Ben Cunningham - The Longest Road: An Irish Pan-American Cycling Adventure

To my parents, Carol and Peter

Day 78 Ben cycles on the open road in Baja, Mexico.

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

In June 2008, five friends and I set out from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, to cycle to Ushuaia, Argentina. The average age of the cyclists was twenty-two. In Ireland, the expedition generated national interest. It was the first time that a cycling challenge of this length and duration had been attempted by Irish people. This is the story of this compelling adventure.

The Pan-American Highway is believed to be the longest continuous land route in the world. It measures 25,000 km and passes through fourteen different countries and two continents. The Pan-American Highway begins in the northernmost point of Alaska, in a town called Deadhorse, the home of Alaskan oil, and finishes in Ushuaia in Argentina, the worlds most southerly city. The road runs through the vast expanses of Alaska and northern Canada and the densely populated cities of Los Angeles and Lima. It moves from hot to cold, from forest to desert, English to Spanish and everything in between.

At the post office in Deadhorse, Alaska, those who started the journey in southern Argentina and completed the route in this barren northern finishing point have pinned to the wall signed Polaroid pictures of themselves along with details of where theyre from and how long their journey took. They come from all parts of the world. The times taken to complete the Pan-American Highway vary between the world-record time of four months to the more leisurely pace of two years. On completion, regardless of time, it seems they had all entered into the unofficial fraternity of the Pan-American Highway.

Our aim was to complete the distance in slightly under nine months. This is my story of cycling down the longest road in the world.

Ben Cunningham

County Kildare

PARTICIPANTS IN THE IRISH PAN-AMERICAN
CYCLING ADVENTURE

Alan Gray:

Deadhorse (Alaska) to Ushuaia (Argentina)

Kevin Hillier:

Deadhorse (Alaska) to Ushuaia (Argentina)

Brian McDermott:

Deadhorse (Alaska) to Ushuaia (Argentina)

Ben Cunningham:

Deadhorse (Alaska) to Ushuaia (Argentina)

Cillian OShea:

Deadhorse (Alaska) to Ushuaia (Argentina)

John Garry:

Deadhorse (Alaska) to Ushuaia (Argentina)

Pat Anglim:

Fairbanks (Alaska) to San Francisco (USA)

Eric Flanagan:

Vancouver (Canada) to San Francisco (USA)

Mike Stewart:

Vancouver (Canada) to San Francisco (USA)

Anthony Quinn:

Vancouver (Canada) to Ensenada (Mexico)

Tom Greaves:

Vancouver (Canada) to Ensenada (Mexico)

Killian Stafford:

Everett (USA) to San Francisco (USA)

Bryan Johnston:

Everett (USA) to San Francisco (USA)

Rob Greene:

San Diego (USA) to Ushuaia (Argentina)

Timi Oyewo:

Puerto Escondido (Mexico) to Panama City (Panama)

Ben Leonard Kane:

Arequipa (Peru) to Ushuaia (Argentina)

Chris Wallace:

Las Grutas (Argentina) to Ushuaia (Argentina)

Paddy OConnor:

Playa Bonita (Peru) to Los Andes (Chile)

Conor Shaw:

Playa Bonita (Peru) to Los Andes (Chile)

Jim Lyons:

Tacna (Peru) to Ushuaia (Argentina)

Paul Drysdale:

Tacna (Peru) to Ushuaia (Argentina)

Mark Gray:

Mendoza (Argentina) to Las Grutas (Argentina)

Support Cycle Mix

Neil Stilo McDermott:

Deadhorse (Alaska) to Ushuaia (Argentina)

Richard Boyd:

San Jose, California (USA) to Oxaca (Mexico)

Paul Cahill:

Insurgantes, Baja (Mexico) to Oxaca (Mexico)

Andrew Wade:

Insurgantes, Baja (Mexico) to Oxaca (Mexico)

Jenny Doran:

Insurgantes, Baja (Mexico) to Oxaca (Mexico)

Shauna Lenfesty:

Barranca (Peru) to Mendoza (Argentina) and
Las Grutas (Argentina) to Ushuaia (Argentina)

PROLOGUE

21 February 2009

Number of kilometres completed: 19,687

The others are in the sitting room of the rented apartment, chatting. I look at my watch: 6 p.m. and its getting dark outside.

Suddenly there are three loud bangs on the door downstairs. More loud bangs. I run down and open the door. Two pump-action shotguns are pointing at my chest. Four policemen start screaming at me. I can just about make out what theyre saying. One of them shouts, You have ten minutes to come up with 4,000 pesos.

I run back up the stairs, the police behind me. I sense their guns. Im stuttering and panicking.

Everyone go to the bank and withdraw your maximum daily amount! I shout.

The police are yelling at everyone as we run around, gathering all the gear and bussing it downstairs to the street. Theres so much stuff to move, so many bikes and parts. Eventually we clear the apartment and get all our belongings outside.

The owner of the building emerges. Hes got slicked back greasy hair and hes wearing a shirt opened down to his naval. Hes laughing and joking with the men.

We get it all together. Four thousand pesos is a lot of money here. I count it out to the owner in English while he repeats the numbers back to me in Spanish. The police are looking on and laughing. One of them checks the breach of his gun. Suddenly its over. The police get back into their car and disappear. The owner goes back inside. We remain standing outside, looking at each other, wondering what weve done to deserve this. I look at our gear and bikes scattered around on the side of the road, and then I look up at the stars.

For my part, I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travels sake. The great affair is to move.

R OBERT L OUIS S TEVENSON

ALASKA

20 June 2008

Number of kilometres completed:

I love Alaska already. Thick green Alpine forest rolls across the hills of the horizon as if forever and deep blue skies give everything a crisp definition. Alaska is referred to as the last frontier because of its rugged landscape, its harsh climate and its distance from the rest of the United States. One immediately feels Alaskas intimidating size. Its by far the biggest state in America; an area more than twice that of Texas. If it were a country it would be the nineteenth biggest in the world, a whopping 1,518,800 square kilometres, a vast, almost endless, area of mountains and trees.