From Alaska to Ushuaia in 42 days

[Christian P.]

Picked up from ADVRider...and with my new favorite bike no less.


http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=694112

 

[1leglance]

pointless....
to go so far, so fast as to miss it all and have little more than a blur for a memory...
shame really

 

[haven]

This sort of point to point record attempt has a history among motorcyclists, as in the "end to end" ride (Land's End to John O'Groats) in Great Britain, and the Cannonball Baker coast to coast records in USA. It's with good reason that an organization like the Guinness Book of World Records no longer encourages such silliness.

The Pan American Highway is about 30,000 miles long, from Prudhoe Bay to Ushuaia. To drive the length of the road in 42 days means traveling 715 miles a day. That's almost 12 hours a day, averaging 60 mph. That's not the way I'd want to spend six weeks! I understand that Nick Sanders sells his services as a guide to riders who want to travel along all or part of this route. So this run is advertising for his business.

 

[haven]

The Yamaha Super Ténéré used for this ride is comparable to the BMW R1200 GS, the Ducati Multistrada 1200, and the KTM 990. It's available in USA for about $14,000, which is about $1000 cheaper than the others.

 

[lbarcher]

A family I met here did the trip from Ushuia to Prudhoe in 29 days by motorcycle a few years back.
http://www.noblequest.org/

 

[shortbus4x4]

pointless....
to go so far, so fast as to miss it all and have little more than a blur for a memory...
shame really

Exactly. If you are in such a hurry an airplane would be even quicker.

 

[Christian P.]

We did San Francisco to Panama in 17 days, while most people take months.

While not always being the most pleasant experience, it beats spending 17 days in an office. I would think the same apply to his trip.

As long as you're out there, the duration is not that relevant. If you always wait to find this one year break in your life, you may end up never go anywhere. Like one of my best friends in Quebec who never "found" the time to visit me in San Francisco, claiming that he would need at least 2 weeks to "fully" appreciate it. To me that's baloney, better come for one night than never at all.

 

[Ford Prefect]

Exactly. If you are in such a hurry an airplane would be even quicker.

WHAT!? NON-SENSE!



Seems like it would be a neat run, but I do not relish the idea of going that far that fast at all. Bump it up to twice (perhaps thrice) as long and that sounds like a blast of a trip!

 

[1leglance]

And if all I had was 17 days then I would rather fly/hop/backpack through central america or spend all 17 really enjoying 1 area.
I agree it is great to go...but for those of you in favor of the effort we are speaking of in this thread, let me ask you: What would your response be if he had died from getting in an accident due to:
fatigue?
driving at night in central/south america?
high speed + mech/tire failure?
or any of the other things that are way worse when you are rushing along?

This thread would be pages long with folks talking about how he should have slowed down, been safe, seen more and such.

Like the car commercial says in small print "closed course & professional driver, do not attempt"

 

[Scott Brady]

It is hard to judge what turns another traveler on.

Doing a long trek quickly can be fun in its own right too. I drove nearly half-way around the world in just over six weeks and had a super fun time. Some people like slow and steady, some like fast and furious, most like something in the middle - to each his own.

 

[RMP&O]

We did San Francisco to Panama in 17 days, while most people take months.

While not always being the most pleasant experience, it beats spending 17 days in an office. I would think the same apply to his trip.

As long as you're out there, the duration is not that relevant. If you always wait to find this one year break in your life, you may end up never go anywhere. Like one of my best friends in Quebec who never "found" the time to visit me in San Francisco, claiming that he would need at least 2 weeks to "fully" appreciate it. To me that's baloney, better come for one night than never at all.

Christian, I could not agree with you more. Since I moved to JH Wyoming very few life long friends have come to visit me. It is 1,000 miles from home and for most people that is a big trip when you have a job, kids and all that jazz. Not to mention one or two weeks a year for a vacation.

IMHO, any trip is a worthy trip.

 

[Ray Hyland]

Actually he is going from Alaska to Ushuaia, turning around and riding BACK TO ALASKA all in 42 days.

That's why it will be a new record.

 

[Christian P.]

Actually he is going from Alaska to Ushuaia, turning around and riding BACK TO ALASKA all in 42 days.

That's why it will be a new record.

Well, okay, that may be a bit too crazy. But quite a publicity stunt for Yamaha if he makes it. I hope he gets to keep the bike!

 

[rockandroll]

Geez Louise!

We thought 9 months (San Francisco to Patagonia) would be ample time to get a good feel for the countries we passed through. Now that we're about halfway (Southern Ecuador) we realize this trip really is a 12 month trip. After all, you are driving through 15 countries. If you throw in Alaska and Canada it can easily be extended to 2 years

Logistically, he's going to have to throw bags of money at border agents all over Central America to get through that quickly. In our experience, those crossings require a lot of patience or a lot of money. You get to pick.

 

[Overland Hadley]

pointless....

One mans trash....