Logistics
In
Phase I’s summary, we contemplated various lower-cost options of flying down to
Ushuaia. As convenient as flying straight to Ushuaia would be, its high cost made
us look for alternatives. In looking around, we found that flying to Buenos
Aires and then to Ushuaia saves a couple hundred dollars, and this would allow
us to spend some time in Buenos Aires—a bonus!
Our
flight from Phoenix, Arizona to Buenos Aires, Argentina is on December 6th.
We’ll spend a week there, perhaps crossing over to Uruguay next door for a
couple of days, before flying down to Ushuaia on December 14th.
This means we’ll be at the end of the world on the 14th and so it’ll
only be a matter of days before we start riding up.
At
the moment, we only have an idea of how we’re going to move northward—that is,
ride north, cross into Chile to Punta Arenas, continue north to see Torres del
Paine National Park, then onward to El Chalten.
Step by step to tackle 16,000 miles.
Once
in Argentina, we’ll get a map and figure out which roads and highways to take.
The rest of the way will unfold as we move along. Part of the adventure is the
unknown and the surprises that come with it.
Stage 1 is north-bound to Saniago:
~1,800 miles with ETA ~end-March 2012.
Gear
& Packing
Riding
across the country during the summer of 2009 allowed us to “go minimal.” That
is, we carried very little because it was warm and there were many towns
sprinkled along the way to pick up whatever we needed. This kept weight in the
panniers down to a minimum. We didn’t even carry rain gear!
However,
as you can imagine, what we need for this trip is different. Small towns or
villages along the way in South America may not have what we need, and we have
to be self-sufficient in every way because we’ll be on our own. This means
carrying spares and tools for on-the-road fixes. (The 2B2R Info page
contains our general gear list.)
Just about everything we’ll be
bringing along for the ride.
Loaded at ~145 lbs and 11 ½ feet
long.
(See December 19, 2011 update for
video.)
The
total weight for the bike and gear will be roughly 155 pounds once we include
provisions enough for up to seven days. Flat ground will be greatly
appreciated, and downhill’s will be fun. As noted in Article #3 Riding in
Tandem, we have a front disc brake that acts as a drag brake. It will come
in handy on those long and/or steep descents where the weight of two people and
a fully loaded tandem bike will propel us like a rocket down the mountain.
As for uphill’s,
they will be difficult. We’ll pedal as much as we can, but we also have no
shame in walking the bike to get over a pass. For the full length of the
Americas, it is estimated that the total elevation gain is 1.6 million feet.
That’s about 40 Mt. Everest’s!
Raising
Awareness
We
continue to gain momentum in sharing our story to raise awareness about
blindness and the abilities of the visually impaired.
2B2R had
an exhibit at the 2011 Scottsdale Cycling Festival where we talked to people
about our upcoming trip. The festival drew roughly 2500 people from the local
Arizona cycling community.
For the
event, we made a banner to draw people to our exhibit where we passed out info-
sheets about 2B2R, 2B2R business cards, and brochures and pamphlets from Research
to Prevent Blindness about eye conditions
.
The 2B2R banner made for the
Scottsdale Cycling Festival in Scottsdale, AZ.
2B2R business card front and back.
Overall,
the event was a success in that we talked to a lot of people and “opened their
eyes” to the visually disabled community.
We share our the Americas
2012-13 ride.
Phase
II’s goal for raising awareness was to cumulatively reach approximately 600
people. We have exceeded this goal since getting 2B2R business cards. These
handy cards are a great way to reach out to people and to share our story: how
a legally blind couple will attempt to ride the full length of the Americas
without any sighted-person’s guidance or assistance. Our goal by the end of
the trip is to reach 10,000 people.
Training
A long
cycle touring trip like the one we’re about to embark on doesn’t require that
much pre-training. As you can imagine, the first month of riding can be
considered as “training” for the remaining 17 months.
We did,
however, do a ride around the Phoenix area to test out what it felt like to
pull a trailer.
En route to nearby Gila Bend, AZ for
the night.
(See Oct 24th and 27th.
Up
Ahead: Stage 1
Stage
1 will start in mid-December (original plan was beg-January 2012). We estimate
that it’ll take about three months to ride the ~1800 miles to Santiago, Chile.
As a note, we averaged about 1500 miles a month when we rode across America in
2009; therefore, three months for 1800 miles should have adequate buffer to
take it easy, enjoy the experience, soak in the scenery, and manage the varying
weather conditions.
Stage
1, like the rest of the stages, will be primarily to ride and to raise
awareness.