This picture was
taken at the youth
hostel on the day I
returned to the
United States.

My bike and some
gear are in the box.

My trailer and
some more gear
are in the duffel
bag.

By the time I left,
I had become an
expert at taking
apart and putting
back together my
bike-- usually to
get it on a bus,
where no box is
necessary, four
times to get it on
a plane, where a
box is essential.

Usually the bike
would go in the
storage area
under the bus, but
sometimes the
roof was where it
ended up.

It was easy to get the bike and trailer on the boat across the Strait of Magellan--they were stored on the
lower deck with the cars and all of the
other luggage.

I also traveled on a hovercraft to
Colonia from Buenos Aires-- but
I did not have the bike with me on
this leg of the trip.

A basic knowledge of how
to fix a bicycle comes in
handy, and I got better at
this over time. The picture
to the right illustrates a
repair-in-progress at the
side of a very lonely road.

I was down to my last inner-
tube, and the flat was from
a pinched valve.

My North Face tent never let me
down-- together with my North Face
jacket, it was a kind of security
blanket. Everyone was curious
about the brand, and it was once
pointed out to me: "You know,
in South America, the north face
is the easier side of the mountain
to climb."

Did I train? Sort of, but only
a weekend trip to China
Camp, north of San Fran-
cisco. You can see my
brand new trailer here.

It never looked that shiny
again.