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The Riders

The entire concept of this trip began back in August of 2015. Originally just Andy planning to go, they say if you don't decide on a date then nothing will ever happen, so he picked the date. After inviting a few people along, Cash confirmed for the ride as well as Tim and John. We also had a few others who had planned on going but had to reconsider due to obligations. Al was in the mix since the beginning, but didnt confirm until late in the game (as well as Ed). We also have Jon, Scott and Trevor taking over bikes along the way. Who would have thought it would end up as 9 of us involved (6 at all times).

Andy

With over 200,000 kms ridden, Andy love to travel by bike. As the planner of the original Chile/Argentina trip as well as this one, he has an acute sense of direction and is excellent at researching. In addition, computer and electronic skills make Andy the principal blogger and videographer of the journey. Besides motorcycles, Andy absolutely loves history, and because of this, many of the historical sites and ruins are part of the itinerary of this trip. Andy is committed to the entire journey from start to finish and would do it alone if circumstances dictated. He is also fluent in "tourist Spanish", meaning he is able to order food, request a room or directions and say it so well that the other party thinks he speaks Spanish fully. Things don't usually go so well from there, and it is at this point that the conversation usually ends.

Al is also an experienced rider, having been to Chile/Argentina and also ridden throughout Canada, the USA and into Mexico. Al is one of those guys who meets people everywhere he goes. He is happy go lucky, friendly, and treats everyone with respect, regardless of their background. Al is an avid camper and can do so quite well, even with the limitations camping off of a small motorcycle can cause. He is something of a perfectionist, and should be a top notch camera person. Al currently speaks very little Spanish, but gets by quite well with grunts and pointing (it's amazing how well this works when you do it with a smile). Al has already committed to the entire trip.

Cash

Cash lives on Vancouver Island and has been riding since 16 and recently did a 12 day tour around Ecuador on a suzuki dr650. In 2014 he toured the western states to every National Park ( over 35,000 kms). Cash has a kawasaki 650 klr and a Honda xr 100 and like to tour secondary roads and back country in the U.S. and Canada. He plans on riding the entire route from Santiago to home.

Tim

Tim, a business owner, is also from Nanaimo on Vancouver Island, and will be riding the entire South American portion of the trip. Tim has quite a few years riding a Harley Davidson, but is new to "adventure travel", so he should add a fair bit of excitment to the trip. Tim recently bought a Suzuki DR200 to get road ready for the 17,000 km or so that he will be with us for.

John

This is John Clish, a Vancouver Island boy by heart, however in 1997 moved to Kelowna BC. There, he bought a franchise business called Industrial Plastics & Paints and has been running it since. He is an empty nester after raising three awesome kids with his amazing wife Dee. John loves to mountain bike, fly fish, scuba dive, play guitar and of course loves his Kawi Super Sherpa 250.

John is looking so forward to this epic adventure. John will be with us for the first 2 legs of the trip.

Ed is from Vancouver Island and has been riding a long time. Ed jumped in late in the planning stage (taking over for Gord), and plans on riding the entire way home. From his Facebook page Single · Male · Interested in females · Self-employed. One can imagine that Ed will be the one getting into trouble during our travels. Also from Facebook, it appears that he has a large boat that isnt in water. Either it doesnt float, or Ed doesn't swim. We will find out more later.

Jon

Jon is (obviously) a fair bit younger than the rest of us, but he is an experienced rider and will hopefully add a little maturity to the group. As the only one hitting the road that isnt probably in some form of mid-life crisis, Jon should also see things a little differently than the rest of us. He has spent countless hours riding the trails and mountains of Vancouver Island, as well as being fully licenced for the street. Jon will be joining us in Cartagena and riding Tim's bike the rest of the way back home.

It should be entertaining video with a few different characters on film. I'm certain we will also meet many other riders along the way (it happened a fair bit during our previous Chile ride). Especially fun to meet riders who don't speak the same language, we all seem to figure out what each other is saying! Stay tuned to find out more.