After a 2-year hiatus from the bike (finished ride across America Sept 2009), we reassemble it to get back on the road again. We have roughly two months to get ready for the long journey ahead.

We started putting our tandem back together after the Scottsdale Cycling Festival last week. The first couple of miles on the saddle pierced through our tooshes, reminding us of those long days on the saddle as we road across the mid-western plains.

As noted in our Sept 29th update, we have tickets from Phoenix, Arizona to Buenos Aires, Argentina. Just a couple of days ago, we got tickets for Buenos Aires to Ushuaia, the most southern city in the world, and the place where we will start riding.

Over the next couple of weeks, we plan to ride as often as possible to get in shape, work out the bike's kinks, and finalize preparation. Since we will be arriving in Ushuaia on December 14th, the ride will most likely start two or three days later.

Putting the bike back together. Yes, that is a heart on the back of the fork. Someone at the Scottsdale Cycling Festival had added this and wished us luck. It will be a nice reminder of all the encouragement we've received. Almost done... Adding the rear derailleur, a critical piece to allow the use of various gears for flat or hilly roads. Done ...just as it gets too dark for us to work on it. Ahhh, the first couple of miles after two years off the bike. The tooshes wonder whether they will survive the 16,000 miles. A 25-mile ride around Tempe, Arizona with Arizona State University's "A-Mountain" in the background. We're riding on the bike path along Tempe Town Lake.