- Who am I?
- Dominic Gill, 28 years old, Climber, Videographer, Adventurer, Jack of all trades (hopefully master of one, one day...)
- Where did I go?
- From Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, approximately 29,519 kilometres / 18,449 miles down the west coast to Ushuaia, the most southerly city in South America.
- What was my mode of transport?
- A tandem bicycle. Sometimes on my own, sometimes with one of the approximately 270 people I picked up for company on the back!
- How long did it take?
- After an initial plan of 18 months, I soon realised that rushing south was a waste of an opportunity to get to know people and places. What's more, I underestimated the amount of ongoing rest needed to continue ploughing ahead with 100kg plus of bicycle, and occasionally a little extra weight added by a less than fit companion. I arrived at the Southern tip of Patagonia 2 years and 2 months after rolling away from Prudhoe Bay.
- Why make it difficult?
- One of the most interesting aspects of cycle touring is meeting people. However, these meetings are usually limited to stopping-off points. By riding a tandem solo, while I rode for over 50% of the time lonely and over laden, I met a huge number of willing pedalling passengers. Curious city dwellers who invited me to stay, tourists wanting to go anywhere anyhow with a cowboy hat and a few bags of herb, or a Peruvian villager welcoming an alternative to the overcrowded and unreliable rural bus service, all sorts of characters took a seat on Achilles the bicycle and accompanied me on my journey south. Some only for half an hour, others for weeks. I had a rule I tried to stick to... I never asked anyone to get off!
- Any other surprises?
- I knew this challenge would be tough, I knew I would see incredible places. I knew I would experience fear, sadness, loneliness and sometimes delirious happiness. What I didn't expect was to have my faith in humanity so massively reinforced over two years of trusting in people.
- Filming
- This idea was conceived always with filming in mind. I'd be a fool to pass up an opportunity to document not only the places but the people I encountered while I rolled south. So that is what I did, camera booms sticking out awkwardly from the bike or resting in my hand while I struggled with the free arm to control a fourteen foot, articulated bike and trailer. I couldn't begin to estimate the number of miles covered on foot, while I jogged up the rode to set the camera, then jog back to ride past it and pick it up again. Without the help of companions and new found friends however, the filming would have been nearly impossible. I have now come out the other side with nearly 200 hours of spectacular footage documenting every aspect of the journey.
