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Photo courtesy Riding the Spine
This article is one in a series of interviews with long-term international bike tourists. This time I talked with Jacob from Riding the Spine to get his take on things.
World Bike Touring Examiner (WBTE): Would you please explain a tad bit about where you’ve been and where you’re going.
Jacob: We started in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska and have been following the continental divide, hoping to arrive in Tierra del Fuego early next year. We have been attempting to ride dirt roads the entire way and avoid the Panamerican Highway as much as possible.
WBTE: How long have you been on the road?
Jacob: We started the trip in mid July, 3 years ago.
WBTE: What prompted such an extended journey? Had you done a lot of touring before?
Jacob: Not one of us really had any touring experience before this trip. The idea started when Goat said he planned to ride the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route after college. Throughout our time in university, the route grew with it beginning in Alaska and ending in Tierra del Fuego. The idea was to try and ride dirts roads along the continental divide the entire way, avoiding the Pan-American highway as much as possible.
WBTE: I know there are plenty of wonderful days when the sun is shining and you’ve got the wind at your back. But there are also days when it’s raining or you face a headwind or you’re climbing a hill that just won’t end. How do you get through those days? What keeps you going?
Jacob: Curiosity and patience, I guess. To be honest, the thing that hits morale the hardest is when we have to stop for awhile. When we´re moving, there is nowhwere else I´d rather be.
WBTE: As hard as it is to pick out one or two highlights – would you, could you? Tell us about a couple of those incredibly wow-ing, drop-your-jaw experiences you’ve had.
Jacob: Kayaking with our bikes from Panama to Colombia was one of the more memorable events on our "bike-trip". Visiting islands, meeting the chiefs, etc. One morning we were actually ambushed by a heavily armed Kuna police unit and taken into custody for camping on an island without permission.
The nothern lights in the Yukon territory were definitely jaw-dropping. Biking down Tajumulco Volcano in Guatemala, Copper Canyon in Mexico.
The nothern lights in the Yukon territory were definitely jaw-dropping. Biking down Tajumulco Volcano in Guatemala, Copper Canyon in Mexico.
But really, it´s the day to day part that we have come to enjoy the most, the highlight being the fact that our lifestyle allows us to hop on a bike and just go.
WBTE: What about those days you wish you could forget (but you know you never will)? Those days when everything goes wrong and then even more goes wrong? Tell us about a couple of those.
Jacob: Take it in stride. Usually those are the most memorable experiences and we grow fond of the challenges. We were pedalling through snow for a couple months, finally got it bad with frostbite and hypothermia one night and scared us enough to drop down out of the snow and take another route. Though they were some of the most miserable days, I look back on them fondly, realizing what an adventure each and every day brought. In Colombia, we kept finding ourselves in dangerous flash floods and having to cross lots of landslides. Sometimes waist deep mud would trap us, while other times, rocks and mud would be falling as we were crossing.
WBTE: You’ve toured through many countries and I know they each are unique and have their advantages and disadvantages. But, if you were to talk with someone relatively new to cycle touring, where would you recommend they go? Why?
Jacob: Colombia was one of the best. Cycling is like a national sport so you are treated like a hero. Not overpopulated like Central America so you can get off the beaten path a bit, but still be close enough to have help if you need it. Good bike shops, etc.
WBTE: Any special tips or advice to wannabe tourers?
Jacob: No such thing as a wannabe tourer. Just get on your bike and go.
WBTE: Thanks Jacob – I think we all appreciate hearing about your lives on the road!
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If you enjoyed this interview, you might enjoy these other interviews with world cyclists:
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