Get Us Detouring

So, part of the plan for while we are away is to try and detour to as many random places as possible and this is covered a little bit in our About Us page and after all it is the name of our blog.  Some of the detours we have already planned, like going to Moose Jaw or trying to get to Rough and Ready. However, we also need some input from people in the know, just like you.  So far we've had friends point out the Tunnels of Moose Jaw and Ellis Island Casino and Brewey; but we need more.  I've had family members talk about a beautiful, winding scenic route from Flagstaff up to the Grand Canyon but that can't be the only hidden gem that you lovely people know about.

The trick is that in the United States and Canada the distances we will be covering and our visa lengths mean that detouring will have to be kept in check - but hell we get 180 days in Mexico so if you know of a place then please, please, please get in touch.  Try to not get us in too much bother but that is all part of the adventure right?

One of my colleagues had a mate that went off into the big wide world and he got people to take polls for his next destination.  Granted I think he was taking flights so it was higher stakes and quicker, but hey man I think this could work on a bike; why not???  I'm not completely sure that Sophie will be 100% game, but I love the idea.  Also, if we can't decide between the east or west coast of Costa Rica then why not involve you guys?

So, in a nutshell, if you know somewhere awesome that we shouldn't miss out on then get in touch. Cheers in advance folk, I know you're going to have some amazing suggestions.

Doubting my Lack of Self Doubt

It's less than 2 months until we fly now and I've been enjoying reading a few books about others who've taken on long term cycle trips.  We're going to make a useful links, book and kit review tab where you'll be able to get more details on these sorts of things, but we've not made it yet.

One of the things I've noticed most about the others who've undertaken major cycle tours alone is that they seem to be beset by a lot of self doubt about being able to complete the trip which probably weren't helped by having friends, family or colleagues telling them 'you can't do that' or 'you'll never make it' or other such nay-saying.
I don't feel like that at all.  Neither does Tom.  But reading these accounts of these capable guys feeling all this self doubt makes me doubt my lack of self doubt!
It makes me wonder if we're too naive or don't understand what we're up against, but I don't think so.  We're both very confident that we'll be fine.  Our mini-tours have been a huge success and we've overcome any hurdles or hardships without falling out or falling apart.  I wonder if having a loose plan and no actual end point helps, we're not doing it for charity or to break any records and we're not trying to prove anything to anyone, we're just going out to have an adventure and see some of our wonderful planet.  Overall I think we'll cycle at least 24,000 miles which turns out to be not far off the circumference of the earth which is 24,902 miles at the equator, yet somehow saying we're cycling around the Americas sounds less far and easier than we're cycling around the world.

I think that doing it together helps too.  We both respect each other a lot and trust in our capabilities and so when one of us is feeling bit low or doubtful the other can counter this with encouragement and enthusiasm to get us back on track and raring to go again.
We've also been very lucky in that of all the people we've told our plans to - friends, family, colleagues, random acquaintances, medical professionals - no one has said 'you can't do that' or 'you'll never make it'.  The closest we've got to anyone doubting us is the nurse we first spoke to about injections who when discussing our probable route through South America being through the Andes said "oh you're good at cycling up hills are you?!" in a somewhat mocking tone to which I replied "well not so much now, but by the time we get to South America we'll have about 12,000 miles under our belt and will have crossed the Rockies so we should be fine by then".

Tom's biggest worry is us actually getting in to the US in the first place, which is a bit of a worry, but I feel like we'll just do what we can to help them to let us in and if they say no then we'll make a new plan and have an even more spontaneous adventure.
So thank you to all of you for not doubting us - its going to be such an incredible journey.