Columnist plans to pedal to South America

“Estai loco?” my wife asked. I didn’t think so, but her response was repeated to me in all the local dialects.

“You’re crazy!” my mother said with her eyes wide and her jaw dangling somewhere around her knees. My dad gave me his typical where-the-hell-did-you-come-from look. My sisters, who are now accustomed to such things, just sighed in relief that I would no longer be polluting their children with my liberal rants.

To all of these, I replied, “No, I just choose to live. And for some odd reason my idea of living requires me to ride my bicycle from one side of the world to the other.”

Once the looks of utter despair had left the faces of my loved ones, the questions began to flow in. “How? Where? When?” And once again, “What are you going to do?”

I basically didn’t have answers to any of these questions then, and still don’t now. I have made a conscious effort to not plan. Yes, I have no plan-well maybe I have one.

Kind of.

Starting Sept. 10, I will pedal my way from Logan, Utah to Santiago, Chile over the space of about six months. My journey will take me from Logan down Highway 89 to St. George, my hometown. I will spend a couple days with my family. After the heat in Southern Utah, I will endure some more heat by pedaling over to Las Vegas to enjoy the bicycle industry show.

After the debauchery of Las Vegas I will continue to pedal my way over to Tucson, Ariz. where friends will be awaiting my arrival. From Tucson it’s south, then south some more, and after pedaling a little farther south I hope to arrive in Santiago before March.

The Bicycle Diaries will keep you, my loyal reader, posted on my adventures, the local culture I encounter and, of course, I will let you know how it feels to starve and be lost in South America. I hope I can fulfill my column’s namesake and present you the same persepective Ernesto Che Guevara experienced on his trip across the Americas.

Lukas Brinkerhoff is a junior. Comments can be sent to lukas@mooseknuckler.org.