Group pose at Casa de ciclistas as Pius and Stefan leave (View on flickr)

People often ask us "Has anyone ever done this before?" or "Are you setting a new Guinness Record?". The answer, of course, is an authoritative NO! We know this, of course, but stopping at the Casa de Ciclistas in Trujillo and looking through the logs makes us really feel humble. We were the 998th entry over 24 years. Plenty of people have been through here! There are slow people and fast, many rides as long as ours, but many much longer. Here are a few links and a few details about some of the folks who have signed their names in the logs at Trujillo.

Hans Stuecke

Hans has been bike touring for 46 years, and has visited at least 193 countries. He really HAS set a Guinness record. I don't think we're going to touch his record anytime soon!

Dominic Gill

Dominic started his ride about the same time as we did, and we actually met him for a few moments in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory. But Dominic just finished riding a tandem (most of the time by himself, alone) with gear for himself and a guest, all the way from Alaska to Patagonia. His gear weight was incredible, but his idea was "Take a Seat". He invited anybody who wanted to to come along for a ride for as long as they wanted. He had incredible experiences.

The Ciclonautas

We met Andrei and Dulce (and not Fernando), the "Ciclonautas" in Queretaro, Mexico, but they passed through the Casa de Ciclistas several years ago. As young Mexicans with very limited resources, they set off on a journey all the way from their home city to the bottom of South America, Ushuaia, where we're going too, and they made it. They worked along the way, getting a tiny sponsorship in Honduras, but mostly just working at their trades in each city until they had enough to continue. And they made it all the way, on no money.

Andrew Morgan

We met Andrew on our yacht trip from Panama to Colombia. (There were 5 of us cyclists on that boat! Pius and Stefan were on it too). Andrew is teaching everywhere he goes, and working with teachers and students around the world via his website.

Pius and Stefan

Pius and Stefan are the blazing fast guys on the recumbent bikes WAY ahead of us. They're young and full of vim and vigor. They race each other between cities and go farther in a day than we go in three. And they're great people.

Pat and Cat Patterson

Pat and Cat hosted us when we were going south through California and they had just gotten home from four years riding around the world (North America, Europe, Africa, and South America back up to California). They're even older than we are, if you can believe that! And they have yet another adventure planned for this year. Pat is 68 and Cat is 55 and they're going strong!

Florian and Rebekka (and Chan)

Florian and Rebekka and Chan are three of our favorites. We met them in Oregon and spent several delightful nights in the same campgrounds. Florian and Rebekka were young people riding across Canada and planning to ride down to South America about 5 years ago when she discovered she was pregnant. They got jobs in Vancouver, got stable, had Chan, and waited for him to be old enough to continue, and that's what they did. When we met them in 2006 they were pulling Chan (then 3) in a kid-trailer, with all the gear for the three of them. They have now made it all the way to Argentina and plan to get to Patagonia sometime in the next 6-9 months. They are heroes!

And of course these amazing people are just a drop in the bucket. 998 parties (including us) have signed the log to date at Lucho's Casa de Ciclistas.