Climate Zero: 54° North to 54° South by Bicycle.
The Challenge and the Message,
For me, the bicycle pilot, the journey known as Climate Zero was an opportunity to challenge myself to such an extent that the boundaries of my physical limits and mental awareness were continually pushed to breaking points and beyond, then contracted back into an ever-expanding comfort zone. This process informed and incrementally advanced my lifelong ambition to become a better human being. Additionally, I sought to bring awareness to everyone touched by this journey about the devastating short- and long-term implications of climate change.
Most importantly, I aimed to demonstrate that each of us can make a positive difference—relatively easily, I would argue—in the global effort to reverse climate change, even to the extent of zeroing out our lifetime carbon contributions to the atmosphere. This can be achieved through actions such as planting trees, as I did, or by other means, like removing plastics from the environment.
Regarding individual contributions to reversing climate change, I hope everyone will consider the following reflection: I was able to plant 5,000 trees—enough to zero out my 52-year carbon footprint—and also ride a bicycle across North, Central, and South America before and after planting those trees, all within 284 days (adding another 20 days for the prelude). Reversing our contributions to climate change is not as difficult as it may seem. Planting 5,000 trees took me only three weeks. What is truly challenging is finding the courage to begin—to overcome the whirlwind of paralyzing reasons that circulate in our minds.
Embarking on our own personal, heroic, and inspirational journeys to Climate Zero requires bravery. Yet, if we find the courage to take that first step, our actions will resonate far beyond our own lifetimes. Our children, grandchildren, and countless future generations will remember that we acted because we wanted them to inherit what we had: a livable, beautiful planet Earth.
Most importantly, I aimed to demonstrate that each of us can make a positive difference—relatively easily, I would argue—in the global effort to reverse climate change, even to the extent of zeroing out our lifetime carbon contributions to the atmosphere. This can be achieved through actions such as planting trees, as I did, or by other means, like removing plastics from the environment.
Regarding individual contributions to reversing climate change, I hope everyone will consider the following reflection: I was able to plant 5,000 trees—enough to zero out my 52-year carbon footprint—and also ride a bicycle across North, Central, and South America before and after planting those trees, all within 284 days (adding another 20 days for the prelude). Reversing our contributions to climate change is not as difficult as it may seem. Planting 5,000 trees took me only three weeks. What is truly challenging is finding the courage to begin—to overcome the whirlwind of paralyzing reasons that circulate in our minds.
Embarking on our own personal, heroic, and inspirational journeys to Climate Zero requires bravery. Yet, if we find the courage to take that first step, our actions will resonate far beyond our own lifetimes. Our children, grandchildren, and countless future generations will remember that we acted because we wanted them to inherit what we had: a livable, beautiful planet Earth.
Introduction,
The complete journey, Climate Zero, 54° north to 54° south by bicycle including the prelude. Colors represent individual days: 304 days, 15 countries, 27,730 kilometers, 229,955 meters of climbing.
My goals for this tour were ambitious: to cycle from 54° north latitude to 54° south latitude, traversing North, Central, and South America, and to plant 5,000 trees along the way—enough to offset my 52-year carbon footprint. This effort was the essence of Climate Zero.
The journey began with a prelude: cycling from Scarborough, Maine, USA, to Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Labrador, Canada, over 16 days. From there, I boarded a ship to Cartwright, Labrador, arriving on September 9, 2023. The official tour commenced two days later, on September 11, when I pedaled south from Cartwright on the lone gravel access road.
Over the next 284 days, I faced countless challenges. These included two weeks of Spanish language school in Guatemala, three weeks planting trees in Costa Rica to meet my goal of 5,000 trees, five days bypassing the Darién Gap by boat, and ascending to 4,693 meters (15,441 feet) in Peru after enduring illness and a dog bite that very morning. Finally, at 4 p.m. on June 20, 2024, I reached Ushuaia, Argentina. By then, I had cycled through Patagonia’s winter, often on snow- and ice-covered roads.
As of July 5, 2024, I am preparing to depart Ushuaia for Buenos Aires by plane. My plan is to ship my Niner Bikes RLT 9 RDO and gear back to the United States from Buenos Aires. A few days later, I will transition to Montevideo, Uruguay, by ferry to attend Spanish language school for a month or more. After Uruguay, I hope to visit friends in São Paulo, Brazil, and possibly fly to Manaus to take a boat down the Amazon River to Belém. Following that, I may return to Costa Rica to check in on the 5,000 trees I planted and reconnect with the La Suerte Biological Field Station community that made it possible.
In the coming weeks, as I travel, I plan to update my webpage with the complete story of Climate Zero, including text, images, and possibly a full travelogue, as I did for my 2022 Europa 360 bicycle tour. Check back soon for unpublished images and more. Meanwhile, visit the Climate Zero playlist on my YouTube channel—240 videos documenting the journey in real-time. The same videos are available on my Instagram and Facebook channels.
The journey began with a prelude: cycling from Scarborough, Maine, USA, to Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Labrador, Canada, over 16 days. From there, I boarded a ship to Cartwright, Labrador, arriving on September 9, 2023. The official tour commenced two days later, on September 11, when I pedaled south from Cartwright on the lone gravel access road.
Over the next 284 days, I faced countless challenges. These included two weeks of Spanish language school in Guatemala, three weeks planting trees in Costa Rica to meet my goal of 5,000 trees, five days bypassing the Darién Gap by boat, and ascending to 4,693 meters (15,441 feet) in Peru after enduring illness and a dog bite that very morning. Finally, at 4 p.m. on June 20, 2024, I reached Ushuaia, Argentina. By then, I had cycled through Patagonia’s winter, often on snow- and ice-covered roads.
As of July 5, 2024, I am preparing to depart Ushuaia for Buenos Aires by plane. My plan is to ship my Niner Bikes RLT 9 RDO and gear back to the United States from Buenos Aires. A few days later, I will transition to Montevideo, Uruguay, by ferry to attend Spanish language school for a month or more. After Uruguay, I hope to visit friends in São Paulo, Brazil, and possibly fly to Manaus to take a boat down the Amazon River to Belém. Following that, I may return to Costa Rica to check in on the 5,000 trees I planted and reconnect with the La Suerte Biological Field Station community that made it possible.
In the coming weeks, as I travel, I plan to update my webpage with the complete story of Climate Zero, including text, images, and possibly a full travelogue, as I did for my 2022 Europa 360 bicycle tour. Check back soon for unpublished images and more. Meanwhile, visit the Climate Zero playlist on my YouTube channel—240 videos documenting the journey in real-time. The same videos are available on my Instagram and Facebook channels.
Answers to popular questions and more,
How many days did it take you to reach Ushuaia? 304 including the prelude (20 days)
How many trees did you plant? 5000
Was that enough trees to zero your 52-year carbon footprint? Yes
Where did you plant those trees? La Suerte Biological Field Station, Maderas Rainforest Conservancy, Costa Rica
What kind of bicycle were you riding? Niner Bikes RLT 9 RDO (2019 model)
How many miles? 17,331 including the prelude (1672 miles)
How many kilometers? 27,730 including the prelude (2691 km)
How many times would you have to travel from New York City to San Francisco on Interstate 80 to match those distances? 6
How about between Paris and Istanbul? 10
How about Quito to Buenos Aires? 5
How many feet of climbing? 754,445 (includes prelude)
How many meters of climbing? 229,955 (includes prelude)
How many times did you climb the equivalent of Mount Everest from sea-level? 26
How many countries? 15
How many in Central America? 7
How many in South America? 6
Have questions of your own? Use my contact page to send those to me and I'll add them to this list.
How many trees did you plant? 5000
Was that enough trees to zero your 52-year carbon footprint? Yes
Where did you plant those trees? La Suerte Biological Field Station, Maderas Rainforest Conservancy, Costa Rica
What kind of bicycle were you riding? Niner Bikes RLT 9 RDO (2019 model)
How many miles? 17,331 including the prelude (1672 miles)
How many kilometers? 27,730 including the prelude (2691 km)
How many times would you have to travel from New York City to San Francisco on Interstate 80 to match those distances? 6
How about between Paris and Istanbul? 10
How about Quito to Buenos Aires? 5
How many feet of climbing? 754,445 (includes prelude)
How many meters of climbing? 229,955 (includes prelude)
How many times did you climb the equivalent of Mount Everest from sea-level? 26
How many countries? 15
How many in Central America? 7
How many in South America? 6
Have questions of your own? Use my contact page to send those to me and I'll add them to this list.
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Dedications,
Climate Zero is dedicated to the memory of two dear friends, Wade "Suedehead" Collin and Dr. John Kummrow. These and other friends that I've lost over the years were in my thoughts and heart throughout the tour. Instead of the sadness I felt from their initial loss, I endeavored throughout the long journey, 284 days, to replace those feelings with the inspiration that their lives and their memory gifted to me and everyone else that knew them.
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Left or top image: Wade Collin. Right or bottom two images: Dr. John Kummrow.
Public Support,
Please consider a one-time or recurring donation using these Paypal or Venmo links to support my adventures by bicycle and the hours that I invest in social media posts describing those journeys on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.
Seeking Sponsorship,
I want to thank Sportful for a 40% discount on the clothing that I'm wearing in the majority of my Climate Zero images and videos, the only corporate discount that I received to reduce costs associated with Climate Zero, 54° north to 54° south by bicycle. During my bicycle tours, I share enormous amounts of images and videos to my social media channels, opportunities for sponsors to receive valuable advertising for any investment they are willing to make. For anyone interested in becoming a sponsor for my next tour, use this contact page to get in touch with me. I'm hoping to team-up with a bicycle sponsor, among others, before I depart from North Cape, Norway en route to Cape Town, South Africa in 2025.
YouTube Climate Zero Playlist,
Use this link to visit the Climate Zero playlist on my YouTube channel, 240 videos that tell the story of the entire journey as it was unfolding on the tour. The same videos are published on my Instagram and Facebook channels.
Satellite Tracking: location tracking every 10 minutes
For the first time in my touring history, on this tour I carried a satellite tracker. The small device, a refurbished inReach Mini 2 from Garmin that I purchased on Amazon shortly before the prelude to the tour began, sent my location to an online mapping tool every ten minutes and the data are still visible to anyone (no accounts needed) on the internet, here's the link. Be sure to click the view all option after the map loads to see the entire journey from Cartwright, Labrador to Ushuaia, Argentina.
RideWithGPS: details of my route
My complete GPS database is available to anyone (no accounts needed) as a collection of daily tracks, organized descending by day, on RideWithGPS. Here's the link. Anyone interested in my route, villages I passed through, and more are encouraged to dive into this vast collection of data that I recorded daily using my Garmin 1030 GPS.
Route 389, Quebec.
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Route 500, Labrador Highway.
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Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument, Maine.
The "track road", close to Deer Lake, Newfoundland.
Blanc Sablon, Quebec.
The "track road" between Deer Lake and Badger, Newfoundland.
Route 430, Newfoundland.
Route 430, Gros Morne, Gros Morne National Park, Newfoundland.
Route 389, Quebec.
Route 500, Labrador Highway.
Somewhere in southern Argentina, amidst only critters, strong winds, and a deep connection to mind.
Somewhere between the ether and consciousness, doing the work on an epic journey, Climate Zero, 54° north to 54° south, a complete transect of North, Central, and South America by bicycle to bring awareness to the threat of climate change and demonstrate that all of us can make a difference and even zero-out our lifetime carbon contributions to the atmosphere.