The day started out on a plane, and we finally got to sleep at our hotel from 2:30 am to 8 or so. After breakfast, we walked a bit and caught a tourist bus that circles the city. We rode it to the Basílica del Voto Nacional. Climbing up to the top of the tower we really noticed the elevation – close to 3,000m (10,000′). The views were great and it was a pretty amazing cathedral.

We walked over to the old town and had some interesting fruit ice creams while waiting for the bus. It took us up to the Virgin of El Panecillo, a nice statue above town, at over 3,000m. We had a nice lunch up there, with fancy fruit drinks like Colada Molada (thick, warm, blackberry goodness). Then we ran out of power and took the bus back and had a civilized afternoon nap.

Shopping at the supermarket was really fun, especially the fruit section. The supermarket was clean and very well supplied and had great prices. Then an afternoon beer and snack session, followed by dinner at a vegetarian restaurant where we had “sausages” and “meat”. And finally ice cream for dessert with some amazing chocolate samples at Republica del Cacao.

It was a pretty fun day and I can’t wait to take off for the Galapagos tomorrow!

We had a pretty painless flight from SFO to Houston to Quito. The last leg was delayed an hour which meant we landed at 12:30 am instead of 11:30 pm. And 5 other planes had just arrived rather than would just arrive. So immigration took some time.

Getting to town is maybe a 30 minute drive but it took some doing to get my large bike box there. None of the taxis were big enough so it looked like they would keep it at the airport until the morning but one guy figured out how to fit it in his taxi, but had zero space for anything else so we rode in a second one.

By 2:30 am (12:30 am California time) we were checked in. The Ambassador Hotel seems fine so far. Our phones work well here with very fast LTE – over 50 mbps. Good wifi in the hotel.

It’s been 3 years in planning – since my friend Corbin discovered this trip! We were in an AirBnB in July 2016 in the Pyrenees and he sent me an email to the next room: “Check this out!!!” It ended up that he couldn’t go but now I finally am.

Today I packed the 120 line items (more like 200 separate things).

With all the spare bike parts, camping gear and clothes for 6 months including Antarctica, I couldn’t fit it all into the box (max 23 kg) plus one pack. Grace is going for only 3 weeks, flying with just a carry-on. So she can check in my second pack! We’re off in the morning.

My normal email and phone will work in Ecuador (although probably not all the time in the Galapagos) and during the trip so stay in touch – and have a great summer!

In just 3 days I’m flying off to Quito. It feels a lot more real now that my bike is packed and ready to go.

I have to give a shout out to Spokesman Bicycles in Santa Cruz for all their help over the last year. They helped me spec out the bike originally and I’ve done a number of learning sessions with an awesome mechanic there, Luigi, ending up with today’s packing. I learned so much – bikes have changed a lot in the 20 years I was unicycling. I have the spares I’ll need and confidence to work on it myself. They also are ready to send any part I need to anywhere I need it! Such great service!

Now all I have to do is pack the small mountain of stuff I’ll need the next 6 months into my backpack and the spare spaces in the box!

In 15 days, I’m headed for Quito, Ecuador, for the start of my big South America adventure of 2019: The Andes Trail 2019 organized by Bike Dreams.

It was a great day yesterday because the last official thing I must have arranged before the trip, my Bolivian visa, came in the mail. I’ve finished most of my shopping and all of my medical preparations and really just have to work on the bike itself and a few post-bike-trip reservations (like my ticket back home!) Next week I’ll do an overhaul of the bike, replacing some parts like the chain, brake pads, rear tire, rear cluster and have the shock serviced. Then on June 30, the bike goes in a box, and on July 3rd, we fly out to Quito.

We’ll will vacation in the Galapagos for 3 weeks until July 23, then I’ll have a week to get acclimated to the 9,200′ elevation in Quito and get some practice biking. By July 30, all the riders will be assembled at the Hotel Ambassador, and we then start officially riding on August 2, where we ride 28 km north to the equator for a starting ceremony, then back to Quito. On August 3, we head south until we arrive December 17 in Ushuaia! We plan to ride 10,943 km in 142 days (109 riding days) with over 110,000 meters of climbing. 70% of the route is paved.

The day after we arrive in Ushuaia, Grace is coming back down and we’ll head off to Antarctica for 2 weeks. Christmas and New Years 2020 in Antarctica! We’re going on a G-Adventures trip called Quest for the Antarctic Circle. We plan to come home January 7, 2020.

My friend Jim Sowers wanted to know about the trip so he suggested interviewing me about it. We made 6 clips:

• Part 1, Introduction, 2:15
• Part 2, About the bike, 2:09
• Part 3, Tour logistics, 3:09
• Part 4, More about the tour, 3:31
• Part 5, Video and photography, 2:09
• Part 6, What’s in my garage? 2:46

I first decided back in 2016 that I wanted to ride from Quito to Ushuaia, most of the length of South America. I loved the idea of the “Andes Trail” tour run by Bike-Dreams so signed up in August 2018. I was surprised then that the tour, which didn’t start for a year, was nearly full. I reserved my place and quickly decided that I would do it on bike instead of unicycle. The 100 km per day average (with some days of 100 miles) with hard conditions and few rest days made it an easy decision.

I hadn’t ridden a bike much since I switched to unicycle over 20 years ago. So I looked for the right bike and found it in the Salsa Cutthroat. It’s a Gravel bike, and I added a front shock. More recently I’ve changed the tires from knobby MTB tires to 42c Specialized Sawtooths. I am hoping these are beefy enough for thousands of km of dirt and gravel and roll fast and easy. I bought the bike at the beginning of 2018 and have ridden it about 2,000 miles so far, and love it!

Travel plans are not all complete yet but I am flying to Quito on July 3, then will be in the Galapagos from July 5-23. After Grace flies home on the 25th, I’ll stay in Quito to train a bit for the tour which officially kicks off on August 2 with a ride north to the equator for the official start. On August 3, we ride south from Quito.

Here is the info about the tour. And here’s where it goes:

Here you can see all the crazy people I’m doing this with. We train “together” via a club on Strava.

I’ll be writing about my experiences in South America in 2019 here. It all starts on July 3 when I fly to Quito, Ecuador. The bike tour I’m going on starts in early August at the equator near Quito, and ends in Ushuaia, Argentina, 11,000 km and 4 1/2 months later.