milesforamemory

The lovely Marita who drove a long way out of town to give me bags of food for the road

Starting the last pass of this journey

The scenery finally begins to change

Sun rise over a still Antartic Ocean

There are some views occasionally to look at on the pampas

The desolate pampas

These propaganda signs for The Falklands (Malvinas) are all over Patagonia…still a sore subject for Argentina it seems.

Harry Potter the terrorist…or giant condom

Found this hotel to keep me warm for the night

An incredibly nice family

Cramming into the van with these legends to keep out of the rain

The trench to the campsite

Look closely and you will see the volcano is still smoking heavily. The locals were telling me some horror stories.

It won’t leave without me…nek minute

Forest

Loving autumn

This pass was stunning

My new companion ‘Forest’

Not a bad view for a 1000 kms

Good spot to camp for the night

Even in the rain the area is beautiful

Reminds me of Queenstown

Chill time

Spot the rainbow

A special place

Autumn and the winter

Notice the winding road up the side

Stunning

Blue bird day

‘Honk if you love the ‘Holy Plant’ !

Llamas everywhere

Where the mountains start is Chile

Love the contrast

The only ‘town’ for 350 kms

Beautiful rivers everywhere

When I first rode up I thought this cow had his head stuck!

Some destruction is still left in Chaiten from the Volcano in 2008. This house is still completely buried in ash.

Didn’t take long to start getting beautiful

Spot the vehicle taking the least room

The journey is suppose to be stunning through the fjord

Stocking up before I headed south into Patagonia

Trying to find a replacement part

South America’s highest building

One of my Chilean hosts

Rolling into Santiago

Casa de Cyclistas

A sofa bed for the night

Beautiful Chilean coastline

Sharing a rum with these local ‘lads on tour’

Sandy road

Morning brakfast courtesy of a kind hearted bus driver 🙂

Camping at an old sub station

The random house in the middle of the desert

Desert Riding

Antafagasta

Stumbled across this

Tropic of Capricorn

I stopped in this abandoned building for the night

Snow capped mountains and desert

Sunset in the desert is special

Wild Llamas

Crossing into Chile

Leaving Bolivia

I had to follow the tyre marks where possible

Mining the salt by hand

One giant sponge

Hitting the train line where I could

There’s alot of water in places

Flamingo for company

Not as dry as it looks

Carrying my bike across the briges

Train graveyard

Off to Uyuni

Llama house

I couldn’t move more than 50 metres without being offered a beer…oddly enough when I got back on the bike there was a wobble in the handle bars in the steering that wasn’t there before

Perfectly placed sign

I stumbled on this local festival

These two puppies help melt my stone cold feelings towards dogs…they were trying to get warm in the freezing desert

Party time

Got cheese?

Bread is my weakness

Table football is hugely popular in Bolivia

Selling Bolivia’s famous national product….the Coca leaf. Bolivians a very proud of the traditional uses of Coca and don’t like its link with Cocaine

The Bolivian snow capped mountains coming into view

Lake Titicaca

Llama legends

Peruvian Bobby’s

One of the daughters showing me the family albums

The house where I stayed the night

Llama’s everywhere!

Down to the last coin!

Arriving in Puno at 5 am, Lake Titicaca in the backgroun

Llama love

Old school bike shot, this guy was awesome

Peruvian breakfasts are on point!

Got to the top of the pass just before sunset

Ruins on route

The last big climb before leaving Peru. Most of the 392 kms were above 3,800 metres

Bringing down the famous Cuzco flag

Llama selfie (attempted)

Plaza de Armas

Cathedral

Street food where everything is a Sol!

View from my hostel

Finally arrived in Cuzco

Road to Cuzco

On route to Cuzco

The city of Abancay

Riding above the clouds

It’s almost a blessing to be here in rainy season

Litterally my idea of heaven…mangoes and avacados for 20 cents

I was miserable from the rain…then this happened

Another beautiful town

More wading across roads

Dropping from 4,500 metres

Agua Callientes

Narcotics country!

Picked up a hitch hiker!

The towens in Peru are stunning

These amazing caves and rocks lined the roads

Old ruins are mixed within the farms everywhere

Tradional houses

Not a bad spot to put a house

Getting her weave on

Spot the ancient arch below

No chance of staying dry on this road!

Top af a pass at 6am

Long way down

The entrance to a national park

They love the quiet life 4,300 metres up

Stunning Huaraz

The warbling delicacy

Quito’s quaint streets

Got pig?

Historic Quito

San Juan de Alausi

Here’s a sign you don’t see every day!

Camping in the desert

These local children were very excited to see the bike

Guava

Camping at the police station

A stunning valley

This chicken looks comfortable

Trading guinea pigs

The third largest mountain in the western hemisphere

Cordillera Blancha

Top hats everywhere!

Wheeler Dealing

A local festival

Waterfalls everywhere along the road

Climbing back into the mountains

Heading into the tunnels

This random town had tiny houses littered amongst the desert

I stopped here for the night before heading on

Stunning ride along a vast canyon

Dunes are getting bigger!

The landscape is starting to get green

A small town on the edge of the desert

Camping out with the goats

Ecuador’s roads constantly drop and climb

Heading towards the border

This road leads up to a pass over 4000 metres high

Riding above the clouds

The valley Quito sits in

This is one of the ‘smaller’ volcanoes alont the route.

Heading for the pass at 3,600 metres

Ecuador has a hugely traditional Andean culture still

Above the clouds

I got to spend the night in this tiny village when my cable snapped

Stunning ride through the valley towards Ecuador

The road is far more dangerous for the truck and car traffic

Some clothes worn by the natives

It doesn’t look deep but it was to my waist in the middle

One town was having a festival as I headed through

Nothing stopping cars from heading over the edge…it’s a long way down from there

Another fresh landslide

The Colombian dessert

The ride south saw the landscape change constantly

Leaving in the morning

You can just make out the road above where a landslide had struck days before

Colombia has some of the highest palm trees in the world

Love the old school Colombian ‘publo’s’ I roll through

Climbing up through the valley

DCIM100GOPRO

I camped out just by this spot

DCIM100GOPRO

Riding down from Bogota

DCIM100GOPRO

My hands are falling apart a little with the rain and constant gripping

Getting close to the top of the first pas

These views would be priceless on a clear day

Gloomy view of the road

DCIM100GOPRO

This little fella basking in the sun as I ate my lunch

Taking the route through the jungle

Some of the most colourful birds I’ve ever seen

Leaving Costa Rica at Golfico

Panama and its cloud covered mountains

Reaching the wall

Panama City

The island just off the Darien Gap

Easily the smallest volcano I’ve ever seen

Stunning streets

Beautiful Cartagena

One way to fish!

Local Colombia

An absolute legend of a guy.

Trying to keep the bike dry as we head out to sea

Getting ready to cross Puente Los Americas

Bob and Marion

My things are in a pile to the left

First trip of the journey around the Darien Gap (feeling slightly worse for wear)

Calorie heaven 🙂

Road to Golfico

The photo doesnt do how steep this climb was any justice

My arch-enemy. This security guard managed to outfox me each time.

This river proably was best avoided for a swim

Manuel Antonio National Park

Somewhere to escape from the heat

Sunrise in Costa Rica

The locals use the lake for everything.

Eating Lunch with the pigs

Great spot to camp…was an effort lugging up the bike and kit.

Haven’t a clue what this animal is but I like it.

Typical Guatemalan Village

Majestic Tikal

Return of the mountains.

Climbing into Guatemala City

Eco Hostel free for the occasional cyclist which passes through each year

The crew at the bike shop in Guatemala City

Stunning Guatemala

The road of the cross.

In the shadow of the volcano.

I stopped in this little place

El Salvador’s black volcanic coast

The tunnels had no light in them…a little scary when wild dogs start chasing you inside.

Getting ready to camp on the beach

El Salvador.

The bridge into Hondurus

Not the safest place to burn some rubber but properly entertaining.

Straight out of Compton

Such an amazing sight, these are all giant spider webs.

More of the webs…theyre taking advantage of the millions of sandflies around the lake…some of which we were swallowing

Great spot for lunch

Nicaragua is a gem

Both feet took a pounding from the mosquitoes and sand flies. The tan lines are so bad on my feet now it looks like I’m wearing a permanant pair of white socks.

I stayed with Mark from Jamaica.

Reaching Carozal on my first night in Belize

Christmas Day on the beach.

Christmas dinner in Mexico. These guys all teach together not far from Mexico City

Reaching Tulum on the long detour through to Belize.

Saw these signs on most of the roads…the police and army always just waved at me though.

Goodbye to Mexico city as I climbed for over 30 km’s to leave it behind.

Leavin Octavio’s home on a very rainy day.

The amazing ruins in the jungle at Palenque

Nice view from the top of a climb of one of Mexico’s many volcanoes

The start of the decent of the Mexican plateau

Riding though the clouds as I dropped for 60 km’s

Mexican’s do Christmas well

Romantic Guanajuato

Getting some planning done.

Riding onto the ferry.

La Cuesta de Ligui.

Sunrise in the desert

Breakfast in the desert…I eat a family size portion of porridge to get each day going.

Baja’s famous fish tacos

The food is even better on the mainland.

The sun setting on a glorious day crossing San Francisco

Crossing the Golden Gate

Camping in the Red Woods above the clouds.

The majestic Valley of the Giants

First day back in America.

This view was at the top of a big climb which took 45 minutes. No danger of enjoying the view though as I realised when I got to the top, I’d left my gloves at the bottom of the hill…’talented’.

The canyon has a rugged beauty to it which constantly changes as you work your way down.

Incredible view all along the valley.

This was the only forecast sunny day. Kept me impatiently waiting for 3 hours before I could safely start peddling.

Riding into the mountainous valley around Clinton on my horse ‘Cher’.

My first moose roast 🙂

Riding through farming country… almost thought I was at home.

The misty mountains of Smithers.

Heading south to the U.S.

My hotel for one night. Found this bus out in the woods, kept me warm and dry and gave me a little more protection from the bears.

Snow and ice returned whilst in the Yukon. Made cycling a little sketchy at times.

Treated to cheese fondue…the not so secret way to my heart.

The Yukon is chillingly lonely at times.

The Yukon has more of a rawness to it, but still a stunningly beautiful place.

Another majestic stretch of The Cassiar

Wildlife lines this highway down its entire length.

Starting the climb into the mountains.

This road is just a constant conveyor belt of natural beauty.

The incredible great company of Terry and Tony…amazing people.

The picturesque, little town of Kitwanga

My camping spot for the night in Kitwanga

The amazing people at Bell 2.

When the clouds gave way for a few minutes I was greeted by this beautiful rainbow.

The moose/ cyclist duel issued for a pulsating 30 minutes after this. The suspense was unreal…or maybe the boredom, yep definitely the boredom

The top of Gnat’s pass…so high it’s above the clouds.

I wanted to see the beautiful views I’d heard about over the pass but unfortunately the weather didn’t cooperate that morning.

This highway has a little of everything. Truly stunning to journey across.

Jadrenka’s cozy cabin she gave me for the night…amazingly kind hearted person.

The most originally named J.C. Church. Was colder inside than out!

Breakfast time. Oats, soy protein, chia seed, almonds, blueberries, peanut flour and peanut butter.

The roads are only one truck width in some places.

Was greeted to this stunning sunrise the first morning after camping out in The Yukon.

The very start of the Cassiar highway.

Lonely roads through Alaska but beautiful ones.

Found this gem of a location to camp out on the third night.

Couldn’t get a picture of the northern lights, but did manage this sunset on the border.

The first roads of the journey east.

Greeted to stunning views on the way to the border.

Arriving at a quiet Canadian border. I rode straight past the red light by mistake!

There has been some cold mornings dragging myself out of the tent to pack up.

Starting in the snow on day one.

Greeted to this sunset when landing in Seattle.