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Today’s Geo Quiz links North, Central, and South America.

We want to tell you about a mountain biker named Jacob Thomson and his two friends who’ve just finished a long journey.

We began in Prudhoe Bay Alaska. And just recently finished in Ushuaia, Argentina.

That’s a journey of 19,500 miles or more. It took them more than 3 years.  These guys didn’t take the Pan-American highway to cross continents. Instead they took the roads less travelled, sometimes even steep mountainous trails.

We call the trip ”Riding the Spine” because there’s a mountain range that really spans the length of the Americas- It starts in the Rocky Mountains, goes through the Sierra Madre and Sierra Tarahumara Mountain Ranges in Mexico and ultimately connects to the Andes in South America. So It’s kind of like a spine of the globe.

So what’s the name of the “sequence of mountain ranges” that starts in Alaska and runs all the way to Argentina?

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The answer we were looking for is the American Cordillera.

It’s what geographers call the mountains that curve along North, Central, and South America like a continental backbone. Jacob Thompson just spent the last three and half years riding his bicycle along that spine:

“There were three of us in the beginning and we somehow made it to the end together. I think the idea at the beginning was to see what you could do with free time and a bike and a sense of adventure.

We started up in Prudhoe Bay Alaska and there’s all Arctic, tundra permafrost. And the first sign we saw said the first services are in 236 miles or something. So we knew we had a really exciting trip ahead of us.

In Mexico, we went through the Copper Canyon and we were trying to cross over. And we didn’t have any of these roads on our maps. But we were told by folks these roads were built. Apparently they were built largely for drug runners. And so one night we were camped out by a river. There’s three trucks filled with bales of marijuana. and two of the trucks got stuck.  And shortly after that, we see two headlights coming from the mountains. And it’s the military. They take the drivers out of the two trucks and throw them on the ground.  And we’re sitting with our oatmeal in our hands. Wondering if they’re going to come up and talk to us.And sure enough we hear this “Levantese manos!” Our Spanish was terrible at that point. And then we heard this collective “Che Che” “Levantese manos” made sense all of a sudden – and so we all raised our hands. It was three or four terrified military guys. They were sweating bullets and had their guns pointed at us. It was a pretty tense moment.

Touring the world or touring the Americas by bike gives you such an opportunity to meet the people where as in a car you could blast right by them. But in a bike you’re so much closer. They can yell at you as you’re pedalling by and say “hey come here, come here.” Just a more natural pace of life.

I remember there were areas of Guatemala where they were really afraid of us. Sometimes, they’d sometimes send kids to come talk to us first. And make sure we were safe. But some places they wouldn’t come out of their houses at all. ‘So if we needed supplies or anything we weren’t going to get it. But for the most part, they were pretty curious. And they would surround us There’d be 40 of them’ all asking the same questions- “Where do you come from, how many flats.”

We made it to South America after about 2 1/2 years from the time that we left. Everybody told us not to go to Colombia- that it was going to be a dangerous country- that you’re going to get kidnapped.  This was a constant theme that we had ruing our trip where we’d talk to someone in a park and say “hey, we’re headed to this town. how do we get there from this area?” “Oh no, no, no. You can’t go that way. Those people are bad people. They’re all drunks, they’re all this. It’s too dangerous. That road is very dangerous.  And overtime we’d find more and more hospitable people. That really just kill us with kindness.And in Colombia- everyone was sure this country was going to be the worst of all.  And it was some of the most endearing people. One of the best places I’ve ever been in my life.

After Colombia we passed into Ecuador and passed the Equator. Which is exciting when you’re travelling from the northern most point to the southern most point.  From Ecuador we passed into Peru. And that’s where we started to get on some really remote dirt roads. Where we’d have 4000 meter climbs and 4000 meter descents and then another 4000 meter climb and another 4000 meter descent. Tremendous terrain. It’s where you start to appreciate how big the Andes are.

The Andes lasted all the way down to Tierra del Fuego. Twenty kilometers before Ushuaia was our last continental divide crossing. It was a tiny pass in comparison, But you can appreciate it being the final pass.

We realized what an epic era of our lives this has been. Three and a half years of our time where we’re seeking adventure. And definitely feel like the world is full of possibilities. I don’t think there’s anything that we’re not capable of doing. But it helps to really understand what’s most important in your life- from good friendships, to beautiful places, to just being free and living your life- which is not always easy.”

– Jacob Thompson

Produced by Julia Kumari Drapkin

Riding the Spine website:  http://www.ridingthespine.com/main.html