12000km Blog

New comment on: The Journey Begins - THE VUELTA IS DONE!

Rick Ross — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 11:47:14 -0500

Good Job Ryan but 12 000km is good but i would of made better then that even more the 13 000km in less time biggy!!!! :)

New comment on: The Journey Begins - Beyond Lima

Rick Ross — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 11:33:12 -0500

what is your real name biggy

New comment on: The Journey Begins - Good times with my father

Rick Ross — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 11:28:36 -0500

trop fort pour la ligue el gros

New comment on: The Journey Begins - Good times with my father

Rick Ross — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 11:27:06 -0500

good job biggy :)

New comment on: The Journey Begins - Good times with my father

Jack — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 14:48:57 -0500

Nice one Ry

The Journey Begins - Good times with my father

Bryan Mahoney — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 09:39:00 -0500

Haven’t written in a while and wanted to take the time to update everyone on some of my adventures in South America. It’s been about two months since I finished my trip, but I am still down in South America traveling. Since my last update, I spent four days doing great hikes in and around Quito with my dad. At times the altitude was a challenge for him but as a result made it easy for him to hike Macchu Picchu and Waynupicchu after that time of acclimatization. We spent one afternoon in the Otavalo market, one of the most famous native markets in Ecuador. That same day, we hiked around lago Cuicocha but were quite tired at the end so we ended up hitchhiking to get back to town. We rode in the back of a pickup truck with 3 girls who found that hilarious. I was surprised at the end when they charged us 50 cents each to ride.

We also hiked up the Telforica which is above a cable car just outside the city of Quito and provides a great view of the city. On another day, we hiked down to a different lake to do some kayaking and rode back up this very narrow trail on mules which was also fun. On the last of these adventures, we climbed up Volcano Cotopaxi, where we marched through some very hard snow at high altitude.

After this period, my father went to Peru to see Macchu Pichu, Cusco and Lima and I stayed in Ecuador for five more days. We then met back up in Buenos Aires for another five day stint.

We rented an apartment in Puerto Madero, which is an upscale neighbourhood along the water. The first night that we were there we ended up at the same restaurant as Paula Zahn, who used to be a news anchor for CNN and whom my father had already met in Peru so we had dessert with her. We spent most of our time exploring the city from the green parks of Palermo to the Soccer museum of La Boca, the famous buildings of the microcentro and Evita’s tomb in the Recollatas cemetary. On Sunday we spent our time exploring the historic Sunday market of San Telmo, and everywhere you go in Buenos is always filled with incredible energy. We also ended up at the same restaurant as some other Montrealers at a great place called Cabrera. One night we went to a tango show with another family (the Bruckners) whom we know through my friend Max from Montreal.

After what I beleive was a great adventure with my dad, he flew back home for New Years.

New comment on: The Journey Begins - Christmas lights in the Ecuador jungle

elmono enbici — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 07:37:52 -0500

Dear Ryan I reckon by now you and your dad are back in Canada and I sure hope that your days in Ecuador were indeed memorable. I just wanted to send you a Xmas note to wish you all the best. I hope that 2010 will bring another continent of adventures for you and your bike. Please keep in touch and hopefully you can be an inspiration to other cyclists like you are to me. Merry Christmas and very Merry 2010!!! Luis González-Mena.

The Journey Begins - Is Al Gore a good environmentalist?

ryan stotland — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 11:23:00 -0500

Today I was reading the paper and there was an article about droughts in Bolivia. While Bolivia is the country making headlines, Ecuador is also have many problems and towns here have to shut down electricity for set times during the day. Apparently Bolivia is in even worse shape and if water problems are not solved, "El Alto, a poor city near La Paz, could be the first major urban casualty of climate change".

"The Glaciers that have long provided water and electricity to this part of Bolivia are melting and disappearing, victims of global warming most scientists say. A world bank report concluded last year that climate change would eliminate many glaciers in the Andes within 20 years, threatening the existence of nearly 100 million people."

"'A lot of us think about not having kids anymore', said Marharita Limachi Alvarez, 46, a blue Andean cap with ear flaps pulled over her head. 'Without Water or food, how would we survive? Why bring them here to suffer?'"

The rest of this article in the New York Times goes on the describe how countries like Bolivia are rightfully demanding compensation from wealthier nations to help them adjust.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/14/science/earth/14bolivia.html?_r=1&pagewanted=1

Bolivia was arguably the high point of my trip. The culture there I thought was the most different and interesting that I have seen. One thing I can remember that impressed me so much about Bolivia was how unwasteful the people seemed. I remember eating dinner at a chicken restaurant by myself when two local people with their kids sat down at the table with me. When I looked around, I realized that no chairs were empty and concluded that they don't waste space. People sit anywhere regardless of whether they know each other. I also remember watching the people eat and there wasn't a single piece of meat left on any chicken bone or rice left over in that restaurant. Very different than our North American culture. The same can be said for how they use their energy and natural resources. Bolivians burn 1 metric ton of carbon per capita. Americans use 19 and Canadians 17. The amazing amount of energy that we emit compared to Bolivians is not even justified by accounting for GDP or standard of living.

Thinking about Bolivia and the damage we have done to the environment has led me think about a question I have been debating for several years. Is Al Gore a good environmentalist? I think this question first surfaced for me when my friend Chris Cote and I debated this one night while eating ice cream overlooking the ocean in Morocco. I remember the debate being lively but that no real conclusion was drawn from it.

The argument that I was trying to make is that if the 6 billion people who inhabit this planet lived a lifestyle similar to his and were flying all around the world and living in luxury like he does that we would probably have even more carbon in the atmosphere than we do now. It is rare that in a given field someone can be one of the outright leaders and at the same time be setting an example that shouldnt be followed. Al Gore might argue that he offsets his carbon emissions and leads a carbon neutral lifestyle but I am personally not a beleiver that someone can simply erase their carbon emissions.

Chris's argument was that no one else has done as much to create awareness and education about these causes than Al Gore has. I believe this is true and I credit the film An Inconvenient Truth in helping me understand climate change and instill my passion for the environment. It is also the case that Al Gore's line of work demands heavy travel, which is by nature highly polluting. He makes a tradeoff between polluting and education that will ultimately benefit the world in the long term. All the while he does his best to limit his impact by offsetting his emissions and making eco-friendly choices. By this line of argument he is one of the greatest environmentalists in the world and that is the reason he won the Nobel Peace Prize.

I'm not sure what the answer is, but I find it still an interesting question to think about. Poor unindustrialzed nations typically look to western nations for help. Maybe it is the case that we have just as much to learn from them as we do from our western leaders. Who is the better environmentalist: a Bolivian who lives in a clay hut in the Altiplano or Al Gore?

The answers are definitely not clear, but what I did learn today is that Bolivians are hungry and thirsty. Families are being displaced and the world will likely turn a blind eye. Some of the hardest suffering and the least fault. Injustice.

The Journey Begins - Galapagos Islands

Bryan Mahoney — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 11:49:00 -0500

I am writing from the Galapagos Islands where I have been spending my time since finishing the ride. The Galapagos is one of the main attractions of Ecuador. Sadly, it didn't nearly come close to living up to the hype. I suppose that when I was in Paracas, Peru, I thought that what I saw there would be a small taste of was to come in the Galapagos. It turned out to be the reverse - the marine life was far more impressive in Peru for a 20th of the price tag. Which reinforces one of the things I learned on this trip: almost anything worth seeing can be done in Peru. Peru has the ocean and interesting marine life, Machu Picchu, Nazca lines and the desert, lake Titicaca, a really strong and interesting indigenous culture in between all those places, the Andes and jungle in the north.

Advice to future travelers of South America: skip the Galapagos and head to Peru and Bolivia. It seems that most travellers have apparently already picked up on that already though...

New comment on: The Journey Begins - THE VUELTA IS DONE!

SHARON MILLER — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 12:32:13 -0500

WAY TO GO RYAN!!! LOVE, SHARON

The Journey Begins - THE VUELTA IS DONE!

Bryan Mahoney — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 17:48:00 -0500

Yesterday i arrived in Quito after 4.5 months and 12000 km on the road. My father was waiting for me at the finish line. Last night was an early night - I got thirteen hours of sleep and I feel much better today. Today i went for lunch with my Dad, Ruth and Henry, who owns Tour D'afrique (www.tourdafrique.com)

Now its time to plan the next week or so and relax and recover. At some point I'd like to write something about the whole trip but ill need more time to process the experiences. But this is a blog post to officially let everyone know that THE VUELTA IS DONE!

(The fundraising isn't over though... more news on that soon.)

New comment on: The Journey Begins - Christmas lights in the Ecuador jungle

Kathy Stotland — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 17:19:16 -0500

congratulations Ryan knew you could do it see you soon ride safe Kathy

New comment on: The Journey Begins - Castle in the Clouds

Cilke Cilke — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 23:50:01 -0500

I actually had the same reaction to Macchu Pichu. It was really cool and beautiful but completely over-rated compared to some of the natural landscapes and lesser known areas.

New comment on: The Journey Begins - Christmas lights in the Ecuador jungle

elmono enbici — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 22:20:06 -0500

CONGRATULATIONS RYAN!

New comment on: The Journey Begins - Together we CAN - a call to action!

Derrick Blumenthal — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 13:13:56 -0500

Very inspiring and very moving... keep up the good work... Best of luck!

New comment on: The Journey Begins - Christmas lights in the Ecuador jungle

elmono enbici — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 16:07:24 -0500

I´ll be at the finish line on Sunday to welcome you to my wonderful country Ryan, it will be my pleasure to help you out while you are in here! Luis González-Mena lgelmono@gmail.com

The Journey Begins - Christmas lights in the Ecuador jungle

Bryan Mahoney — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 15:04:00 -0500

Since leaving Loja, we have been traversing the jungle. While I walked around tonight I saw Christmas lights on the houses, which just looked out of place but beautiful in the this very tropical climate. So far in Ecuador there is no electricity in the towns for a couple of hours at night to preserve water (the towns run on hydroelectricity). The drought has been terrible - another sign of the damage that we have done to the environment. The Christmas lights remind me that the holiday season is coming and that I never really had an Autumn. I had the cold winter in Argentina and Chile. Desert, then altiplano, then finally the tropics of northern Peru and Ecuador, but no leaves changing colours or anything like that. So December snuck up on me without notice. There was also no real notice because time goes by too fast when you don't want it to. Now December is rolling around quickly and I have only a few days left with my group. Four of them will be spent cycling and one will be a rest day in Puyo.

This will be the final blog until Quito. I want to thank everyone for making this trip incredible. The support was constant and never-ending. If this tour was a rock and roll tour, then this is the point in the show where I’d want to point the microphone into the audience and have them sing. What I mean by that is on top of the cycling, I’ve spent many hours trying to promote the fundraiser and now I need a little break from that aspect of the trip. So I want to ask people in the last five days to carry the melody for me and do what you can for these incredible causes. Time for me to just enjoy my last days with a group and soak in the atmosphere. South America is amazing and every day I fall more in love with this place. It will take time to even make sense of the last four and a half months and I’ll have more time to reflect in Quito. Until then.

Oh, and speaking of the holiday season, another great way to give to charity is by visiting www.yellowbirdproject.com and check out their great shirts designed by indie rock musicians. Recently a newer product of theirs called the Indie Rock Colouring Book was selected by Time magazine as the best present for the holiday season in the $5 to $20 dollar range. The book costs $10 dollars but you will have to move fast because these books are selling out quickly. The Yellow Bird Project was created by my brother Matthew and his buddy Casey Cohen.

The Journey Begins - Under Peruvian Skies

Bryan Mahoney — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 11:40:00 -0500

I last wrote a little past Lima, where I was staying in a campsite next to ancient ruins. What an awesome place. From there, we road along really tough dirt roads for two days before getting to a campsite just outside the town of Chimbote. The next day, the plan was to transit all the riders to Chiclaya to avoid an unridable stretch of road. Since we weren't riding the next day I figured it would be good to go that night to my destination instead of waiting for our vehicle which was only leaving the next day. That gave me two days off. So I packed my stuff and went on the highway to try and get a ride to Chimbote, the next town. I figured it might have taken a while to get a vehicle but a bus came by five minutes later and I got on it. Another guy who has a huge beard on my trip said that he also once tried to stop busses, but was unsuccessful. Apparently the people on the bus yelled, “Osama Bin Laden!” at him.

It only cost me five soles to get to town, which is a little over a dollar. My original plan was to try to go to Chiclaya right away, which is where the group was going to be spending the day off, but Chimbote turned out to be awesome. Tons of casinos and just a lot of fun at night. Both nights I was there I went to the casino and played the slots. I had a lot of fun.

I needed to meet the group the night before we started riding again, so I took a bus from Chimbote to Trujillo, and then another one from Trullio to Chiclaya. Since there were road blocks I only ended up getting there around midnight which was tough. Since Chimbote I have cycled five days. A lot has happened and I have been busy with riding, working on the Habs video, etc. so I apologize for the lack of updates. We rode a couple more days through Peru, which were a lot of fun.

At night it is finally nice out and we are having warm nights for one of the first times in the trip. It was really great after having so many nights in cold altiplano campsites to have this nice tropical weather. One night I remember well, right outside the town of Chuclucana, I slept outside my tent and fell asleep under the stars. In the distance, I could hear some great music and right next to me the trees were slowly swaying back and forth. Not like those nights on the beach in Chile. It’s great that I don't even have to stake in my tent and it won’t blow away. The best camping weather in a while and it’s just amazing to end the trip like this. The weather during the day has been less pleasant, but it’s been a great at night when it finally cools down.

It seems like the riding is routine at this point because all the riding days seem to be blurring into one, except for maybe today which was a really tough 100 km stretch of mostly climbing. I guess of significance is the fact that I am now in Ecuador, my final country of the trip. They use American dollars here and everything is so expensive compared to Peru. Another interesting thing about Ecuador is the fact that both towns I’ve seen shut down electricity for a couple hours at night to save water. There is a big drought and they use hydro power. It’s actually nice - I find everyone puts out candles and the towns look really cool for a couple of hours and then the power switches back on and everyone gets really excited. Tomorrow I will get to Loja for my day off. Loja has been described as the most musical city of Ecuador. Should be interesting and exciting.

http://habsinsideout.com/main/24637#comments

New comment on: The Journey Begins - Beyond Lima

vivian stotland — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 04:16:40 -0500

your blogs never cease to amaze me

New comment on: The Journey Begins - Lima and LivBlu

ryan stotland — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 20:03:01 -0500

go to the tourdafrique.com website and contact henry gold or randy pielstricker they are the leaders of this trip and have much information. all i can say is that the counties i have been through have been incredibly safe. if he is smart he shouldnt have any problems. with that being said, i dont know anything about Venezuela and I suggest he does significant research on that country because of all the countries in SA it is the most politically unstable

The Journey Begins - Beyond Lima

Bryan Mahoney — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 17:07:00 -0500

(Sidenote before I get started: Be sure to check out Pierre Boivin's comments on 12000km.org on the Canadiens fan site HabsInsideOut.com!)

We left Lima by bus because of the city being very dangerous. After a bit we got out and cycled the rest of the way to the Reserva National Lomas de Lechay. This was a really cool national park, because right before turning into the park we were surrounded by desert and then in one turn there was this beautiful green park. The park is well known for the many different types of birds, some of them migrating all the way from Canada.

From the park, we cycled the next day to a campsite right next to ruins from the Chimu culture. The Chimu were overtaken by the Inca and were known for their bronze and silver, but also for their pots. Not too bad a day because the winds were favourable.

When I got there, I joined a 2-on-2 game of soccer. There were three guys from Paramonga (a nearby town) kicking around a ball there and they wanted to play a game for money. They insisted that we play for money (4 soles, which is roughly a dollar but still buys a lot in Peru). I am not a great soccer player but 2-on-2 full court soccer is really only about speed and endurance because there is just so much place to run. My team won and the other 2 were going to pay me but there was no way I could have taken their money. They were really nice though and after we were done, their parents were there and gave us Inka cola. It has been a while since I have sweat that much. Cycling, I have grown more and more accustomed to, but the soccer was brutal.

I sat there and talked to them for a while and I realized that my Spanish must have gotten a lot better because they asked me all sorts of questions and we talked for a while. They wanted to know about the Titanic and an explanation of what happened to the boat. They also wanted to know why Alaska is not part of Canada and how cold it is in Canada. They wanted to know about Michael Jackson's death. The last one does not surprise me. I can remember in Oruro, one of the least touristy towns in Bolivia, walking through a market and numerous people had left their shop and everyone was crowded around one computer playing a Michael Jackson DVD. His popularity was a phenomenon prevalent all the way through South America. Michael Jackson and the movie and music from Titanic definitely seem to be elements of North American pop culture that are well-liked in South America.

New comment on: The Journey Begins - Lima and LivBlu

linda may — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 14:50:38 -0500

Hello Ryan: Your trip is amazing to read about..very interesting!! My 23 year old son (Corey) is in the planning stages of doing a somewhat similiar trip to raise money and awareness for multiple sclerosis at the end of January. My fears abound as he is doing this on his own. He is planning a 7600km cycling journey starting in Caracas, Venezuela down to the southern tip town of Tierra del Fuego to Ushuaia, Chile. Is there anywhere you can direct me on information relating to his safety. He is like you..a courageous individual concerned with the well -being of others. He was going for a degree in Environmental Engineering but has realised his passion lies with helping others. He is currently waiting to get into nursing at BCIT in Vancouver (very long waiting list) and has a friend suffering from MS(a very dibilitating disease). He is fund raising on his own and hoping for sponsorship. He cycled across Canada solo three years ago and was successful. I worry (like a parent does) about the political issues and the poverty in these countries that could put him at risk. Anything you can tell me would be appreciated. Thanks for listening to me and the very best of luck as you approach the end of your journey, you are a very special individual Ryan and your parents must be so very proud of you!! Take care and god speed! Corey's website is wwww.cycleforms.com

New comment on: The Journey Begins - Lima and LivBlu

vivian stotland — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:16:16 -0500

another great blog...thanks

New comment on: The Journey Begins - Together we CAN - a call to action!

Harriet Klein — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:38:13 -0500

Hi Ryan. I am your cousin Harriet, daughter of the late Gloria Stotland. You truly are an inspiration. I wish you much success on your journey. I am donating to your cause from my whole family and especially in memory of my mom, who I miss every day of my life. She would be extremely proud of you!

The Journey Begins - Lima and LivBlu

Bryan Mahoney — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 10:41:00 -0500

Since the last time I wrote in Paracay, we rode to the town of Pucasana continuing north up the pan-american highway. Pucasana was a nice, small fishing village along the Peruvian coast. In between, we passed through Chincha Alta which is the capital of afro-peruvian music. Unlike the last little while, the riding now has all been flat. People are recovering from our last pass through the Andes. From Pucusana we all loaded our bikes and stuff onto our support bus and rode into Lima because of the danger of the city. This is the biggest city we have hit since Buenos Aires and is the giant capital of Peru. In terms of population, it is roughly equivalent to New York City. The outskirts of the city are quite rough looking but once we get to downtown it is quite nice. We are staying right near the Plaza de Armas, which is in the main square.

The first night here I went to Miraflores, which is where many of the nice restaurants are. During my day off I did some work for the fundraiser and went to see sights in the city. I also went to the Uruguayan embassy because someone on our trip who is from there needed a visa for Ecuador and it required a witness. At night we had a birthday party for someone on the trip who celebrated their 66th birthday party; quite nice to be so fit at that age. We went for Chinese food which was excellent. After the Chinese, we went to a club near Miraflores for salsa dancing lessons. While I don't think anyone really learned anything, it was fun to watch people try. The highlight was watching the teachers perform for us at the end. They were incredible.

Right now I am waiting to get on the bus to exit Lima, but our support vehicle had mechanical problems and we are delayed waiting for it to get back from the shop. Midway through today, after exiting Lima, we will all get off the bus and ride our bikes to a park outside the city. Should be fun.

Also a reminder to go check out the LivBlu fundraiser which will take place tonight, Thursday, Nov. 19th. LivBlu features an auction whose funds will be split between the David Suzuki Foundation and 12000km.org. My friend Meaghan will be presenting about our trip and causes there. Thanks Meaghan! Hope you can make it out! Tickets and more information are available on the site at http://www.livblu.com/

Also check out one of my blogs and a slideshow of my pictures on runaway now which is a popular travel website. Thanks Deana! http://www.runawaynow.com/2009/11/gringo-trail-by-ryan-stotland/

The Journey Begins - From Nazca to Paracay

Bryan Mahoney — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 18:27:00 -0500

Now we’re headed back to the Pacific coast. The first time since Chile. The first day we bike to a suburb of Ica called Santiago where we stay at a kids’ soccer camp. The ride to get there was 130 km with some climbs early in the day and headwinds that slowly turned right in the afternoon. I feel like I’m in Brazil again for some reason. It’s all the stands on the side of the road and the tropical weather and attitude. I find in the mountains people are more conservative. I stop at a stand on the side of the ride to get some soda and chips and the family there wants to take a picture with me, which I love. They also want me to take some pics with their kids.
At camp, when each rider comes in the kids insist on helping you set up your tent, though they don't really know how to and prove to be more of a hindrance. They are really good at soccer. We watch them play a little at night. I also walk into the town at night. Get some ice cream, fried chicken and use some Internet. The town is really festive and I sit out and read my book On the Road.

Now I am back up to the present day’s ride which was to the town of Paracas back to the coast! Its short - only 90 km - and i get here before 11 am. Lunch places aren’t even open yet. They are giving us some rest from the mountain stages and it’s clear people are enjoying it. We are staying at a nice hotel with an outdoor pool and restaurant. It’s like a vacation from traveling. A funny concept but with the traveling we are doing you sometimes need it. I go on a boat tour that takes us out to see sea lions and other marine life. Awesome tour. At the end, the tour guide says that things have gotten a lot worse for the animals with the rise in sea temperatures. Climate change is a serious problem that will slowly start to interfere in more aspects of our lives and with greater severity.

Let's come together and make an impact on this cause.

New comment on: The Journey Begins - A rest day, but no rest

vivian stotland — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 04:37:47 -0500

great blog...i love hearing about all your experiences

The Journey Begins - A rest day, but no rest

Bryan Mahoney — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 18:05:00 -0500

My mind frame at this point of the trip is largely the following: I’ve seen a lot of things. I’ve cycled around the perimeter of South America. I’ve gone through the desert, across the Andes, over bad roads and through salt flats. I’ve had horses migrating next to where I am sleeping in the middle of the night. I’ve seen South America in a pretty natural state and made it pretty far. So I wasn't so concerned about a tour thats runs out of Nazca multiple times every day to see the Lines (learn about the Lines here). That’s when you get in trouble. I don't think its a coincidence that the only two people to have been mugged in South America are our two leaders.

I wasn't really concerned about this flight and thought it would be no big deal. It was a small plane that fit 4 passengers. I sat in the back next to a girl from Japan. It turns out that it was the most unpleasant trip I have had. Every time a new line formation came, the pilot would flip the plane so we could take good pictures. The flight was in the middle of the day and was so hot, which made the whole thing nauseating. By the end, none of us were looking at the lines anymore and just wanted it to end. I was vomiting. In hindsight, I don't think it helped that we had a party the night before to celebrate the completion of the hardest stretch of the trip.

On a related note: Climate change has effects that range in severity. A lesser-known one might be the eventual disappearance of the lines which have been around since the Nazca culture.

“The Lines themselves are superficial, they are only 10 to 30 cm deep and could be washed away... Nazca has only ever received a small amount of rain. But now there are great changes to the weather all over the world. The Lines cannot resist heavy rain without being damaged.”
- From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazca_Lines

In order to turn the hot water on for the shower in my room in Nazca, you have to turn on a switch on the wall before turning the knob in the shower. Once you do that, though, you get electrocuted. I was in the shower and I said to my roommate Alfonso, who is from Uruguay, “I was just electrocuted.” He goes, “oh yeah, I got electrocuted yesterday while showering. I complained about it to reception so I figured it would definitely have been fixed by now.” Things often don't happen that quickly here. I went down to reception to tell them that the electrocution problem was persisting. The receptionist listed a couple of the rooms in which they have had this problem, and he said that our room would be added to the list. I’m happy to have taken my last shower there. My suspicion is that it probably didn't get fixed and someone else is being electrocuted as this blog is being written. I think he will live.

Vomit and electrocution: a good rest day. Things always get better once you’re back on the road.

New comment on: The Journey Begins - One ride away from Cusco

Bernie — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:03:26 -0500

loved the portland maine half marathon reference

New comment on: The Journey Begins - Together we CAN - a call to action!

Natou — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:27:22 -0500

Ryan,you are a true inspiration. With more people like you the future is in great hands. I will make sure to forward your message to as many people as possible. Kol Hakavod

The Journey Begins - Where the streets have no name

Bryan Mahoney — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 09:22:00 -0500

I last left off describing my ride in Abancay when I was on my way to Yacca. Yacca was a very small town and we had a quiet campsite overlooking the mountains - a good place to be camping before the hardest two days of riding on the whole trip. This was one of the first tropical nights we had in a while where it wasn't cold to be out at night. The two days were all uphill and were both over 100 km.

The first day took us to what we called ‘tollbooth camp.’ At camp I got involved in a game of volleyball with some of the locals working there. The funny thing was that every few points we had to take the net down so that we could allow cars to pass through the tollbooth. Volleyball is a fun game and seems to be the second-most popular game played around here (soccer being the game of choice).

The next day was a 100 km ride up to our ultimate summit that took us to our highest point of the tour. We camped at an Altiplano lake camp that was very cold. The last half of that day was the hardest part. We sat at lunch and the leader was saying how this should be the hardest day of the tour because it contained every challenge. Natasha, a rider from South Africa, said, “but we haven't had wind yet.” Right after she said that, the wind showed up - hitting us head on and adding to the challenge of all the climbing we had do. By the end, it was just so cold. It was a rewarding feeling to be done though.

From lake camp we rode to a campsite that we set up outside a truck stop. That day, we passed through the town of Pequeno. It was an up and down day the whole way through starting with the descent into the town. Now we are the in the desert again and it’s very hot during the day. I used internet when we got into the town, got money and got batteries for my camera. I figured it would be a relatively short day, but I didn't properly anticipate how tough the end would be. Once we got to the place we were supposed to be camping at, one of the staff members said that we still had another hour of climbing to get to our new campsite because they wouldn't let us camp in the original location. That was tough.

The next day was only downhill though to Nazca. Roughly a 100 km descent which was great, except that by the end it didn't feel like a descent given the strong headwind. The leaders didn't have an address for us for the place we were supposed to be staying. They just said try to find the ‘Walk On Inn.’ However, when we got to Nazca, no one understood “walk on inn.”

And now for my tangent…

Language can sometimes be a barrier in places we go. Sometimes the challenge is not necessarily in finding the right words, but in understanding the accent. For example, in Chile I stopped someone on the street to ask a very simple question: “Donde es ruta cinqo?” They looked at me confused. Then I wrote it on a piece of paper and she says, “oh, ruta cinqo!!” I can’t necessarily pick up where I mispronounced “ruta” or “cinqo” because it’s very subtle, but that subtlety can sometimes be the difference between understanding and not understanding. Overall though, I have been pretty happy with the amount of spanish I’ve been able to get by with.

The reverse is true as well; people from South America mispronounce words in English. Those mispronunciations though seem to be the same across people. For example, when I was in Aguas Caliente I wanted to find my hostel, the Joe Inn. When I’d ask people where the Joe Inn was, they would be confused. Then I heard the person at the desk pronounce Joe Inn, noticing that he’d say the words together really fast. The next day when I wanted to ask how far between the bus stop and the Joe Inn, I was able to do it without a problem. What I learned is that successful travel incorporates learning proper accents in Spanish and sometimes incorrect ones in English.

When I got to Nazca, I was with another rider and we tried asking for the Walk On Inn. No one understood. Then I tried a sequence of variations of pronunciations, but still no one understood. My friend suggested that we just sit outside the main church and wait for someone we knew to pass by, but then the simple solution hit me. I walked in to the internet cafe next door and googled ‘walk on inn nazca’ and found the name of the street. I showed it to the lady working there and discovered we were only a couple of blocks away. In this case, it wasn’t the accent that was preventing getting information, just the fact that not everyone had heard of the Walk On Inn!

New comment on: The Journey Begins - Out of Puno

Alex — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 21:31:15 -0500

Editor's note: "lighting" has been changed to "lightning". Thanks Ry.

New comment on: The Journey Begins - Out of Puno

ryan stotland — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 18:50:29 -0500

the word lighting should be lightening

New comment on: The Journey Begins - Mmmm, Macchu Pichu

ryan stotland — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 17:19:27 -0500

hey danny and megan, hope your trip back to australia was safe. Great meeting you guys on the train. Hope northern Peru was fun.

The Journey Begins - Riding the trail

Bryan Mahoney — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:46:00 -0500

The company that I am cycling with offers clients the opportunity to do just a section of the tour between Rio and Quito. The section between Cusco and Lima is called ‘The Gringo Trail’ and a new rider joined us for that section. The reason it is called this is because that’s where most of the ‘Gringos’ go. Peru is the most touristy of all the countries and they go to Puno to see Lake Titicaca, Cusco for Machu Pichu and they also end up in Nazca, where I am now, to see the Nazca lines. They also end up in Lima, where I will be in a week from now. While we do travel to all the places that the ‘Gringos’ go, we spend most of our time in the spaces between.

The six day stretch from Cusco to Nazca is a half-day bus ride for most tourists. We, on the other hand, spend much more time in the places between these two cities. We see these parts in unusual detail. Interactions with shopowners in small towns, seeing the animals along the route, cycling up beautiful mountains and along rivers are important parts of our experience. We camp in the desert and in the mountains where temperatures are well below freezing at night and scorching hot during the day. Along the route, I played in a game of volleyball at a tollbooth and was invited to play soccer by the local kids of Negro Mayo. These are experiences that few have while traveling.

When we pass through small towns along The Gringo Trail, the local kids always yell “Gringo!!” - and it isn't because they are welcoming me to their section of the trail. The tourists who usually pass through are hidden on a bus. We are out in the open and these are likely the only times they have ever seen white people passing on a bicycle. A mystery and a surprise to them. I think of it as a reminder of the special challenge of the journey… a type of traveling few ever have done before on this trail.

New comment on: The Journey Begins - Mmmm, Macchu Pichu

Danny and Megan — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 10:03:05 -0500

G'day mate! We have enjoyed reading your blogs. Keep up the awesome work and stay safe! Danny & Megan

The Journey Begins - Castle in the Clouds

Bryan Mahoney — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 11:33:00 -0500

Today we are continuing on our most difficult stretch of biking that ends in Nazca. We left Cuarhuasi this morning, which is where we stayed last night. Last night I went to a bar in Cuarhuasi which was fun - they played a lot of Johnny Cash. We left town and started a three hour (35 km) climb which was tough but still nice. Now I am at the bottom of the other side of the mountain in a big city called Abancay. I still have about 30 km of biking to go, so this post will be brief. I finish in a town called Yacca.

When I was in Cusco, someone told me that when you see Macchu Pichu it would be one of the most memorable experiences of your life. I liked Macchu Pichu, but I didn't find it as inspiring as this person described. I do think, though, that the stuff I have seen in the couple of days since Cusco - in the Peruvian countryside - has been indescribable. This morning on the climb out of Cuarhuasi we climbed through endless switchbacks that take you up to the summit. Climbing for hours takes a lot of endurance and is so rewarding when you have been at it for so long that the effort to do it is no longer so great. That means that in the cool Peruvian morning you can take in the beauty of your surroundings. On both sides of the road you pass cattle, horses and pigs and as you get higher there are more mountain goats. Sometimes you need to duck around them as they cross in the middle of the road. You also pass kids playing in the street and adults working. Houses made of stone perched on the side of the mountain. You pass some cars loaded with indigenous people who look at you amazed that you are getting to the top of this mountain on a bicycle. They look at you as if they had never considered the possibility. Then as you get closer to the summit things get lonelier and the I see a lot of people sitting quietly by themselves staring out at the beautiful mountains. And the the more you pedal, the more the houses and people are less common and you find yourself in the clouds. Can’t see much, but I know it's beautiful.

New comment on: The Journey Begins - Mmmm, Macchu Pichu

Molly Frizzell — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 10:39:30 -0500

"i'm fairly certain it is unbelievably relevant." ^glad to see that despite the flats you're still keeping your sense of humor, hahaha

New comment on: The Journey Begins - Together we CAN - a call to action!

Don Doiron — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 16:40:46 -0500

Keep up the great work man and good luck with the rest of your ride/journey! p.s. Go Habs!

The Journey Begins - Mmmm, Macchu Pichu

Bryan Mahoney — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 11:43:00 -0500

I first learned of Macchu Pichu while watching Seinfeld. Kramer pretends to be a opening a silver mine in Peru, and after eating a chip says, “Mmmm... Macchu Pichu.” But that was years ago, and it was a while until I actually learned that Macchu Pichu is a real place. I’m not sure why I am telling that story but I’m fairly certain it is unbelievably relevant.

I spent a couple of days in Cusco, which is a fairly big tourist destination. The food is great and it was really fun. One night I went to a restaurant called The Aldea Yanapay Project which is a restaurant that also serves as a school for children and uses all the profit from the restaurant to fund social projects in Cusco. The food was great and so was the atmosphere. Yuri, the founder of the project, was at the restaurant but unfortunately I didn't get to meet him.

I spent most my time in Cusco relaxing, checking out the major sights and eating a lot of food. I also organized a tour to Macchu Pichu. To get to Macchu Pichu, we needed to take a bus to Ollanta and from there a train to Aguas Caliente, which are the hot springs where everyone leaves to hike up. Unfortunately, the bus I took to Ollanta broke down halfway through the trip and after unsuccessfully trying to fix it they called up another bus. The roads are so bad.

We eventually got to Ollanta and then to Aguas Caliente where I checked into my hostel. I woke up the next morning to go up to Macchu and see the city. I walked around the ruins for a bit and then I left and hiked down. I met an Oncologist from Rio who was at a conference and we talked for a bit. I wore my Habs shirt and received comments all day from people from Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto. This was definitely the most touristy place I have been on the tour - everything was so expensive. It was still really cool to see the ruins.

On the ride back to Cusco, I sat next to a couple from Australia. They had just hiked from Cusco to Macchu Pichu. They were really fun to talk to - both good athletes who have completed Ironman triathlons.

Today I cycled from Cusco to the town to Cuarhuasi. About 120 km of very steep terrain - probably the most challenging of the trip. It kind of sucked that I got a couple of flat tires along the way. The climb to get to the city just seemed to go on forever and was one of the biggest challenges so far of the trip. I’m tired now and am off to bed.

New comment on: The Journey Begins - Together we CAN - a call to action!

Larry — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 16:25:48 -0500

I have taken Ryan's call to action very seriously and this is the e-mail that I am sending to all my friends and colleagues. If you feel the same as I do then fell free to use any part or all of my letter to form your own. Dear friends, Have you ever read a message that moves you so much that you feel compelled to share it with your friends and relatives? Well, I just did. The message, an appeal really, comes from a 22-year old Montrealer named Ryan who is cycling 12000km across South America to raise awareness and money for two causes close to his heart: climate change and skin cancer. It is posted on his blog ( Together we can - A Call to Action) on the 12000KM website ( www.12000KM.org). This message made me realize quite a few things about myself and the way we all somehow manage to forget the really important things in life... until it's often too late and all that remains are regrets. Regrets at not having acted when one had the chance. Regrets at having put off something to tomorrow not realizing the opportunity might be gone by then. We've all experienced such feelings. When someone we love falls ill or has an accident, we suddenly become aware of how fragile and precious life is. At such times, we feel driven to do something, anything, to help out, to show that we care, to make a difference. At such times, we also wish that we'd had the opportunity to do something before any of it happened or, better still, the power to prevent it. At the very least, we wish to be able to say to ourselves that we were there and did everything we could. Ryan’s message made me realize that I do in fact have the opportunity and the power to help out and make a difference now, before any regrets can set in. Excerpts from Ryan’s message and challenge read as follows: “Now I sit in Cusco in an internet cafe sending emails and thinking of every way I can to raise more money and awareness about the ride and the causes. It´s our obligation to help these people in whatever way to get them what they need. Together we can do this but right now I need as many people as possible to pitch in. I want to feel that before I leave to the ruins of Machu Picchu that Dr. Khanna’s words are not just resounding strongly with me but with everyone. And if that happens and we work hard together - we can save some lives.” “I’d like to challenge anyone who is reading this message who hasn’t donated to put in their donation now at any level that they can afford. And to send this message to 10 new people so they can learn about the causes and hopefully donate too. Please”. Can we afford not to rise to Ryan's challenge? I, for one, don't think so. Do we want to live with more regrets and lost opportunities? I certainly don't. The opportunity to make a difference is right here and now. All it takes is for each of us to support Ryan by donating $1 or more at www.12000km.org and passing on his important message to all the people you hold dear. The amount you donate, and even whether you donate or not, is not important. What is important is to do something. There is strength in numbers and if each one of us shows his or her support, we will actually make a big difference. Do it today, for yourself, your loved ones and friends, and all that you hold dear. Thanks. Larry

New comment on: The Journey Begins - Together we CAN - a call to action!

vivian stotland — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 10:34:20 -0500

bravo ryan..very informative

The Journey Begins - Together we CAN - a call to action!

Bryan Mahoney — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 11:35:00 -0500

Getting to Cusco and climbing to the top of the city and feeling the reward of my hard work was an emotionally exhilarating experience. Sipping a beer at the top of the city, I reflected on the 3 day ride from Puno, the scenery that I can´t even describe and the formidable challenges. It was an amazing stretch of biking, but the last couple of days have been meaningful for me for reasons that go beyond the riding.

A couple days ago someone sent the following message about the ride:
"Sad the money is going to research a disease, Cancer, that already has a cure... Many, actually. When will the population WAKE UP?"

The second morning of this stretch I was feeling tired and was slow to get moving. I went down to breakfast in my jeans, still not dressed in my cycling clothes ready to ride. Half the group was sick and were already in Cusco and resting. Bolivia took a physical and emotional toll. I was feeling a little fatigued and on some level I was questioning the ride and the cause. Do we actually have a chance at reversing the effects of climate change? Some scientists would say no. And skin cancer is a highly treatable form of cancer. So what I am doing? But then I checked my email and reality set in quickly. Dr. Khanna had sent me the following message:

“Ryan: The volume of skin cancer we see keeps rising. Recently I have seen two young patients (25 and 34) with terrible metastatic melanoma. Very sad cases, because they will probably die from their disease. It is these cases that should motivate you through the final part of your ride. Your efforts to raise money and awareness, leads to people making discoveries, which then can help these types of patients.”

I finished breakfast and went back to my room. I quickly changed into my cycling clothes and got on the saddle. I was out the door early. I rode my heart out all the way to Cusco. Sometimes it’s harder to motivate myself when I think about riding to influence a statistic: To help raise the survival rate by a certain percentage. It’s abstract and impersonal. But now I am thinking about these young guys. Young people like myself that have places they needed to go. And the damage we have done to the environment means that in clinics all around the world, the number of these young people with fatal forms of cancer is only going to increase. Skin cancer rates have only been rising exponentially and the disease has now become the most prevalent form of cancer.

Now I sit in Cusco in an internet cafe sending emails and thinking of every way I can to raise more money and awareness about the ride and the causes. I know Khanna needs the money, the patients need the money, and Suzuki needs the money. It´s our obligation to help these people in whatever way to get them what they need. But I need more people to pitch in.

We’ve almost raised 100,000 dollars. It is an impressive amount of money but it is not nearly enough. When predicting at first how much we could help to raise for these great causes the number was roughly 120,000. So far that looks right on target. That is of course if you are making a prediction using reason. But to raise enough money and to actually make a difference on these causes we are going to need something beyond reason. There is nothing reasonable about the challenge of trying to reduce carbon emissions by more than half, when throughout history they have only ever increased despite treaties and efforts to do so. That’s why we need a little passion. Probably a lot. So many people are helping me. My family has gone above and beyond what most peoples family would do to help. Joy Bultz and my cousin Lisa Stotland have also done an exceptional job raising money. But I need even more people to help. To spread the word and to donate because we havent gotten anywhere near where we need to be. We are still warming up. Let’s get to $200,000 and when we are there go way beyond.

I remember listening to David Suzuki talk before leaving on my trip. He talked about the people who say it’s too late to reverse the effects of climate change. There is a book on the Gaia effect that claims the earth has surpassed a tipping point of carbon that the atmosphere can hold. But as Suzuki pointed out to the audience, no one has the right to say it’s too late. We can’t predict how resilient the environment can be.... and more importantly, we also can’t predict how resilient we can be as a community of people. Together we can make a concerted effort to reverse climate change and at the same time one of the most damaging consequences (the exponential increase in skin cancer rates).

Together we can do this, but right now I need as many people as possible to pitch in. Tomorrow I am leaving to go hike Macchu Pichu for two days and then will start on my hardest stretch of biking: one week to Nazca where the hills will be much steeper than anything we have seen.

I want to feel that before I leave to the ruins of Macchu Pichu that Khanna’s words are not just resounding strongly with me but with everyone reading and following the ride. And if that happens and we work hard together - we can save some lives. I’d like to challenge anyone who is reading the blog who hasn’t donated to put in their donation now at any level that they can afford. And to send this blog post to 10 new people so they can learn about the causes and hopefully donate too. Please.

The Journey Begins - Arriving in Cusco

Bryan Mahoney — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 07:34:00 -0500

Today we finally arrived in Cusco. I was on the road by sunrise and it has become clear that the earlier you get moving, the less heat and wind you have to endure. The downside of leaving early is that if you ride fast like I was this morning you can arrive at the lunch stop before most people are getting to work. The ride was 140 kms in total and the terrain got fairly challenging towards the end with some really steep hills. In the last town before Cusco we were greeted by local guides to lead us into the city and give a little history of the major plazas and monuments. The traffic in the city is always difficult. I got to go in the first group getting led into Cusco, which meant that I arrived in Cusco around noon while the sun was at its strongest. Really hot today.

I'm very happy to be here and look forward to my days off and hiking Macchu Pichu. The view from the top of the city is spectacular and made the day feel so good. Once I arrived I went to an Aussie/Peruvian restaurant for lunch. Incredible food.

New comment on: The Journey Begins - Out of Puno

vivian stotland — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 03:58:44 -0500

ryan..i love reading your blogs...they make me feel as if i am a part of your trip

The Journey Begins - One ride away from Cusco

Bryan Mahoney — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 20:32:00 -0500

140 kilometres didn't come out of my legs as fast as they usually do. When I woke up I was still feeling yesterday’s ride. Half the group has gone ahead to Cusco to recover from various ailments, mostly stomach related. I shared a room with the bus driver, Alfonso (one of my favourite people on the trip), but he wakes up at 5 am to prepare breakfast which is at 6. I don't love early mornings and my legs were still a little sore from yesterday’s ride. In the morning I got great emails from leaders of both causes and any reluctance to be riding washed away. Anyway, once I am riding I always enjoy it.

I am 10 km away from finishing my ride today which will be in a town called San Pablo. The weather has been nice all day unlike yesterday. A bit of a shorter distance and a net descent overall. The morning though was climbing but once I reached the top I was greeted by a bus full of random tourists, all of whom wanted to take my picture. There was a little market there and they were part of a tour group. One was a marathon runner from Oregon who ran the Portland marathon and he loved the trip. I ran a half in Portland as well, but it was Portland, Maine. Then I descended Aguas Caliente where there are hot springs. I asked a local guy to take my picture there, but I can’t imagine he had ever seen a camera before and didn't seem overly fond of the machine. He looked at it and then started yelling something in spanish and ran away. I've heard that in some cultures here they view the camera as something that can steal your soul. He was also looking into the lens to check to see if something was residing there.

A little more riding to the campsite tonight, then dinner and one day to Cusco… then three days off!

The Journey Begins - Out of Puno

Bryan Mahoney — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 18:30:00 -0500

An interesting ride today. From Puno we travelled along the three south to a town called Ayaviri roughly 145km away. Climbing out of Puno, I got a flat right at the beginning. Luckily, I was able to patch it and move on fairly quickly. The morning was all flat riding on fairly good pavement and I even got a boost from drafting behind what could only be described as the Batmobile. The only major challenge in the morning other than the flat was navigating my way through the town of Juliaca which just has a crazy amount of traffic with all the micro busses, taxis and bicycles. Once through, I had a nice lunch which was avocado sandwiches. The afternoon was much more difficult and incorporated large hills, wind and a hail storm. I considered trying to take a picture of the lightning but than I realized I had a lot of biking and someone else has probably captured a lightning picture before.

One of the best pieces of news I got today was that one of the most successful Tufts Alumni, Jonathan Tisch, is going to support the ride. I used to always study in his library in my last year at school - that library that was pretty much my home. Other than the fact that I liked studying there, I was also motivated by the fact that it was heated and my house wasn't.

Check out his book: "Citizen You… Doing Your Part to Change the World", which will be released the first week in May.

That's about it for today - gotta go check out the town of Ayaviri with a beautiful church outside our hotel.

New comment on: The Journey Begins - Sunday in Puno

ryan — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 13:22:58 -0500

just a song lyric lis. im far from puno now. should be more blogs up soon

New comment on: The Journey Begins - Sunday in Puno

lisa — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 11:05:03 -0500

you are someone!

New comment on: The Journey Begins - Sunday in Puno

Ellen — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 18:45:09 -0400

Like your writing. Great work! Go habs go! :)

New comment on: The Journey Begins - Sunday in Puno

Matt — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 15:44:05 -0400

And then uh, he starts humming this little tune, and, uh, it kinda goes like this, it's kinda 1, 2, 1 2 3 4

The Journey Begins - Sunday in Puno

Bryan Mahoney — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 15:15:00 -0400

The youth hostel I am staying at in Puno is on the outskirts of the city right near the highway. Last night I took a taxi into the city and ate at one of those really touristy restaurants in Puno called Gourmet Andean Cuisine. Saturday night walking around Puno, all you see are fancy restaurants and white tourists walking around (Europeans, Americans, Canadians, Australians, etc.) consuming all the nice things offered in the city. It’s a tourist trap near Lake Titicaca meant for the local people to soak up the money of the tourists. As is usually the case, I was tired from a hard day of riding and went to sleep right after dinner.

By 6:45 am I was already awake and decided to take a walk into the city for breakfast. The early morning is an interesting time in these touristy cities - as all the tourists lie asleep in their nice hotel beds, the local people of the city are already awake. When I left my hostel, the owner told me not come back before 2 because she was going to be at church. At all other times, she would always be trying to serve others but not on Sunday morning. She was going to serve G-d but ultimately her own soul. I wasn’t the priority anymore - she was.

As I walk into the city no one tries to sell me a tour to the sun island, no one even tries to sell me anything. No one pays attention to me. Some are spending time with their family, some are playing soccer in a nearby park, some are getting ready to go to church and some are setting up their shop. Preparing a shop is very involved process and I watch as some are taking inventory, cleaning, unpacking, packing and doing whatever is necessary to get ready. But I’m the only white person on the streets that I see all morning. This is time for them and not for hassling me or any other tourists. There are more smiles and laughter than I see at any other time of the day.
"And I 'm happy because I just found out I am really no one."

New comment on: The Journey Begins - A (not so warm) welcome to Peru

Chris — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 16:58:44 -0400

Seems like you're right on top of things.

New comment on: The Journey Begins - A (not so warm) welcome to Peru

Matt — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 12:49:22 -0400

That was an entertaining read. You should have asked to play in the soccer game!!!

The Journey Begins - A (not so warm) welcome to Peru

Bryan Mahoney — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 10:58:00 -0400

Today I had a long ride from Copacabana to the town of Puno. I ate breakfast today with a random guy from Germany who had been traveling in South America for a while and was staying in my hostel. He told me about getting robbed in Venezuela which seems to be the country that requires the highest degree of caution. He was in Bolivia to scout some property but thinks the political climate might be too unstable to invest.

In the morning I had a successful crossing into Peru which was not far from Copacabana. Not much changes along the border of two countries right away except for the currency. Clothing and scenery remain much of the same. We are still surrounded by lake Titicaca and farm land. There are many cows and pigs along the side of the route. The ride today was very tiring especially because I was carrying a backpack which I find very annoying. After lunch, I stopped at a little store along the way to get something to eat because I was hungry again. It always amazes me how these stores seem to always be unattended and you have to wait a while before anyone shows up. It’s amazing to me that on top of the fact that it seems they get no business, they also seem to feel very comfortable being robbed if someone wants. Once the women arrived at the counter, I bought a loaf of bread. I only had bills because I had only just exchanged my money but in South America they rarely have change and are often unable to exchange big bills. Since I wasn't able to come up with the exact change she just gave me the bread for free.

Finally I arrived in Puno after what was a long, tiring ride. After checking into my hostel, I walked around the city a little and ended up in one of the less touristy areas. In the back of these residential buildings was a square where there was a fairly intense soccer match going on. I walked in to watch it and was impressed by the level of intoxication of the people watching and how violent the game was. Every play there was either a fight or someone on the ground injured. While I was definitely entertained, it was not necessarily a place for tourists. A little while after getting there, some guy from the stands jumped up at me and was trying to grab something from my pockets. I kept my hands in there and wouldn't let him get anything as he kept yelling “cellulare!” and kept trying to grab where my camera was. Then someone told him to calm down and he stopped. I think he either thought I stole his phone or he was trying to steal mine. At that point, things settled down and I thought that people might warm to me. One trait that usually accompanies long distance cycling is stubbornness. Given what had just happened to me while I was alone in a foreign city, I probably should have left at the point. But I wanted to watch the game, so I stayed. Then a police officer showed up and I knew that at that point I knew it was safe for me to snap some pics. But as the officer was leaving, another guy starting yelling at me in Spanish so I decided to leave with the police officer. I wasn't welcome at that game and was happy to still have all my belongings.

That was my first even remotely scary incident in South America. For the amount of time I have been here, I am pretty happy. I have heard stories from other travelers of being mugged and robbed and I want to keep my record intact of nothing really bad happening. In fact, the German couple I met who were mugged in Juarez said they were mugged in broad daylight - so I guess things can be problematic at any time in the day.

Okay, that’s it for now. An eventful start to Peru, but it will get better.

New comment on: The Journey Begins - Home cooking in La Paz

Rafael Ollarves — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 11:43:52 -0400

Dear Ryan: If you heard mixed things? You heard the truth, but, if you decide to come to my country? you will meet: Nice people, with a big heart, and beautiful places, so? Think about it and... Listen to your heart. I love your causes, and your brave heart to do this amazing travel, I am following you on facebook now. May the force be with you man!

The Journey Begins - Bye Bye Bolivia

Bryan Mahoney — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 10:06:00 -0400

On Wednesday we left La Paz and the morning was certainly eventful. First thing in the morning, I encountered one of the scams that is mentioned in my guidebook: I saw a huge bag of money on the street. My guidebook says that if you pick it up, someone will accuse you of stealing and try to have you arrested. Some guy next to me said to me, “look at that huge bag of money,” but I just kept walking and everything was fine.

We finally encountered the highly publicized Bolivian road blocks. My girlfriend Molly, who travelled through Bolivia a year ago, told me how she was stuck on a bus in Bolivia for more than 24 hours and my guidebook also warned me of these inconveniences. But up until La Paz, I had encountered every Bolivian challenge (salt flats, bad roads, scams, etc.) except road blocks. But leaving La Paz, we were stuck for a good four hours because of military protests and we were unsure how to get on the highway. It was stressful, but it worked out in the end.

Luckily we only had a small day of riding planned to the town of Huatajata about 80 km outside of La Paz. A beautiful ride during which we reached lake Titicaca about halfway through. To be able to still see the snow capped mountains of the cordilleras and the lake was great. The wind eventually turned against us at the end but since it was a short day it wasn't so bad. It’s funny how when you are camping 7:30 pm seems to be about the time that everyone goes to sleep. Tired from the day of riding and lack of light. That night though I stayed up and played hearts with some new riders who just joined for the section from La Paz to Quito. We drank some wine and had fun.

The next morning started with a nice 15 km hilly section to catch a ferry so that we could finish our ride to Copacabana. The short boat ride cost 4 bolivianos, which is about 50 cents (I’m still loving the prices in Bolivia). The afternoon was about another 50 km of riding which was all through huge hills. At one point we had climbed to about 700 meters above lake Titicaca. You know you have done a lot of climbing when you are using lake Titicaca as the base above which you measure how much you've climbed. I believe that Titicaca is the highest lake in the world. I got to Copacabana at noon, giving me most of the day to explore this very touristy town. I ate lunch with a couple from Toronto who had just come from spending a month in Juarez, Peru. For most of the day I just sat by the lake and read. I went for dinner at another touristy restaurant and a couple from Germany invited me to join them. They were very nice and were also coming from Peru which they didn't like so much. They were mugged at gunpoint just outside Juarez and got very fed up with the touristy nature of Peru. I can relate to that.
So far I have passed through two towns (San Pedro de Atacama and Copacabana) that I would consider to be tourist traps. In both of them I found slightly annoying the sheer number of people harassing you to give you a tour. And even though the destinations are nice and the tours are cool, the huge price increases from everywhere else makes you feel like you’re being scammed.

That is it for now… a couple of days till Puno, which is on the Peruvian side of the lake. We’ll get a day off in Puno, and then it’ll be three more days to Cusco. I’ll miss Bolivia - my favourite country thus far. Difficult but so rewarding. I heard the Habs are on a winning streak.

New comment on: The Journey Begins - Home cooking in La Paz

ryan stotland — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 21:32:48 -0400

Dear Rafael, I have thought about coming to Venezuela. I have been thinking about extending the trip a bit through columbia. but venezuela is it safe? i have heard mixed things RS

New comment on: The Journey Begins - Home cooking in La Paz

Rafael Ollarves — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 21:27:45 -0400

Hi Ryan, a big hug froma valencia, venezuela, I have a question for you... are you going to come to Venezuela? I would like to invite you an AREPA ( Venezuelan traditioonal food)and talk a while with you, if you come to my city, anyway, yes or not a very big hug, you rule man, go ahead, and God bless you all the way.

The Journey Begins - Home cooking in La Paz

Bryan Mahoney — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 12:00:00 -0400

When I was biking across Canada with Daniel we had a game called "you know you've been on the road for a while when..." One that stuck with me was that you know you've been on the road for a while when you can anticipate the steepness of an upcoming climb based on the smell. Before we had turned the corner and could see the hill, we already know the steepness based on the smell of burnt rubber from the previous truck to go down the hill. The stronger the smell, the steeper the hill.

I know I have been on the road for a while because I am actively seeking out poutine and trying to remember some Hebrew in the most exotic city in South America. For those who don’t know me personally, I am a Jew from Montreal.

When I was in Buenos Aires I went out for drinks with a Tufts student studying abroad there. I remember asking her how people had been enjoying the program so far. She said it had been mixed and that many were homesick. That was one of the moments in life when I realize that I had been so involved in my own experience that an answer that was totally feasible seemed completely surprising. From my perspective my question was rhetorical and I expected and automatic response:

“How are you?”
“Good.”

“How are people in your program enjoying South America?”
“Awesome: Everyone is having the time of their life.”

After digesting the surprise, I realized that obviously homesickness would be a widespread reaction to traveling thousands of kilometres away from home. This made a big impression on me; one of those definitive moments where I realized that I was having an amazing time and had never even considered the possibility of wanting to be elsewhere.

In South America I have experienced many setbacks. Crashing in Sao Sebastiano and then traveling to another hospital in Sao Paulo and receiving two IVs of Cipro because of the infection. Those were just the challenges in the first week. But despite anything that has happened, I never didn't want to be in South America. I remember on my first day I took a taxi from the airport in Rio to my hotel in Ipanema, I was just mesmerized by how beautiful it was. And as the number of times I needed to say "no entiendoe" decreased and time here has passed, that feeling of amazement has just grown . That is to say that despite many negative external problems, the love of traveling, learning and meeting new people has only grown. I had never considered the possibility that someone would not be enjoying South America. That is why I was so surprised.

But after a while where everything has been new and exciting I was simultaneously wanting something familiar. So that explains my trip home in La Paz.

La Paz is situated in the heart of Bolivia, and is likely the most exotic capital city in South America. But somehow I ended up doing things that were very familiar to me. The first day there I went for lunch with Henry and Ruth (the owner of the company and his girlfriend) to a middle eastern restaurant where I had falafel. Actually, the city is littered with these restaurants as apparently many tourists who travel to La Paz are Israeli. Many soldiers from Israel who travel the world after their service end up in La Paz because of how cheap it is. Ruth, who is from Israel, spoke to the owner of the restaurant in Hebrew and I wanted to but have forgotten all but a few phrases. I ended up going back the next day for a Shawarma de Pollo as well.

On my second day off there, I went for a long stroll starting in the witches market (where negotiated for a new digital camera) and descended to the wealthier areas where I passed the major plazas, expensive hotels and big government buildings. It was late and I was tired so I decided to take a taxi back to my hostel. But along the way I passed a restaurant called La Quebecoise. Even though I had already eaten I told the taxi driver to pull over. La Quebecoise was on a street with lots of upscale restaurants. I went in and told the waitress that I am from Quebec. She liked that and immediately informed me that they have poutine. So I ordered the poutine, pulled out my computer to use wifi and followed the end of the habs game while wearing my habs shirt. I was in La Paz but wasn't too far from home.

I never imagined in Buenos Aires that the moment would come where I would unexpectedly stop my taxi to eat poutine because of a desire for familiarity. And I don't really even eat poutine in Montreal. So that was La Paz for me. Lots of fundraising, going home and some city exploration.

I am writing now from an internet cafe in Copacabana, a popular destination on lake Titicaca. Its night time and I’m back to wanting to try something new for dinner.

New comment on: The Journey Begins - Landlocked Blues

ryan stotland — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 15:12:57 -0400

i also forgot about columbia, venezuela, french and spanish guyan and suriname. but im still thinking about all of them

New comment on: The Journey Begins - Landlocked Blues

emily — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 22:04:03 -0400

What an incredible mission/adventure. But you forgot about Paraguay!

New comment on: The Journey Begins - Evo de Nuevo Blues in C Sharp Minor

Adam — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 18:09:55 -0400

Go Ry!

The Journey Begins - Evo de Nuevo Blues in C Sharp Minor

Bryan Mahoney — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 18:51:00 -0400

I am now in La Paz. The biggest city of Bolivia with all the conveniences of the western world. Since Oruro we had a two day ride along highway 1. The first day was 140 km of relatively flat (for Bolivia) terrain to a campsite on the side of the road. I had some troubles along the way with food. I stopped for food in 2 towns a long the way for food but both times they got the wrong order. I did get a meal in the afternoon for 1 boliviano (12 cents) In the afternoon the wind really picked up and was battling a rough headwind. Lots of farmland along the road. There were cows in our campsite at night. It was sort of strange to be eating beef for dinner, I kept looking over at the cows and thinking I am eating your kind. But sympathy of that sort doesn't do much to hold back my appetite after a day of biking.

In the morning I got back onto highway 1 for the last 105kms to La Paz. The terrain this time was huge hills but I rode straight to La Paz only getting off my bike at 11am 4 hours after starting. I didn't stop for lunch and I rode alone. 10 km before La Paz we reached our maximum altitude of 3900meters before a massive descent into the city. This was one of the most beautiful and rewarding rides. Right before La Paz we got to see the Cordirella Blancas (snow capped mountains) and an amazing view of the city. People describe La Paz as a city that spills down a mountain. Biking into the city was also a huge challenge with a crazy amount of traffic and mini busses pulling over every second to pick people up. This was one of the craziest entrances to a city I have ever seen.

Another thing that you cant help ignore is the amount of political signs everywhere in Bolivia. Unlike any of the other South American countries I have seen. Evo Morales is up for reelection on Dec 6th. Everywhere you bike I see signs on the road that say Evo Si or Evo de Nuevo. Lots of signs that just say si. I think that Bolivia has rarely had such a popular leader and one that represents the people as much. From what I know he was a coca farmer and football player before going into politics. He is also the first indigenous leader and one who represents the majority of people in Bolivia. A leader who also maintains native views with regard to the environment.

Here are just a couple of his 10 laws for saving the planet that I thought were interesting

1. Develop clean energies that are nature friendly; put an end to energy wastefulness. In 100 years we are doing away with the fossil fuels that have been created over millions of years. Avoid the promotion of agrofuels. It is incomprehensible that some governments and economic development models can set aside land in order to make luxury cars run, rather than using it to provide food for human beings. Promote debates with governments and create awareness that the earth must be used for the benefit of all human beings and not to produce agrofuels.

I thought this was interesting because Brazils economy is very much tied into agrofuels.
There are even laws in Brazil that you need to use a certain amount of ethanol for fueling you car. Flex cars were very popular which allow you to use up to 100% ethanol. But the Bittlemans whom I stayed with in Sao Paulo felt that ethanol production in Brazil was not interfering with the production of food. So I am still not sure about biofuels. But I know that in the United states it drives up the price of food significantly.

2. Consume what is necessary, give priority and consume what is produced locally, put an end to consumerism, waste, and luxury. It is incomprehensible that some families dedicate themselves to the search for luxury, when millions and millions of persons do not have the possibility to live well.

Bolivian people don't seem to waste. I think back to the restaurant I ate at in Challapata that didn't leave a single chair open and where I noticed that each person finished every piece of food. They don't seem to waste.

3. Respect for the mother Earth. Learn from the historic teachings of native and indigenous peoples with regard to the respect for the mother Earth. A collective social consciousness must be developed among all sectors of society, recognizing that the Earth is our mother.

The Journey Begins - Landlocked Blues

Bryan Mahoney — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 18:49:00 -0400

We have now completely separated from the Chilean coast and entered the only landlocked country in South America - Bolivia. The process of entering Bolivia was a little complicated. First a stop at the exit Chile station and than 5 km bike on dirt roads to get through Bolivian Customs. The first day we rode to the town of San Juan. A roughly 100 km trek on roads that weren't as bad as I expected. San Juan was a neat town that had this ancient necratorium where you can see people buried a long time ago. They also had a little writeup in the town on global warming and how it is impairing their water supply.

San Juan was our first town in Bolivia and two things are completely different about Bolivia. First it is a country mostly inhabited by indigenous people whereas the other countries are mostly western European. Bolivia looks a lot different, the houses are built out of adobe and the towns look very old. The people also wear ingenious clothing and live off very little. Its much different. From San Juan we had a really tough day...120 kms to the town called Coquero. The first 45 km were all on sand and we were so slow. I pedaled for a good 2 and a half hours and then started thinking to myself OK I must be nearing the lunch truck but then I looked down and id only gone about 25 km. Its so slow on that stuff especially with my bike. But after a while 4 hours roughly I got on to the salt flats in the Salar. This is one of the highlights of the trip and it is the largest salt flat in the world. It is the major transport across the Altiplano and it sort of looks like you are biking across ice. But its really smooth and once I was on the the salt flats biking was a lot easier.

After lunch I had 70 km more of riding and along the way my right shifter broke off. My bike really isn't suited for all the mountain biking we are doing. At that point I was stuck in the easiest gear. This was ironic because the entire day I was using my easiest gears as I was on dirt of battling a headwind but when my shifter broke things were starting to get easier and the wind was at my back. Since it was a tailwind and I didn't have enough tension to pedal I just let the wind carry me in. The next day we rode to a town called Salinas. This was just a short ride of 50 km and was finished around lunch. I still was riding only in the same gear again but not as big of a deal because of how short the day was and the fact that we were once again on dirt roads.

When I got Salinas, I finally found a place to make a phone call. So far in Bolivia there hadn’t been any reception or internet available. But there was a phone place in Salinas. The call costed 100 bolivianos which is roughly 12 dollars but I was a couple Bolivians short. I did have Chilean pesos, American dollars and my visa as I still had only been able to exchange for a couple bolivianos. All the other countries of South America would likely have accepted any of the other 3 forms of payment but not Bolivia or at least Salinas. So I asked the women running the store to give me a couple minutes to get her money.

From there i went to my hostel, the police station, the tourist information center asking if there was an ATM in town or a place to exchange money and they all said no and that the closest ATM or exchange place was in the town of Oruro. that was several hundred kms away....where I am now. It was also surprising to me that the people in the town had no idea what a Chilean peso was or how much it was worth. One women at my hostel looked at my Chilean pesos and asked me Moneda Francais? Finally in a last ditch effort I went to the hospital in the town and convinced a guy working at administration to exchange Chilean pesos with me. He also had never seen a Chilean Pesos. On a piece of paper I wrote down how much the Chilean pesos are worth in Bolivianos and how much I would accept so that he had to agree to the deal. I gave him a very generous deal but was happy cause I was able to pay off my phone call. I was surprised though that he was so willing to get rid of several hundred Bolivianos which is a ton of money to these people on a hunch. All of this though left me wondering where do these people get their Bolivianos from.

That night we went out for dinner and shared many bottles of wine, beer and rum. A nice combination. The food was interesting, llama soup and a llama burger which tastes like beef.

From Salinas the entire group got shuttled to the town of Challapata because the roads were too dangerous. In Challapata we were staying in dorms in a hostel but I decided to get a single room which costed only 20 bolivianos ..less then 3 dollars. A nice upgrade and opportunity to get a lot of sleep. I love the cheapness of Bolivia. For example, yesterday I took a 10 minute taxi in Ororu for 5 bolivianos, less than 1 dollar.

At night in Challapata I went out for dinner at was sitting a table by myself. A couple minutes later a couple sat down next to me at my table with their 2 kids. Apparently in Bolivia at restaurants they don't leave empty seats open. This seems consistent with the extremely unwasteful nature of Bolivian people. During dinner we watched a soccer match which everyone in the restaurant was completely engaged by.

From Challapata another nice ride finally back onto pavement to the mining town of Oruro. 120 km and it really didn't feel too bad even though we had a headwind all day. Its just nice that you can glide on pavement.

When I entered the town of Oruro on bike. I took a little tour of the center of the city before going to my hotel. This is one of the bigger Bolivian cities and I was even able to go the bank and get money. The ATM even spoke to me in english. The city center is packed with a million shops on the side of the street selling things. Twice during my bike ride through town I heard people yell GRINGO! Its always nice to be reminded that you are a foreigner.

Now I have a day off. And I am using lots of internet, following the Habs disappointing home opener and eating lots of food. And trying to see some of the city. Ciao for now!

The Journey Begins - End of Chile

Bryan Mahoney — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 18:18:00 -0400

I am now in a city called Oruro, Bolivia. The last quick blog I sent was in Antofagasta and I left off with riding in Valenar. From Vallenar we stuck pretty much to highway 5 and went north up the pan american highway. We hit a series of towns on the Chilean coast. Some great fishing towns and beaches. One highlight was staying in a campsite in Pan Azur national park in the town of Piquero where we got to see some interesting marine life. I have tons of pictures of the Chilean coast that I am excited to load especially from Los Vilos. My overall impression of Chile was very positive. From Pisco sours to all the great Chilean beach towns - it was very fun. Overall it wasn't too different from Argentina. The terrain is largely rolling hills and we occasionally strayed from the coast during the day but ended up camping on the beach at night. The wind blows really hard off the water creates challenges for riding and camping. But the wind has been mostly helpful and at our backs and the roads paved. We have been in the Atacama desert for a while and the temperatures fluctuate a lot from night and day. I thought it was interesting that we were simultaneously on the coastline and in the desert but I learned on this trip that even parts of the ocean are considered desert. It only matters how much precipitation you get. The town of Antofagasta was the last sight of the ocean and from there we headed east to the town of San Pedro de Atacama. San Pedro is a huge tourist trap with many tours and activities for travelers like geyser tours, sand boarding etc..But the prices are through the roof and cost a good 10 times what they do in Bolivia. Temperatures in San Pedro are even more extreme and the desert even hotter during the day. I found one place that offered skiing on sand. That was fun.

From San Pedro we had 2 more days of riding to the Bolivian Border. The first one was to a town called Chiu Chiu. The morning was very memorable because of a steep 35 km climb to start the day that didn't seem to want to let up.

When I got to the top I found a random guy who offered to fill up my water bottle. That was a huge help. I sat and talked to him for a while using mostly my Spanish dictionary. I always enjoy interaction like this. He also snapped some pics of me wearing my habs jersey. Once two other members of the group reached the summit I pressed on. The other day we camped right before the Bolivian border. That was our coldest night. The roads were also terrible.

On my trips, every town, state, province, are all different. Thats why you keep traveling but something I have noticed is that there always tends to be one state, province or country that poses challenges that none of the others do. In Canada that was Newfoundland. When Daniel and I were biking across Canada we kept hearing about people who made it all the way to Newfoundland and then stopped. Other cyclists who biked Canada would talk about Newfoundland like it had this ability to repel you from reaching the Atlantic. This first night in Newfoundland all of our camping stuff got wet and from there we had every bike problem imaginable, huge climbs, bike crashes etc...Only a couple Kms from the end my bike completely stopped.

On my US trip that state was Arizona with the extreme heat. This time it is Bolivia. When I talk to local people about my trip they say oh your trip sounds fun just wait till you get to Bolivia. Since I started my trip, my friend Mark who motorcycled through South America only asks me when I am going to get to Bolivia. He seems to think that is the highlight. Bolivia has the salt flats, elevations, extreme temperatures, poverty, bad roads etc. But the rewards should also be great.

That is why Bolivia is such an exciting prospect.

New comment on: The Journey Begins - It's Blog Action Day!

vivian stotland — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 15:05:59 -0400

you are right..we should all become more proactive

The Journey Begins - It's Blog Action Day!

Bryan Mahoney — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 08:00:00 -0400

Hey everyone,

I’m taking part in Blog Action Day today, which is designed to get thousands of bloggers posting about the same topic on the same day. This year’s topic is Climate Change - an issue very close to my heart, and one of the reasons I am here in South America on this incredible journey.

During the last couple of months, as I've journeyed around the circumference of South America, I have had the privilege of helping to raise significant funds for Climate Change awareness. Thanks to wonderful, generous people like you, we are able to contribute in a very real way to the David Suzuki Foundation’s efforts.

My travels have made it so much more clear to me why Climate Change is such an important issue. The first week when I was cycling through Brazil we had tons of rain. This was highly unusual - we were told that it never rains there at the end of July. On the other hand, areas of Bolivia that we passed through have been steadily experiencing less and less rain - and access to water - such that it is becoming more and more difficult to survive. One of the dangerous effects of Climate Change is that there is a rapid and unequal redistribution of precipitation, such that some wet areas risk being flooded and hit harder by dangerous storms and some dry areas become even more arid. Based on statistical evidence, and what I've seen first-hand in South America, this redistribution is already taking place and the consequences are scary.

Other scary consequences include the rapid retreat of glaciers in the south of Chile and Argentina. The Patagonia Icefields, the largest non-Antarctic ice masses in the Southern Hemisphere, are thinning at an incredible pace. The sea level around these fields is changing quickly - much more quickly than anticipated even ten years ago - affecting wildlife and the environment throughout the region. And even though this seems far away from wherever you may be reading on your computer, it is simply another symptom of Climate Change that will hit closer to home much sooner than you can realize.

The saddest part is that the poverty in countries like Bolivia and other third world countries is enormous. Because of their very humble living standards, these countries have contributed almost nothing to the rapid rate of Climate Change. Nonetheless, they will be highly affected and unable to adapt. Dealing with the effects of Climate Change and instituting policies to slow the rate at which we are affecting the world’s climate will help deal with other important issues like poverty.

So what can we do? Well, supporting causes such as 12000km.org, and in turn organizations like the David Suzuki Foundation, is a great first step. The DSF is on a mission to educate people about the effects of Climate Change and help them take action. I encourage you to learn about the work the foundation is doing, and about what solutions they propose on an individual level. The DSF provides great info from everything to purchasing carbon offsets to news about the upcoming Climate Summit in Copenhagen, and even some insight into how Climate Change will affect the future of the winter sports we love. Read all about the David Suzuki Efforts here, and learn how your contribution to 12000km.org will help the DSF spread Climate Change awareness here.

Thanks for taking the time to read today. I encourage you to take a look at the entire slate of activity on Blog Action Day at the official site here.

Ryan

New comment on: The Journey Begins - Heading to Iguazu falls

Jeff Solomon — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 16:34:50 -0400

As an ex-long distance rider, I have aympathy for your touchas!!!!!!

New comment on: The Journey Begins - Update from Antofagasta

Robyn Craig — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 08:22:21 -0400

I just saw your link by the DSF on Twitter and decided to check out your site...fantastic! What an amazing adventure, something to shape your life. I have a foster child in Bolivia- Jhovana Nina...maybe she will see you go by! I also visited Peru last year and see you will be at Lake Titicaca- we loved it there...some very spiritual type 'power places' like Sillustani. Hope the altitude doesn't bother you. Best Wishes on your journey....Robyn

New comment on: The Journey Begins - Update from Antofagasta

lisa — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 21:17:38 -0400

hey ryan.....we miss you...love jen

New comment on: The Journey Begins - Update from Antofagasta

vivian stotland — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 06:29:03 -0400

great photos ryan

The Journey Begins - Update from Antofagasta

Bryan Mahoney — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 14:45:00 -0400

If you look at a map, we are now right back to about the same latitude as when we started the trip in Brazil. Just on the opposite coast. The town of Antofagasta is generally considered to be very dull, without much to do - my guidebook actually said to avoid it. But Chile has high standards for an interesting city, because you can only go so wrong in Chile on the ocean. It also helps that what I like most is a quiet place by the water to read (right now I am reading The Great Gatsby). We also ended up in Antofagasta at the same time as their culture festival, and I got to see some outdoor music. There was a lot of hip hop music, which was funny. Now we are heading east to San Pedro de Atacama before finally crossing into Bolivia.

New comment on: The Journey Begins - It's Chile! (not my joke...)

sheila garfield — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 17:40:01 -0400

Shana Tova The Garfields

New comment on: The Journey Begins - Tough riding from Santiago to Tres Playas

Stephen Lee — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 17:37:45 -0400

Hi Ryan, Congratulations on your excellent adventure! At an average of 100km per day, you'll be done in no time. I wish you good luck and good roads. Drop by LCC to say hello someday when you succeed. Sincerely, Stephen Lee

New comment on: The Journey Begins - Tough riding from Santiago to Tres Playas

vivian stotland — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 16:07:41 -0400

ryan...it s always great to hear about the interesting places that have been to and seen

The Journey Begins - Tough riding from Santiago to Tres Playas

Bryan Mahoney — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 16:48:00 -0400

Arriving in Santiago was nice, as we were finally out of the cold of the Andes. Santiago is one of the four very large cities I've seen so far in South America (the others being Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and Buenos Aires). On my day off in Santiago I was eating at a Japanese restaurant and I started talking to a guy who was from North Carolina doing sales for a glass production business. We talked about Santiago and he said that the first thing you notice about Santiago is how clean it is. And the people are all very clean cut and that they have much colder personalities. He contrasted Santiago with Buenos Aires which is a less clean city, and where the people very often are unshaven and have a very laid back, friendly attitude. As I mentioned in other blog posts, I loved Buenos Aires. I loved the vibe of the city and that you felt part of the city instead of like a foreigner. After this conversation, I went to get a haircut and also shaved. I also was in Santiago to celebrate the Jewish new year and I did enjoy many things about the city. This city is nice, with the Andes looming in the background, and is a very accessible city for foreigners. It was easy, for instance, to get a bunch of things I needed to for the next stretch of my trip as there are many big, touristy malls in Santiago. It is definitely no Buenos Aires, however. I was definitely surprised when I was in Santiago that my waiter would not allow me to charge my camera. In Argentina I felt like they would always go to great lengths to help you.

I realized that my negative judgement of Santiago had made me feel sort of negative about Chile in general. But what seems to happen a lot is that when you get into the countryside in any country people are always friendlier than in the city, and the pace of life decreases rapidly. This was true again of Chile, which also has beautiful countryside. From Santiago we travelled about 500 km north to a town called Coquimbo. The terrain was all rolling and the riding is very nice. My body and legs are now at the point that they can efficiently get through 100 km of work over the course of the day without being tired the next day (at least on pavement). That helps make everything else more enjoyable. The weather is still very cold at night but sunny and nice during the days. At first we travelled along the coast, camping along the beach and enjoying the beautiful views. One town that we passed through, called Los Vilos, I thought was particularly beautiful and really reminded me of a Moroccan beach town called Essaouira (AKA “the windy city”). Very windy and cold, with lots of birds - it was great. It’s always interesting being on a beach in these conditions as we usually associate being on the beach with warm and sunny weather. But all these towns we stayed in - Puerto Oscuro, Los Vilos, Los Molles - had a purpose much different than providing tourists with a sun tan and were extremely beautiful.

From Los Vilos we biked a little more north along the coast to another beach town called Puerto Oscuro before heading off the coast, going northeast to the towns of Socos (a thermal spa resort) and ultimately arriving in Coquimbo & La Serena to rest. Off the coast it looks like the desert and reminds me of biking in Arizona - everywhere you look there are huge cactuses. But the weather is much better than Arizona. I remember in Arizona we did a 200 km day through the desert of Arizona from 2am to 10am to avoid the heat. Here it is cool enough that you don't sweat while riding but warm enough that you don't need extra layers. Perfect riding weather. Towards the end of today’s ride we had a couple big steep climbs and I am really happy that I have my new gears in place. They are working really well and make high cadence cycling much easier. I’m not sure if I mentioned this, but I got some new gears installed on my bike before crossing the Andes in San Juan.

That was actually one of my most fun days off that I never wrote about, roughly two weeks ago back in San Juan, Argentina. I was eating lunch next to a family who invited me to join them. The woman who I was talking to wrote the book “Chicken Soup for the Soul”. She had done a lot of philanthropic work through her book. They were in San Juan to support their son who is on the UCLA volleyball team and is doing a road trip through Argentina playing matches each night in a different city. Later that night I met up with their family at the stadium (Aldo Cantoni) after fixing my bike. It was fun to watch volleyball and see the energy of the fans. The San Juan team ended up beating UCLA 3 games to 1. The family who invited me also arranged for me to get a lift back to my hotel from a lady from Phoenix that they knew. This lady had moved to San Juan 30 years after studying abroad there as she had reconnected with her boyfriend from that time through the internet.

Back to Coquimbo. On my day off there, I explored the city and relaxed. Coquimbo was awesome; one of my favorite cities so far. It is perched on a mountain and also connected to the port.

From Coquimbo, I have biked two and a half more days to a town called Valenar. Thats where I am now and haven't had very good reception since we ventured off the main highway. To get here, we passed through another port city where we slept on the beach and last night we were in the ghost town of El Higeuro. This is an old mining town but no one lives there anymore. There was just a cemetery and that is where we slept. Yesterdays ride I found to be the hardest of the trip so far. The first 8 kilometers were all on sand and everyone was struggling. I actually I didn't find this part too bad, but it did take over an hour to get through which means we were quite slow. It was the afternoon that was the worst part for me. We had a 20 km climb to end the day that was on loose gravel and I found I could not get any traction with my bike. That 20 km also took me a couple of hours. I am happy to be back on the highway. I now have 80 km more of biking today to get to my final destination of Tres Playas (“three beaches”) which is where we will stay tonight. This is on the beach and we will descend 1000 meters to get there. Shouldn't be nearly as tough as yesterday. Two more days till our next rest day in Piquero.

I’ve got to get moving. Have an easy fast.

New comment on: The Journey Begins - It's Chile! (not my joke...)

Irene Dunlap — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 18:32:19 -0400

"I look forward to sampling the wines," you wrote in your blog before riding into San Juan. That's exactly what you were doing when we met. And when you said you'd come to the UCLA game that night, you showed up, even after missing the bus and initially going to the wrong stadium. A man who does what he says, you are. It's Irene Dunlap, the writer from California. I am finally home and found time to catch up with you and your adventures again, which continue to amaze me. I can't believe how far you're ridden in roughly 3 weeks. The Andes we're blanketed in snow and as towering and majestic as could be, but it sounds like you conquered them without incident. What a change of scenery you must have had since being in the desert-like atmosphere of the Mendoza wine region to the Pacific Ocean in Chile. What a wonderful journey for 2 great causes. I didn't catch that you were also riding for climate change awareness. I'm certain you are inspiring a lot of people to dust their bikes off and suppliment their transportation needs with good 'ol man power. You have given me a nudge to get on my bike more often and leave the hybrid in the garage, no doubt. I'll e-mail you some photos of that day we met although regrettably, I can't find one with you in it! It will give you a reference for that restaurant and those of us who were so lucky to have encountered you in San Juan that day. Sending my best wishes for your unfolding trip and the causes you are supporting.

New comment on: The Journey Begins - Einstein on a Bicycle

Chris — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 20:15:23 -0400

Great writing, Ryan. Adventuring with you has always brought out these thoughts in both of us, and I've always been impressed with your perspective. I think it's great to realize the importance of technology--to deny this would surely be damaging. We are a product of our past, to throw in a cliche, and so we couldn't think as we do now without the technology that surrounds us. Rather than moving backward, in effect, by loving the pastoral scenes and slow movement, perhaps we're just acknowledging long term values and desires, while development and progress is short term realization. The Hemingway quotation really made a lot of sense to me. That is probably the biggest thrill I get from biking- experiencing the contour of the land. Keep it up, and I look forward to more adventures in the future.

New comment on: The Journey Begins - Einstein on a Bicycle

Matthew Pekofsky — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 23:42:07 -0400

Hey Ryan, I had the pleasure of having dinner with your father and mother this past Saturday. Once your father found out we were the same age, he almost immediately and rather proudly informed me of your adventure and insisted that I look you up. Ryan, I must say that your cause for riding is truly remarkable and that I admire how you managed to pair such an amazing cause with what your dad explained to me is one of your most favourite hobbies. Ryan, I can't agree with you more when you say "...technology, which continues to push us towards greater advances in the pace and scope of what we can accomplish, can also distance us further from intimate and detailed life experiences...". It truly takes an intelligent person to realize this, but takes a strong and ambitious person to actually do something in support of this opinion so kudos for that! Be safe, ride carefully, and most importantly keep blogging. I look forward to meeting you upon your safe return to MTL. MP

New comment on: The Journey Begins - Einstein on a Bicycle

Joy — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 19:47:21 -0400

You give us a gentle reminder to enjoy the simple pleasures of life. It is so important to appreciate those simple things and it looks like you "get" it! Here's a quote from Rose Kennedy "Life isn't a matter of milestones, but of moments". Safe riding......

New comment on: The Journey Begins - Einstein on a Bicycle

Molly Frizzell — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 20:30:59 -0400

my favorite post yet

New comment on: The Journey Begins - Einstein on a Bicycle

vivian stotland — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 18:16:38 -0400

i love the albert einstein quotation

New comment on: The Journey Begins - Einstein on a Bicycle

Bernie — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 17:48:45 -0400

i knew there was a reason i nicknamed you the machine

The Journey Begins - Einstein on a Bicycle

Bryan Mahoney — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 15:29:00 -0400

I am nearly halfway through my adventure. We have traversed a lot of country and seen some of the most beautiful things. Since I sent my last blog post after just crossing the border to Chile, I have since arrived in Santiago. There were two more days of riding to get here: one to San Felipe and the other to Santiago. Both days were roughly 100 km in distance and due to the favourable terrain, were fairly quick riding days. The terrain is supposed to get much more difficult in Chile and the days a little longer.

The day before biking to San Felipe was our hardest day in the Andes and since I love going fast uphill, I was the first to arrive at camp. The next day to San Felipe I took a ton of breaks from biking and was one of the last to arrive. First I stopped for a long time at a gas station to send in a blog post and put some pictures to Facebook. After that, I stopped for a couple empanadas on the side of the road. I also stopped to talk to some people in a construction zone that we were biking through. Perhaps the best piece of advice that Daniel and I got when cycling across Canada was to always remember to slow down and stop to smell the roses.

Relative to flying, driving or taking buses, bike touring is much slower and time consuming. It would only take several days to drive from Rio to Quito but it is the stuff you see at our slow pace that makes bike touring worthwhile. Since I started bike touring years ago, I have been saving some notes I have written about speed and its relation to bike touring. It is interesting because in many ways bike touring is the opposite of other forms of transportation or even bike racing. Usually the goal is clear and it is to reach your destination the fastest. When you are traveling by bike, the goal is to see, experience and learn the most about the places you are traveling to and from. In many ways some of your most successful days are the days that you bike the slowest.

Here is something I wrote 3 years ago that covers thoughts I have had on both my cross US and cross Canada trip.

"During my trek from Georgia to California I read the book Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. In the book, no one is allowed to read and it is a law that everyone traveling must speed. His goal was to describe a futuristic society ruled by ignorance. It was interesting to be reading this at the same time that I was taking one of the slowest methods to cross such an enormous landscape. While the book does not describe our reality yet, it seems that we are a society that is increasingly striving to make the world go faster. It is the goal of our technology to make it so that we can instantly have whatever we want. However, I think that sometimes we have overlooked the tradeoff that we have made by continually searching for the quickest and easiest method to do things. Compare the level of satisfaction that is felt when you get an email and when you get a postcard. Having a real conversation with someone or watching other people do that on television. Or the nice experience of stopping to talk to the owner of a small town store that would never happen when flying by it without even knowing it is on the map. Or the intimacy that a person who works in the field has with nature and someone who has machines do his work for him etc... It is usually the method that takes a little longer and is harder that often makes a connection stronger. It was not surprising that the farmer in P.E.I who gave us shelter from a hail storm knew the direction that every cloud was traveling. It is my opinion that we continue to sacrifice intimacy for further gains in speed and convenience.

Ernest Hemingway has a good quotation that reflects the intimate knowledge you get of a country when riding a bike.

‘It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them. Thus you remember them as they actually are, while in a motor car only a high hill impresses you, and you have no such accurate remembrance of country you have driven through as you gain by riding a bicycle.’”

The idea that I was trying to convey when I wrote this was that technology, which continues to push us towards greater advances in the pace and scope of what we can accomplish, can also distance us further from intimate and detailed life experiences.

When I wrote this though I was very much against "technology" and saw it as ultimately destructive. What I failed to mention or allowed myself to acknowledge is that the bicycle itself is a machine and a great piece of technology. It is not by entirely rejecting technology that we will become better off. There are countless ways that our lives are better because of technology and many things that make my experience here possible. I like the fact that I don't have to walk 12000 km and can travel over 1000 km in a week. I like the fact that I was able to fly and start my trip in Rio de Janeiro (offsetting my carbon emissions though) and can remain connected to friends, family and supporters through the Internet.

A couple of months ago, I was in the office of a potential sponsor for a meeting and there was a big picture in his office of Einstein on a bicycle. Here was one of the single greatest contributors to modern science and technology, I thought, and he was still deciding to use a bicycle. What impressed me about the picture was the compromise between a symbol of progress with something else that is now considered to be very simple (a bicycle) and how it is this compromise that makes bike touring so amazing.

Unlike hiking or other long trips in the wilderness, bike touring is entirely done in cities and towns. You remain connected to the people of the country yet also connected to nature. You can travel very far and see a remarkable amount of landscape but you are still only using your body’s energy to propel yourself forward. You stay in a mixture of campsites and hotels. You can even eat at nice restaurants even though you are usually eating only basic stuff. You do all this while doing a fun day of hard work while looking right out of your saddle at all the nice scenery of the country.

It is a compromise between human ingenuity and simplicity. I believe that it is this compromise that will ultimately make the world a better place and help us solve the climate crisis.

Every difficulty gives people an opportunity to grow and become better. My father always tells me that his business would often thrive after tough times as it would give them an opportunity to take an objective look at how to make things better. The solution often incorporated scaling back the scope of the company which ultimately made it better off. Our world now has the same type of opportunity to figure out how we can confront the challenges of the environment and become better. The scientific community tells us that we have a short time to make significant changes. Part of the solution to this crisis will be strongly technological (nuclear power, solar power, etc.). However, I believe that another part of the solution will be accepting that we can consume less, go slower and have a greater acceptance of simplicity. It will take a mixture of technological advancement and an acceptance that we can scale back that will ultimately make us stronger.

The type of compromise you make by going for a bike ride.

Happy Holidays.

"Any fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius - and a lot of courage - to move in the opposite direction."
- Albert Einstein

New comment on: The Journey Begins - It's Chile! (not my joke...)

vivian stotland — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 17:08:59 -0400

ryan..have a very happy new year thank you for calling on my birthday

New comment on: The Journey Begins - It's Chile! (not my joke...)

harold — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 21:48:29 -0400

enjoy those downhills while they last! shana tova!

The Journey Begins - It's Chile! (not my joke...)

Bryan Mahoney — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 19:22:00 -0400

This morning we crossed the border into Chile. I exchanged all my Argentinean Pesos to Chilean Pesos this morning at the border. The US is still clearly the world’s reserve currency and the bid ask spread is much tighter for dollars than for Argentinean Pesos or Brazil Reals. They kept us at the border for a couple of hours and checked through all our baggage and made the group unload the entire bus. It was very cold waiting there for so long. They made us stand outside and wouldn't let us go in. Someone from the group got really upset and protested that we were being treated even worse than in Central Asia. It actually was fine - people were just cold. The break gave me an opportunity to call my mother and wish her a happy birthday.

I entered Argentina exactly one month ago on August 16th. Argentina is amazing but I still feel like I didn't get to appreciate its full beauty. That is because we didn't get to see what is considered to be the most beautiful part of the country which is the south. We have heard great things about Patagonia, etc... and from a personal standpoint I feel like it could have been a great place to experience first hand the effects of the climate change (with the melting glaciers). I did speak to a guy in one of our youth hostels who was in Patagonia and he said that the glaciers are retreating but nowhere near as fast as in many other places. Likewise, I would have loved to have seen the rainforest in Brazil and seen the destruction going on there and be able to better convey the urgency of the current situation. But you can’t see everything.

Chile is very cold, but beautiful so far. I am stopped at a gas station writing this blog post and have only seen 40 km of the country. The 40 km was awesome and all downhill as we climbed to roughly 3000 meters since leaving San Juan. During this morning’s descent we were underneath a ski lift and it was great fun navigating all the switchbacks. Tomorrow we get to Santiago and we will be back at sea level.
Yesterday was the opposite of downhill though. It was our steepest day of climbing. 70 km of straight up and I loved it! Since I was one of the first to arrive at our hostel in Puenta del Inka, arriving at around 11:30, I went and rented ski equipment and skied for half a day. I was the only one to do this as most people got in much later or opted to rest their legs. I was feeling so great from the beautiful morning that I wanted to enjoy the beautiful scenery and opted for skiing instead of watching TV in the hostel. The whole experience, lift ticket and equipment was only 50 pesos (12 bucks) and was good fun. I have some great pictures of the Andes that I am excited to load in Santiago. After skiing, I met up with some people from the group at a bar for some beers, burgers and foosball matches with the local people.

I have to go finish riding my bike today and get to my campsite in San Felipe not far from Santiago before dark. More downhill! More on the blog to come on my rest in San Juan, biking and Santiago.

New comment on: The Journey Begins - Cordoba to San Juan

Larry — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 16:35:41 -0400

I am just sitting here drinking my water and tryng to imagine it is a cool chopp. I'm jealous.

New comment on: The Journey Begins - Cordoba to San Juan

Daniel — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 11:12:40 -0400

bring on the chopps!

New comment on: The Journey Begins - Cordoba to San Juan

Matt — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 08:40:03 -0400

3 chopps please!

New comment on: The Journey Begins - Cordoba to San Juan

lisa — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 21:11:45 -0400

love the biking in the morning and skiing in the afternoon!

New comment on: The Journey Begins - Cordoba to San Juan

Graeme Bregani — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 21:44:26 -0400

Oh my! If I was only 30 years younger. Well, maybe 35 years. Great fun to you, and I'll be watching and praying for you. Graeme Bregani.

The Journey Begins - Cordoba to San Juan

Bryan Mahoney — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 22:35:00 -0400

First off, we have had very little access to internet since I left Cordoba. I really do want to write more often but it is not necessarily going to be easy. Since we left Cordoba we have had no internet connection or cell phone reception. Usually after a day off they give us a list of the towns we will be staying in until the next day off. I included the picture of that list (on my Facebook album here) and it said Bush camp, Las Palmas, Cattle Camp, Bush Camp and then finally to San Juan. Las Palmas seemed to show some promise of being some sort of town but it was pretty remote. Las Palmas consisted of around 50 people and had 1 store. Since we left Cordoba we have been crossing through very difficult terrain. We have been biking on almost only unpaved road and yesterday we biked on some very soft sand which was very difficult to get through....especially on my bike! The night we arrived in Las Palmas we were a couple thousand metres high in the Sierras. It was so cold! During the days it hasn't been so bad and has been great cycling weather...but getting out of the tent early in the morning has been very difficult. The huge swing in temperatures in the mountains was surprising to me at first. The first night we were in the mountains i put up my tent and it was warm and nice. When I get out in the morning the window of my tent was frosty and the poles were completely frozen.

One of the main challenges for me on this stretch has been mountain biking on my Cannondale cyclocross which is not exactly cut out for mountain biking. My bike is far from the worst though. One girl has a bike that is really low to the ground and her derailer got caught every time we went through soft sand which meant she ended up walking quite a bit over the course of yesterdays 100 km ride. 2 days ago we had a very tricky 40 km descent hovering over cliffs. I think the fact that I crashed in Brazil has forced me to slow down a little over the very dangerous sections but not too much. When I get to San Juan I am planning to install a third chain ring. I can see already that I will not be able to manage through very difficult sections in the Andes going up climbs for several hours with my current gears. I also need warmer clothes, as I can’t imagine now how cold it will be high up in the andes.

One of the best experiences for me so far of this trip was in the town of Las Palmas. I was one of the first people to arrive in that town and I got there at around 12:30. Our campsite was roughly 1 km away but I spent the day in town at the 1 general store. The owners were so nice and cooked me a huge meal. I also spent the afternoon sitting outside looking out at the mountains and taking in the cool but really fresh air. The mother and daughter who owned the store sat outside with me and we passed around an english/spanish dictionary trying to communicate with each other. Over the course of the afternoon we drank 2 litres of beer which was also enjoyable. One thing that I love in Argentina is that a litre of Quilmes beer which is the main Argentinean beer is called un chopp. I've had a lot of chopps. The first day of cycling after Cordoba we had the hardest head wind of the trip. Instead of trying to fight the wind I pulled to the side of the road with another rider and shared a chopp and some empanadas at a little cafe we found. Mmmm empanadas. A nice break at 10:30 in the morning.

San Juan is supposed to be a fun town famous like Mendoza is for its great wines. I look forward to sampling the wines, visiting the famous wine museum and preparing for a section that I am very excited for in the Andes. My strength as a cyclist is going up hills that take several hours to do. Im not particularly great on rolling hills but mountain chains are my strength so I am very excited for this stretch especially if I can get that third chain ring installed.

New comment on: The Journey Begins - Greetings from Cordoba!

Recycle — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 17:28:40 -0400

Nice photo!!!!!! Keep riding Ryan, don't let ANYTHING get in your way! Good luck. :)

New comment on: The Journey Begins - Greetings from Cordoba!

vivian stotland — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 10:06:57 -0400

all your blogs are so interesting and informative..just love reading them

The Journey Begins - Greetings from Cordoba!

Bryan Mahoney — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 10:18:00 -0400

Hi everyone,

I am in Cordoba, which is Argentina’s second biggest city. But it is only a city of roughly 1 million people and doesn't have nearly as many people as Buenos Aires. It only took me half the day to see all the major sights listed in my guidebook. One thing that ties together all the towns in Argentina is that they all have the same street names and a central square called Plaza San Martin. Cordoba had some really cool looking churches - pictures of which are on my Facebook page.

The night that we arrived, I went for dinner with the owner of the company. We went to an all-you-can-eat restaurant that I found in my guidebook. ‘South America on a Shoestring’ is awesome. Other members of the group went the following night after hearing positive reviews from me and Henry. Many people are now asking to borrow my guidebook. My friend Mark, who works at BCA, lent it to me after riding his motorcycle to Argentina - it’s great. The owner, Henry, was telling me how when he leads his trip across Africa they attract about 60 riders and if they find an all-you-can-eat place they tend to finish all the food. I remember Daniel and I doing something similar to that in Canada, both of us eating probably the equivalent of roughly 30 starving cyclists. Henry also told me that he found a synagogue in Chile for us to celebrate Rosh Hashanah. He said Yom Kippur will be more difficult. Given the extremely elevated level of my metabolism on bike trips I cannot imagine fasting anyways, especially if I am riding. (Happy Lisa?) Henry is a Jew from Slovakia whose entire family was killed during the Holocaust and was accompanied here by his Israeli girlfriend. There was also supposed to be another Israeli lady on our trip but she got injured before the expedition began.

The terrain from BA to here was all flat farmland which makes for peaceful riding. Right now we are starting to see the Sierra mountain chain in the distance which we are about to traverse. We will only start traversing the Andes after San Juan. In our first pass through the Andes between San Juan and Santiago we will get to over 3000 metres. The second time we go through them, which will be in Chile, we will get to over 4000 metres.

Another thing I enjoyed about my stay in Cordoba was meeting two Canadian university students who cycled to Cordoba from their house in Calgary and stayed in our youth hostel. They took a leave of absence from university and have been rolling for about a year. Their trip made me miss the aspect of being totally self-sufficient on the bike. Although having someone carry your gear allows you luxuries like having your own 2 person tent to yourself, which I like. I didn't get their web address but they have raised a lot of money for charity. Like Pelechaty did when he got back from his adventure, these two guys also mentioned to me how horrible the roads are in Bolivia. Excited to see this. They also mentioned how everyone in Central America casually walks around with a gun but that overall they felt that their experience in Latin America was very positive and safe.

Along the route to Cordoba we passed through Rosario, which is the real hometown of Che Guevera. That wasn't particularly exciting as there was just a little plaque outside an apartment building that said this is where Che was born. Next to his apartment was a music store and I played a good amount of guitar which felt great. I talked a little to the owner of the store and he invited me to see his show that night. The music was amazing and was a mixture of jazz and folk music. I was planning to see a Tango show in Rosario, but instead of falling into the trap of seeing something I was bound to have to fake interest in, I got to see some music that I really enjoyed. There was also a big Che statue a little outside the center of the city which I took some pictures of with my Habs shirt. Rosario is also the shipping center of northeastern Argentina and it was fun to walk along the water and see the port.

More blog posts to come, but be warned it will be a challenge as we are in the mountains and in fairly remote towns.

Ciao for now,
Ryan

The Journey Begins - New photos available on Facebook!

Bryan Mahoney — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 18:49:00 -0400

I've just added a few photos from in and around Buenos Aires - you can see them all here: www.facebook.com/album.php

New comment on: The Journey Begins - Hello from Buenos Aires

Chris — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 20:42:27 -0400

Great shoutout to Morocco, Ryan. Made me laugh. Keep on truckin, brother.

New comment on: The Journey Begins - Hello from Buenos Aires

vivian stotland — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 18:26:00 -0400

loved your blog i was very happy to read about your trip and hear what you have been doing

The Journey Begins - Hello from Buenos Aires

Bryan Mahoney — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 16:36:00 -0400

Hey everyone!
We are in Buenos Aires today. I haven't put much on the blog recently. Sorry about that...the reason is that there had been some uncertainty for me about my health and what was going to happen with the group as things were handled very poorly in Sao Sebastino when I crashed. Now the trip presses on to Santiago and I will try to blog more frequently and send more pics too! The rest of Argentina I hope will have reasonable internet access and Chile too, but as we get closer to Bolivia I know that will fade. While here, I have many people I get to look forward meeting up with.
I just swung by the Euromoney office where we have a BCA rep(Guillermo) who works there and took me out for a nice lunch. Great food!
Tonight I am going out with some Tufts students who are studying abroad here.
And Miriam Kullish who I met last year when I was here visiting Molly. She is a family friend of the Kligers.
Also, hopefully I will also get to see Molly’s host parents who I had dinner with last year.

We leave on Saturday heading west in the direction of Chile. I love Argentina. I didn’t see it last year when I was visiting Buenos Aires. Last year I actually thought the experience was very underwhelming and that it was too European. That is because the place I travelled before that was Morocco where every moment you spend there is dealing with people in complete desperation to scam you. Morocco is completely exhausting in how intense it is but also completely eye opening to see that sort of poverty and incredible ancient cities. In comparison I thought Argentina was a little lame. Seeing Argentina a second time though, I can see how it is an amazing country with great people. BA is an amazing city. I love the lifestyle of the people....The music, the attitude, the fact that an extremely high percentage of the population grow beards.

Pictures of my time here and more blogging to come. Thanks for all the great donations we’ve been getting! Appreciate it!

New comment on: The Journey Begins - Photos from Iguazu Falls!

Paul — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 12:40:53 -0400

Hey Ryan. Great pics. Like the tshirt! I missed your email regarding connecting to work email. Email me back to discuss. Paul

New comment on: The Journey Begins - Photos from Iguazu Falls!

Molly Frizzell — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 21:50:06 -0400

great photos!! isn't it incredible?

New comment on: The Journey Begins - The ride begins

Jack and Jyl — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 21:20:02 -0400

Ryan you are an inspiration to us all . Your drive and determination has set the bar to heights unknown to the rest of us mortals .Good luck, best wishes and safety for the rest of your journey. Jack and Jyl

New comment on: The Journey Begins - Photos from Iguazu Falls!

Greg — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 16:34:53 -0400

Amazing pics! Good luck on the rest of the journey!

The Journey Begins - Photos from Iguazu Falls!

Bryan Mahoney — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 15:05:00 -0400

I snapped some shots from our trip to Iguazu Falls and the surrounding area. I have posted the entire album on Facebook, but here's a sampling of the better ones...

New comment on: The Journey Begins - Some Pics from the Road

ANDY — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 20:33:29 -0400

RYAN, glad you are ready to bike...hope you are enjoying the experience... best, andy

New comment on: The Journey Begins - Some Pics from the Road

lisa — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 20:30:24 -0400

RY, RY, ROSES ARE RED VIOLETS ARE LIKE A PEDAL, YOU DESERVE A GREAT HUGE MEDAL!!! ENJOY!

New comment on: The Journey Begins - Some Pics from the Road

donna — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 18:07:21 -0400

how patriotic of you!! i love the first picture hope you don t have to climb all the way to the top. keep on biking glad you are better

New comment on: The Journey Begins - Heading to Iguazu falls

Rony Cukier — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 07:17:37 -0400

Ryan, Glad you are ok,I would love to see the pictures of Iguazu Falls. Keep those blogs and stories coming. I wish you great biking weather. Hope you can connect with your alumni. Ciao for now Rony

New comment on: The Journey Begins - Heading to Iguazu falls

vivian stotland — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 07:21:00 -0400

great blog....hope you can meet the tufts students studying abroad...that would be great

The Journey Begins - Heading to Iguazu falls

Bryan Mahoney — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 16:43:00 -0400

I will arrive in Iguazu falls tomorrow at 2 O'clock. I will go directly to the falls and try to snap some shots that I can load onto the website. The next section of the trip which lasts about a couple weeks passes through Uruguay and then finally to Argentina where we will rest in Buenos Aires. We actually stop biking in Colonia and we take a short boat ride to Buenos Aires. I have been to Buenos Aires once before and I am very excited to travel in that direction again. I am also excited because I am trying to arrange meeting up with some Tufts students who are studying abroad there. The trip leaves again from the falls on Friday morning and I am very excited that I am feeling great and look forward to the biking. I will try hard to see if I can manage to see the falls from both the Brazilian and Argentinian side tomorrow but I am not sure if i will have enough time. I will do my best. 

I spent the last post talking badly about the failures of macroeconomics. But I do not want to give people a bad impression of economics. One of the recent donors, Chris McCugh, my former monetary economics professor, boils microeconomics (the greatest science in the world) down to three words: Looking for Love. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxmcyP1nghs&feature=related

New comment on: The Journey Begins - Thoughts on the climate crisis

Albert Wener — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 14:57:06 -0400

Glad to hear you are feeling better. A great site. Keep the blogs coming!

New comment on: The Journey Begins - Thoughts on the climate crisis

ryan stotland — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 11:20:54 -0400

Thanks mom

New comment on: The Journey Begins - Thoughts on the climate crisis

vivian stotland — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 08:57:45 -0400

this blog was extremely interesting and most informative...

The Journey Begins - Thoughts on the climate crisis

Bryan Mahoney — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 11:34:00 -0400

There isn't that much to write about today. So I am going to talk somewhat randomly on some thoughts on the environment.

This year I felt was a disappointing year in some ways with regards to the environment. It was disappointing because the environment/climate change which had been gaining lots of momentum was sort of bumped out of our consciousness by the financial crisis. But it’s also very ironic because they are similar problems.

(For a quick recap of the Financial Crisis, check out this song by a legendary rock band called The Astroturf.)

The climate crisis and financial crisis both stem from our tendency to put our short term greed above all else. In the case of the financial crisis, households were living well beyond their means and banks were making loans to sub-prime borrowers in order to make quick money, knowing full well that the long term consequences were quite negative. The entire system was built around an unrealistic assumption that house prices would always continue rising. When that didn't happen, the whole system collapsed in on itself.

The next irony is that our solution to the problem (which was that we had too much debt) was to lower interest rates (to try and get more debt) and increase government spending (increase the national debt) so that the economy would start working again. In effect we were using a short term solution to fix a problem that stemmed from too much emphasis on short term goals. We are treating the effects of a recession but not necessarily the causes. That is essentially Keynesian economics.

Similarly, the climate crisis also stems from our inability to plan for future consequences. We are using up at an alarming rate energy sources that only have limited supply while pumping so much carbon into our atmosphere that we are destroying the future habitability of our planet. This massive consumption of fossil fuels has certainly increased our standard of living in the short term but leaves the future still very uncertain. I was going to talk about the Tragedy of the Commons here but I was bound to get too excited while doing that and I’m still trying to rest/heal.

For me it is clear that the solution is that we need to start living within both our financial AND ecological means. They are the same problem and only when we start viewing it that way will we make progress. How we do that will take some very smart people.

In that spirit, here is a paragraph from a speech given by David Suzuki, whose foundation you are supporting by donating to the 12000km.org cause:

Economics and ecology are words built on the same root – ‘eco’ – from the Greek word ‘oikos’ meaning home. Ecology is the study of home. Economics is the management of home. What ecologists try to do is to determine the conditions and principles that govern life’s ability to flourish and survive. Now I would have thought any other group in society would want the ecologists to hurry up and find out exactly what those conditions and principles are, so that we can design our systems to live within them. But not economists. We have elevated the economy above everything else and this, I think, is the crisis we face. The economic system that has been foisted on people around the world is so fundamentally flawed that it is inevitably destructive. We must put the ‘eco’ back into economics and realize what the conditions and principles are for true sustainable living.

The Journey Begins - Some Pics from the Road

Bryan Mahoney — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 10:34:00 -0400

Here are a few pics I have snapped over the past couple of days. Some incredible vistas and some simple moments. Enjoy!

New comment on: The Journey Begins - A dangerous speed bump

Lori Dermer — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 14:43:54 -0400

Oh boy, what a day! Morphine, dinner and then released? Wow. Maybe it's better you don't speak the language. Nice touch with the camp site confusion....as Gordon mentions, this may be the beginning of a great travel novel. Good luck and hope it's smooth sailing ahead!

New comment on: The Journey Begins - A dangerous speed bump

Gordon Warlow — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 19:10:01 -0400

Glad to hear that you are back in the saddle... there is probably a novel or maybe a screenplay in this adventure of yours. Travel safe, and I am looking forward to hooking up when you get back home.

New comment on: The Journey Begins - A dangerous speed bump

tracey peever — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 18:06:26 -0400

Oh my gosh!! What a day! Hope that each day just gets better and better from here on in. Keep the faith and don't stop the rock!

New comment on: The Journey Begins - A dangerous speed bump

Alex — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 16:49:12 -0400

Good to hear you're doing okay after the spill. Best of luck going forward.

The Journey Begins - The Montreal and Toronto of Brazil

Bryan Mahoney — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 16:33:00 -0400

All was great... until i woke up the next morning without the effect of the painkillers and realized I couldn't move my arm. I went for breakfast with my friend Christiano and he talked to me about the difference between Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paolo. These are Brazils two biggest cities and they are about 5 hours away. They sort of dislike each other like Montreal and Toronto. Rio is probably more like Montreal except that Rio is even more scenic. Rio is on the beach surrounded by huge mountains and is one of the nicest cities I've ever been to. Sao Paolo is the financial center of Brazil and is where most of the big business is - more like Toronto. The population of Sao Paolo is roughly twice that of Rio. Rio is better than Sao Paolo in soccer, like Montreal is better than Toronto in hockey.

Anyways, one of the another key differences is the way the city is laid out. In Rio the really poor slums are right next to the really rich neighborhoods and everything is integrated but in Sao Paolo the wealthy neighborhoods and poor ones are very much separated. There is more crime in Rio and the reason is simple. In Sao Paolo you need to take a couple of busses to commit a crime whereas in Rio you can walk. For someone who studied economics, I really liked that explanation because it is simple opportunity costs. I still think though that Rio has an advantage in terms of creating familiarity between two groups. I have always believed that part of the hatred in the middle east is fueled by two groups being separated and having the ability to imagine the other one in extreme terms without that false image being tarnished by a genuine interaction with a real person from the other side. I figured that between rich and poor in Rio that greater familiarity would breed greater respect between the two groups. In the end though, the constant jealousy and the easier access to crime makes Rio a less safe city. Or maybe its just a crappy police force. I was told to watch the movie city of G-d.
My arm was still really hurting and I went back to the hospital, they re-cleaned my arm and confirmed through some X-rays that nothing is broken. They said that my arm was infected. Great.
Lets fast forward one week and I am now in Sao Paolo back in the hospital, this time though at a hospital that actually cares. It is the Einstein hospital and is funded by the Jewish community in Sao Paolo. They give me two bags of intravenous Cipro and give it a deep cleaning. Despite the attempts made by the hospital in Sao Sebastino, they are able to find rocks and gravel deep inside the wound and clean this out. Suddenly I am feeling a lot better. There are some missing holes in this blog and I will give more details later.

The Journey Begins - A dangerous speed bump

Bryan Mahoney — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 16:17:00 -0400

A lot has happened happened since I last blogged on day 2. Specifically on the third day into Sao Sebastino.

The ride from Paratay to Sao Sebastino was roughly 160km and fairly hilly. It rained almost the whole day and I rode most of the day with a guy from chile name Christiano. After a long descent into Sao Sebastino I hit a speed bump and flew off my bike. By the time I saw the speed bump, I wasn't able to slow down enough to go over it safely. It was not painted and there were no signs indicating it. Other riders ahead of me say that they also got some air off of it but were saved mostly by the fact that they have suspension. I wasn't so lucky and was taken directly to the local hospital. This was the beginning of my experience with the extremely frustrating medical system of Sao Sebastino. I was wheeled into the hospital on a stretcher and my friend Christiano came along with me. The first thing that they did was inject me with morphine which just didn't seem particularly necessary to me. They then did a very rushed job of cleaning my wounds on my knees, elbow etc. A more thorough job would have likely helped to prevent the infection that ensued. They took a couple x rays of my neck even though it was my elbow that hurt, served me dinner and then released me. At a certain point I said to them, "look, I'm in a lot of pain - can you guys just put a little effort into this?" Obviously they didn't speak any English and I still don't speak very much Portuguese.

That night I felt great with the morphine and the endorphins of a long bike ride and was really flying high. Later on, I went into the town with some group members who were going into town to eat dinner. Since I had already eaten dinner at the hospital I just walked around by myself and had a beer. Coming home, things got tricky. Everyday, I take a picture of the route and the name of that nights accommodation with my digital camera. That night we were supposed to stay in Camping Pinon but apparently when I was at the hospital we changed to a different site. Since I was driven there from the hospital, I never realized that we had changed sites. At the end of the night I got into a taxi and opened my digital camera and told the guy to leave me at camping pinon. When I got there things didn't seem right... like the fact the gate was locked and there was a huge watch dog I didn't remember from before. I proceeded to break into the gate and went to the front desk. I told the guy I was lost and he offered me a room for 40 brazilian dollars. I was happy there was a backup solution. I still wanted to find my group and asked him if there was another campsite in the area. Im still not sure how we communicated all of this but I'm sure the morphine helped. There was another campsite down the road and I found the group. Things were great again.

New comment on: The Journey Begins - Day 2: 150km to Paratay

Mark Diamond — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 11:25:36 -0400

Good luck Stots, keep up the good work buddy

New comment on: The Journey Begins - The ride begins

Gordon Warlow — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 13:36:46 -0400

100 days of fun... has just begun! Great read by the way, Zen... Motorcycle Maintenance. Enjoy the rest of your adventure and look me up when you get back home.

New comment on: The Journey Begins - Day 2: 150km to Paratay

Jonathan Isenberg — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 19:11:55 -0400

Hi Ryan, Looking forward to meeting you upon your succesful return.What a journey your on and to support such a great cause, my hat goes off to you!! I am your new neighbour up north on Lac Manitou.

The Journey Begins - Day 2: 150km to Paratay

Bryan Mahoney — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 08:34:00 -0400

Today was the second day of the Tour. We did 150km and finished in a town called paratay. very cool town. I am now riding this blog in the upstairs of a bar/ restaurant that has pretty cheap internet access. They are playing great brazillian folk music and Im having a couple beers, this is now the best moment of my trip for me so far. I still havent learned many words of Portugese yet which is unfornate because it pretty difficult to communicate with anyone. Today I stopped at a little cafe on the side of the road and wanted to know if they served any food. I tried a few english words that didnt work so I signalled to my stomach and made the motion of chewing. He then went and unlocked the bathroom for me. I am not really in Brazil for long enough to feel that I need to start trying to learn Portugese but I am sure now that I want to make the best of the Spanish/ English dictionary nicely provided to me by Helaine Kliger.

When Daniel and I biked across Canada we were always amazed at how easy it was to bike without any gear. Without removing the gear it still seems hard and 150km in the mountains was not the easiest thing on the legs. I had a few mechanical issues but was happy to have them resolved at the end of the day. One more day of riding and then we have a rest day.

New comment on: The Journey Begins - The ride begins

Corey — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 11:28:39 -0400

Nice! Wish i was there.... and you've got a great read for your long, inspiring trip Ry!

New comment on: The Journey Begins - The ride begins

Alex — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 21:29:20 -0400

The first step on a long, important journey. Congrats!

The Journey Begins - The ride begins

Bryan Mahoney — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 21:26:00 -0400

Today we rode 120km to a town called mangaratiba which is very pretty with the mountains and water. We had a 35km convoy out of rio which was slow but picked up nicely afterwards. The couple of climbs were a nice warmup for what will be an overall hilly trip. Had a nice dinner the group and everyone seems friendly. Did some reading along the water some zen and art of motorcycle maintenance.

New comment on: The Journey Begins - The Transition Point

stephen reitman — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 09:43:01 -0400

we r always looking for good locations for stores..the Andes are of particular interest. Peddle safe. Reitmans ( Canada)

New comment on: The Journey Begins - The Transition Point

Gordon Warlow — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 16:38:03 -0400

Adventure bound, an enviable position to be sure... Have a wonderful memory stoking experience and know that you will be making a positive difference for many. Best wishes for a great ride! Watch out for any distracting carnivals along the way!

New comment on: The Journey Begins - The Transition Point

SHARON MILLER — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 10:46:48 -0400

Ryan, you are amazing! Have a safe trip, I will be thinkng of you.. xoxo Aunt Sharon

New comment on: The Journey Begins - The Transition Point

lisa — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 14:20:26 -0400

enjoy, be safe...take it all in.. xoxo

New comment on: The Journey Begins - The Transition Point

Chris — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 12:56:48 -0400

Good luck. You keep finding yourself in these adventures. Watch out for men with monkeys.

New comment on: The Journey Begins - The Transition Point

Kyle — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 10:55:19 -0400

Eagerly looking forward to the updates. Hope you'll be posting lots of pictures too. Stay safe and ride hard.

New comment on: The Journey Begins - The Transition Point

linda mann gewurz — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 08:53:06 -0400

good luck great cycling keep us posted of your great adventure we are thinking of you as your embark on a wonderful journey

The Journey Begins - The Transition Point

Bryan Mahoney — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 13:45:00 -0400

There is a transition point that when I prepare for a big trip where the idea of the trip switches in my mind from being a dream that I concocted one day when I was feeling inspired to something more practical. For me this switch usually occurs suddenly. This is because I have become fairly good at tricking myself into beleiving that the departure date is actually further away than it really is. That's not because I don't love these trips - it's just that every big adventure is always very scary no matter how much you look forward to it. The reality of it set in for me on Saturday when I heard David Suzuki's youtube video where he talked about the 12000km project. I don't think you ever expect someone so famous to even know your name or talk about you publicly. After hearing him speak I just felt that any fears that I had about the trip became dwarfed by my feelings of appreciation for my family who has put me in a position where I am fortunate enough to be able to live these amazing experiences. I am leaving tommorow and it's game on. Can't wait to get going.

Ryan