched. We had announced months beforehand that we would be leaving September 1st, and so that morning, despite never having ridden our bikes fully loaded, we were going to leave. It was a morning of emotional goodbyes as we set to leave everybody behind and ride our bicycles to Argentina. As we wobbled down the street, with Jeff nearly tipping over into a car while trying to quickly wave goodbye, I'm sure that a number of those watching secretly questioned just how far we would make it, and wondered when the phonecall to come pick us up would come in.

And yet somehow we just continued to ride. We started out the trip with freezing nights, rain and sleet, but just kept going, with Argentina as our destination. Looking back now, in some ways it's hard to even imagine us being those same people that left home one year ago. From thinking that the Sunwapta Pass was an incredibly long climb, to digging around through every pannier, taking over an hour to fix a flat tire. As we left we didn't really know what we were getting into, and to be quite honest, I'm not sure we imagined just how much fun we would have every day.

The other day I was talking to my cousin Adam online, and he remarked that he was surprised at how little trouble we seem to have had throughout this trip. And it's true - we hate to admit it, but this whole trip has been much easier than we would have guessed. Maybe it's in our short memories and senses of humour, but for the most part, this really isn't that hard at all. We just get up everyday, and ride our bikes. Some days are more difficult than others, but at the end of every day we just find a place to sleep, eat a meal, and relive the good parts while forgetting about the bad. And then the next day start over again. Taking it one day at a time, anybody could do this. It's just riding a bike.

When we left home we were in no shape to ride a bike 100 kms every day. It didn't stop us from trying, but we still remember clearly day number 3, when we could hardly walk because our muscles were so stiff. But we've come a long way since then, finally becoming finely tuned cycling machines. (We've been looking for a way to fit the phrase 'finely tuned cycling machines' for a few months now. Puya!)

With over a year of fundraising done, we're hoping to be closing in on our goal of $50,000. We will have some one-year numbers from HOPE International within the next few days, and we'll let you know just how close we are. We also wanted to wish good luck to everybody participating in this year's Father Bonner Charity Golf Tournament in Edmonton, with all proceeds going to our HOPE International project in the Dominican Republic. We're hoping you can have a weekend of weather as fabulous as we've been enjoying down here, cycling in Argentina.

It's still hard to believe that we've been going for one year already. The trip's not quite over yet, but as it winds down and we pass this one-year mark, we're enjoying reminiscing. We're feeling good. One year later, and biking's still a whole lot of fun.