Four North Tahoe residents Jake Spero, Duncan Sisson, John Witherspoon “spoon” and Sam Skrocke rode more than 15,000 miles from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, Argentina in nine months last year. While a trip like this is a monumental undertaking for any strong-willed individual, they also raised $18,000 to fund the building of a school in La Bonansa, Nicaragua — to “Bike for a Better World.”
Tahoe World Associate Editor Morgan Kriz had the opportunity to sit down with team member Duncan Sisson to catch up on memories of the trip, share journal entries and photos from their adventure. Since this story is way to big to grasp, we have made Biking for a Better World a featured series in the Tahoe World. You will hear stories, read journal entries, get tips about road biking and see amazing pictures from their journey.
Although the Alaska to Argentina trip has come to an end, it represents the beginning of their nonprofit organization, Biking for a Better World. They are in the process of brainstorming new ideas and adventures to continue to keep the heart of the organization going.
Part II: For Duncan Sisson and Jake Spero Alaska to Argentina was not their first bike tour. In 2003 they rode from Tahoe to Texas and completed two century races to bookmark the ride. To start they rode in the Tahoe Sierra Century Bike Ride, rode more than 1,800 miles and participated in a century ride in Texas. That tour set the formula for the Alaska to Argentina Bike Tour, Sisson explained in an interview. They knew their pace after this tour, and while they knew they could complete a tour in one month, they questioned whether their bodies could pull it off for eight months.
It looks easy on paper ...
Each of the guys were athletic in their own way to start but, to train they each had their own program to get ready for a lot of biking. With lots of bike rides and training at the gym, they took advantage of the dry winter in 2007 to train for the tour. They rode more than 80 miles a day on average, for nine months straight. Sisson admits that riding his bike through most of the roads they traveled went on forever. Looking out over the horizon, if one was in a car they could be to the next stop in about a half an hour or making some progress, but on a bike ... well, lets just say some days were much longer than others.
Duncan’s journal entry 11/11/07: “The mountains of Colombia and Ecuador were major. They were tall and wide. I was buried in them. We were deep in the middle, riding the spine. The mountains were unforgiving. No breaks. Long, long climbs or fast windy hairpin turns, filled descents. They took every but of my energy and gave me a challenge I had never imagined. By far the toughest terrain I had ever pedaled. Spoon got pulled up hills on slow trucks. I didn’t give in to these hills. It hurt but I did it. Climbed all of the terrain that was set before us.
“In San Gabriel I wanted beers to numb my legs. They got worked hard in Colombia. I had to let ‘em regroup and get ready for the Andes of Ecuador. They were the same. Hard. Our last climb was a bit of a surprise. It was hard and steep and slow, but short compared to the rest. We got lucky. Then the decent. Basically 50 miles out of the gut of the Andes. We directed ourselves to the plains. The descent was split between 2 days.”
Duncan remembers his greatest accomplishment was crossing the Andes — check out this video clip to hear more of Sisson’s interview about his favorite parts of the tour:
Duncan Sisson After meeting with Duncan Sisson for an evening to talk about Biking for a Better World, his modest and humble behavior could fool anybody on just how just how herculean this trip really was.
While we only met for a couple hours, we could have talked forever, every story just as intriguing as the next. Here is a little bit more about Duncan I found out in his journal:
Duncan graduated from Hartwick College in New York. He studied abroad for three out of his four years in school. He studied in Ireland, Australia and South Africa.
From his journal: “South Africa opened my eyes to traveling and other cultures. I think that South Africa opened a can of worms. I wanted to see more and more. The more unique and exotic and intriguing, the more I wanted to explore and experience. It probably played a major role in the decision and preparations for this trip. Being athletic combining the two, the bike and the new cultures was ideal.”
After college he moved to Lake Tahoe and wanted to ski and mountain bike. If you were to talk to Duncan, although he has repeated his stories numerous times, he would sit with you and you would feel like you could easily ride from Alaska to Argentina next week (obviously not the case).
Journal entry 10/30/07: “Without this trip I wouldn’t smile as wide at a can of Coca-Cola. I’m happy to get through each day and thankful because it’s not easy. And it’s all too easy for things to go wrong. And when they don’t I can smile and say there is one more day in the books. We’re one step closer and one day better than before.”
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Four North Tahoe residents Jake Spero, Duncan Sisson, John Witherspoon “spoon” and Sam Skrocke rode more than 15,000 miles from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, Argentina in nine months last year. While a trip like this is a monumental undertaking for any strong-willed individual, they also raised $18,000 to fund the building of a school in La Bonansa, Nicaragua — to “Bike for a Better World.”
Part II:
Duncan’s journal entry 11/11/07:
Duncan Sisson