Thanks to …

Alby Mangels for being an inspiration to a generation of young Aussies to wander all over the world doing stupid things just for the sake of doing stupid things. Whenever I got in sticky situations I’d ask myself “What would Alby do if he was here?”. He would have gotten out his video camera and gorgeous model-looking girlfriend and started filming.

Big thanks to Tania and James for logistical support in London and the many favours I’m indebted to you for, Mum and Dad for never sounding too concerned on the phone, JJ and Sarah for all the good times in Oakland and a bed when I needed it most, Brooke and Stef for being about the only ones to encourage me before I started, saving me from freezing my arse off in the winter and always having a mattress for me in the cupboard when I passed through, thanks also for the National Parks Annual Pass, I made sure I visited as many as I could, Herman for inspiring the original idea of this trip, always encouraging me, joining me in Canada and providing the entertainment, Mike B for running with the bulls and providing a bit of a challenge, Jason and Judy of Left Coast Cyclery for the invaluable bike recommendation, Kathleen for the orange juice and accommodation help, Susan for the lift up to my first Sierra summit, Cheree for the kiwi hospitality, Cheryl and Jim for the ride to the top of my second Sierra summit, Whitey and Molly for the stories and offer of a fresh fish dinner, the mexicans in the pickup at Tahoe, Barbara and Mac for the entertainment over several days, the cute ranger at Tahoe for letting me camp for cheap, Michael and Lisa for the bumpy ride, Buffy for the inspiration, Vic for the sketchy rum, the blokes at Sardine Lake for the offer of beers, Ted for the jerky, the couple from Florida for sending a pic to my folks, Ad and kids for the marshmallows, Luke for the ride ideas in Washington, Connie for the retirement champagne, Paul, Gail and kids for the meal, the book, the fruit and the offer of an old car, Chris for the maps, Audie, Helen and Meathead for the “camping” in their backyard and amazing food, Rodge for the inspiration and the offer of Cancun accommodation, Dirk for his time management skills, Michael and Rebecca for the garden burger and good conversations, Hazel for taking the time to check campground availability for me, all the people that offered me lifts in Washington, Canada for letting me enter the country, the Aussie bloke in Victoria for his amusing attempt at selling me his GPS, Ed for his frothing-at-the-mouth excitement, the granny on Saltspring for the leftover dinner, Rudge and Charolette for showing me around Nanaimo, providing entertainment and letting me share their campsite in a full campground, Nicki for the campsite on her back lawn, and Ben for the leg-busting hike, Boris, Dorit and Rolf for route tips, the fishing bloke at agate beach for the snacks, Daniel for the bike ride entertainment, Jun and Chickadoo for the laughs, Meg, Peter and Barb for the wonderful Aussie company over two or three days, David and Soph for the cocoa and traveller’s rum and good laughs, Andrew for the photos at the Arctic Circle, Mr and Mrs Boyle for the warm old fashioned hostel hospitality, the blokes that gave me a lift up to the Arctic Circle, Richard for the lift back, Tadashi for the inspiration and route advice, Mariko and Seiji for the laughs, Kevin and everyone at Arkel for the extremely good service and getting me back on the road faster than neccessary, Mike for the blankets, the German tour group for the brekkie and shelter, the Aussie lady at Delta Junction RV park for the free stay, Hans and wife for the food and beer offers, John and Anita for keeping up with me, Mark for saving me from a very wet ride into Whitehorse, Hide on Jeckell hostel for being the best hostel one could ask for, Norbert for putting up with me for a bit and teaching me the art of stealth camping, the lady from Dease lake and her mixed nuts, the Cassiar RV park for the discount accomodation and free map, John for the free accomodation, wine and neoprene booties, Dave and the cheap parts and labour at Prince George, the Garth-looking bike mechanic for giving me back my granny gears, the couple from Arkansas for the paddling the Yukon inspiration, Kerry for the cabin accomodation offer that I never took up, Mike for the job offer that got me seriously thinking, the billboard in Montana for bringing a smile to my face…

…Pauly for the grizzly bear stories and for actually giving me the first decent, thoughtful conversation in weeks, Gary for the directions, chocolate and accomodation offer, the old guy from Arizona for all the old stories and food offers, the park host for looking after me when I could barely walk, the eighty year old for the inspiration and for sending a photo back to Mum and Dad, the road worker for the lift and real estate advice,Barb, Stephanie and Ardel for the great accomodation, the entertainment and the lift to Moab, Lindsey and Cat for the good, great times in Moab, Charlie and Julia for reminding me of how great Aussies are, James for the rest stop chat, the Monticello RV park owner for the cheap stay, the Mexican for the kind offer of an electric heater in my tent and the leftover pizza, A.L. for being a miserable bastard and making me thankful for what I have, Bill and Debra for my first fresh fruit in days and the AAA maps, the couples from Netherlands for the beer offer, Doug for spending the time with a complete stranger to make sure I was warm and dry and had a dry place to sleep, the Zion Park ranger for the tunnel lift, Brooke and Stef for coming all the way from Long Beach to the edge of Utah, for letting me crash for weeks, for everything, to the great friendships and late night talks and everything, for Dale and Bonnie for the great meals, accomodation and much needed gambling tips in Vegas, JJ and Sarah for letting me crash at your place again, the security guards for helping me to locate my bike again, the Singapore Airlines stewardess who forgot my request for a white russian…remembered me after about fifteen minutes and then spent the next two hours plying me with them…then when thoroughly off my tits asked me to fill out a customer service appraisal form, Sandie for always picking me up…teaching me to cook the way I cook…and always looking out for me, Mum and Dad for nursing me back to health with good food and good walks, the burglars for waking me up, Herman for the entertainment again, Alissa for reminding me how screwed up people can be, Harry for the much needed lift and tour of Silver City, Travis for all the kindness you showed and your wife for the cookies which I couldn’t eat, the highway patrol cop for the directions and sympathy, the old guy for driving me to the museums, Lilia, Perla for being my wonderful guide for a few days and Mum for the best meatballs I’ve ever had, Che for the inspiration, the baristas in Oaxaca for the best headspin-inducing coffees I ever had and never had since, Carlos for doing the big trip and inspiring me to one day do South America, Cesar for the great tour, Amelie for the good company, Cecilia and Carlos for lifting my mood incredibly, Alberto… for all your hospitality and making me a member of the family…all the good diving…everything, Jeraldo for the dive master instruction, Captain Daniel for the good laughs to help pass the hours while waiting for Alberto, all the fishies and nice reefs of Cozumel, every bikini-clad diver I saw, the divers from NYC for giving me my first…and probably last tip, all the great dive buddies I had, all the whinging dive buddies I had for making me appreciate all the great dive buddies so much more, Jose for the cenote diving and the amazing patience you displayed, Yolinda, Carol, Torre, Mona, Danielle, Jean Pierre for all the company and good conversations, good beers, good food, good times, Angine for packing up Stef with care, thanks to regular employment everywhere for encouraging thoughts of escaping regular work and to attempt to get on a bike and attempt a trip like this, and finally…last…but not least…finally a enormous thank you to Stef (the bike, the beast, the legend) for getting me everywhere…thank you, thank you, THANK YOU !

Thank you to whatever it was that made me put my helmet on (in spite of showing up at work with helmet hair) on the morning of Friday 13th September 2002, just minutes before being hit from behind by an Oakland Raiders football player in an SUV and landing head first on the road.       R.I.P. Darrell.

Also, a very very big thank you to my sister Tania who has been patiently proof-reading all my work, she’s a legend. Thanks Tania!