By Jeff Bartlett for The Mendoza Sun“Mom, it’s not going to do any good to complain,” said Daryl, revealing his youthful wisdom. “All you can do is keep going and things will turn around eventually”
Unlike most family situations, Daryl wasn’t encouraging his mom to stick it out in the busy supermarket line or to stop worrying about rush hour traffic. Instead, he wanted his mom to climb back on her bike and continue slugging against headwinds across the 1200-kilometer stretch of desert in northern Peru.
The Vogel’s journey actually began in 2008 when they pedaled out of Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, with ambitions to reach the opposite end of the Americas: Ushuaia, Argentina. Over the past 30 months, they’ve spanned both continents, pedaled in 14 countries, and cycled more than 20 000 miles. They pedal an average of 60 or 70 kilometers per day, with their longest stretching 138 km.
Surprisingly, only Nancy believes the rugged section in Peru was the most difficult. The 12-year-old twin boys, Davy and Daryl, believe the biggest struggle came either on Alaska’s endless dirt roads or in Bolivia, where oxygen was scarce. For their dad, John, it was crossing the Andes from Quito, Ecuador, to the Amazon basin.
Although small differences of opinion are common (when asked about their favorite country, answers included Belize, Canada, Ecuador, Peru, and the USA) the family has grown closer than imaginable during their time on the road. Functioning as a team as much as a family, they feed off one another’s strengths and mitigate weaknesses through teamwork and persistence. In essence, they accept each similarity and difference far better than most families.
Although the boys are twins, Davy is, at this point, much stronger than Daryl. It’s a difference that might upset some twelve-year-olds, but neither Davy nor Daryl put much thought into it. On long climbs, Davy helps his dad either pedal or push the heavier tandem to the top, while Daryl happily pedals Davy’s lighter bike.
As life long teachers, Nancy and John have an education plan they’ve dubbed roadschooling for the boys. While it includes two mathematics books packed in John’s panniers, nearly unlimited reading materials on Kindles, and well-researched essays about upcoming destinations, it’s the boys’ ability to absorb conventional wisdom and cultural differences found in each new destination that makes for proud parents.
One afternoon, a friendly, yet, struggling farmer took time away from his work to show the family a good place to camp in his llama pasture. Before leaving, the disheveled man asked for some spare money.
“After giving him some, “ says John, “Daryl didn't think of him as a beggar, but someone who humbly asks for whatever we wanted to give him.”
Oddly, I first encountered the family outside of a supermarket in Fort St John, British Columbia, more than two years ago. At that point, they were barely 3000 kilometers into their journey. As they approach Mendoza, they are almost an equal distance to their Ushuaia finish line. At that point, Daryl and Davy will become Guinness record holders as the youngest cyclists to complete the Pan-American Highway, the family will have completed cycling’s infamous route as a team, and some tough decision will have to be made:
Q: Everybody wants to know, after three years on the road, will Ushuaia be the end of the line or will you keep riding?
Nancy: That is the 6 million dollar question! At this point, we are trying to decide what we WANT to do – do we want to keep going or would we prefer to go back home? Or maybe go home for part of the year and travel the rest?? The main thing now is figuring out what will be best for all four of us – and we just don’t know at this point.
Q: What route do you plan to follow for the remaining road? Will you take on
Argentinean Patagonia's heavy winds along either Ruta 40 or Ruta 3, or opt
for the Carretera Austral and Chilean Patagonia's wet conditions?
Nancy: In Mendoza we will have to make the decision on how to get to the Lake District and when we get there we will decide our route farther south. The main consideration at this point is my bike - we don't trust my wheels much right now so aren't sure we want to tackle a lot of dirt roads. We'll make the decision at the last possible moment.
Q: In General, what do the boys think about cycle touring?
Davy: It’s good. You get to meet lots of people and eat lots of different food. We go with tailwinds or against headwinds, go uphill or downhill, or it’s flat. Overall, I think it's a good way to travel.
Q: Davy and Daryl are on their way into the Guinness Book of World Records. What does it mean to them? What does it mean to you two, as their parents?
Nancy: That's a tough question. At the beginning it was a spur-of-the-moment thing. The boys were excited about it because they enjoy reading about the Guinness World Records so thought it would be cool to be in the book.
But now - it's really changed. On one hand, it isn't that big of a deal at all. It's secondary to the journey itself - we've made a commitment to getting to Ushuaia and that is the big goal. Just to complete what we set out to do will be huge!
On the other hand, the record is driving decisions we make. We can't take ferries so have to choose our route to avoid them. We can't hitch. When I was sick and couldn't push on, it wasn't an option for all of us to hitch in together - I was on my own as the boys needed to ride. The record is always there in the back of our minds.
For John and me, the record is for the boys and we are supporting them. They are so determined to reach their goal and we want to help and support them in that in any way we can.
Q: What do the boys consider their favorite part of this journey? Is there much they don’t like?
John: They don't remember very many specific places except their favorite places: Liard Hot Springs in British Columbia, Canada; River hiking in Belize, and sand surfing in Peru. Things they don't like are getting up in the morning, the cold, the headwinds, and getting sunscreen smeared on them. During one live TV interview the host asked Daryl one thing he didn't like and he almost replied, "getting interviewed!"
Q: Most 12-year-olds have a few household chores like carrying firewood for the woodstove, washing the dinner dishes, and keeping their rooms tidy. What chores do Daryl and Davy have around the campsite?
Daryl: We do the dishes, help set up the tent, help pedal, collect firewood if we want a fire, and help with bike maintenance.
Q: You've been in Argentina for a few months and battled everything from illness to high heat. What is your general impression of the country so far?
Nancy: It's windy! We have had a number of days where the wind hasn't blown, but we've come to expect the wind and are pleasantly surprised when it doesn't show up.
We've found Argentina to be a struggle so far - it's very different from farther north. All along on our journey, the changes have been so gradual we barely noticed them until one day we realized the food we were eating and the culture we saw was totally different from 1000 miles ago. The changes had nothing to do with border crossings at all.
But Argentina is different - the second we crossed the border, our lives changed. All of a sudden we have to schedule when we arrive in towns in order to avoid siesta (no food - boo hoo!). We can't even find hotels during siesta time - and that's when we typically arrive at our destination.
This country is also much more rural than farther north. Here, people tend to be gathered into towns rather than live on farms out in the boonies. That provides a logistical challenge for us as far as finding water. This is the first time on our entire journey that we have had to carry more than one day's worth of water.
Q: What has been the biggest surprise, best moment, and worst moment in
Argentina so far?
Nancy: Worst moment? The moment I realized I simply could not push on to Cafayate. I ended up in the hospital for five days with pneumonia and then another two weeks recuperating. Not nice at all! (I have to say the hospital was great - but it was a hospital therefore not a place I wish to be...)
Biggest surprise would have to be how different Argentina is from the rest of South America. We expected things to continue like they have so far.
Best moment was maybe pulling in to Quebrada Hot Springs after a long, long, long day. We made it! And -there were hot springs to soak in.
How do the Argentinean roads compare to those from other countries you've
visited? What about the drivers?
Nancy: Argentina wins - hands down - the Bad Roads Award. We have had shoulders pretty much all the way, but here they are nonexistent. As long as we stay on back roads, the lack of shoulder doesn't matter - but it was pretty hairy on the main road from the border to Salta.
The drivers here have been, for the most part, good. We have had a few trucks that cut us really, really closely which were pretty scary. Since we left the main road, we've had no problems at all.
Q: What is your take on Argentina's cycling fuel - Alfajores,
empanadas, heavy beef, and red wine?
Nancy: We've discovered some pretty darn incredible alfajores. The empanadas are heavenly. Asado is to die for. And the wine? What needs to be said??
To read more about the Vogel’s journey, check out their website at http://www.familyonbikes.org.
Jeff Bartlett is a freelance writer and photographer who focuses on adventure travel. He splits his time between two homes found at opposite ends of the Pan American Highway: Fort St John, British Columbia and Mendoza, Argentina. To see more of his work, visit his website at http://www.photojbartlett.com.
The Mendoza Sun
