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The Plan

Who am I? My name is Dominic Gill, I’m 25 (or I was at the time of departure), and I am attempting to bring the journey described here into your front room, documenting my travels and the people I meet on camera. Where am I going? From Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, approximately 20,000 miles down the west coast to Ushuaia, the most southerly city in South America. What is my mode of transport? A tandem bicycle, on my own, at least until I find my first passenger! How long will this take? Depending on the ability – or lack of it – of my fellow cyclists, as well as any unforeseen events, approximately fifteen months. 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 there is a good chance I may be burdened with cycling a heavy machine thousands of miles solo, I’m confident that I will meet a large number of willing pedalling passengers. Whether they be curious city dwellers, happy to take a novel journey to the office, tourists wanting to go anywhere anyhow, or a Peruvian villager welcoming an alternative to the overcrowded and unreliable rural bus service, there will be some colourful characters. With them sitting eight inches behind me, I’m sure to find out. Any other surprises? Cycling twenty thousand miles solo on a bicycle is a test of one’s strength, stamina and resolve. Cycling a tandem that distance, either alone or with an inexperienced stoker (the one that sits behind!) will likely push me closer to the limits of possibility! The journey is sure to present other challenges, whether they be the less than bike-friendly streets of Mexico city, areas of ‘unrest’ in northern Colombia, or the freezing temperatures of a Chilean winter. Filming Even if this journey took me through a uniform and uninspiring landscape, the situations arising (whether scary, comical or somewhere in between) from the interactions with a diverse range of stokers - or not as the case may be - would be well worth documenting. This, coupled with travelling fast enough to entertain and slow enough to take in, through some of the most varied and beautiful landscapes in the world makes this a perfect opportunity to film the venture. Resting my legs and testing my arms To realise another of my dreams, I have decided to maximise on some of the locations I will be cycling through and – if time and weather allow – to climb at least one of the spectacular routes in the Americas, Yosemite’s Half Dome for instance, or perhaps Mount Fitzroy in Patagonia.

Dominic doing some fairly lightweight training before the ordeal.

Dominic doing the other thing he loves!

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