May 10, 2010

Pedal Powered: Alaska to Argentina

Why is it that no matter what a person has going for them the grass always seems greener on the other side? What is it about leaving your 9-5 job and going out and doing some good in the world...alone? That is exactly what 32 year-old Gregg Bleakney from Seattle did in July of 2005. He had been planning the trip for years, but not just for pleasure. This man had lost his mother to Diabetes when he was in college. He decided that he wanted to plan a bike trip in order to raise money for Diabetes Research. This trip was going to be unlike any of the other organized trips that are done annually. This trip would have robbers, bandits, jungles, the arctic, all kinds of hardships, and solitude. The trip began in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska and ended two years later in Ushuaia, Argentina. Bleakney raised over $ 44,000 for the American Diabetes Association and covered over 19,000 miles on his journey.
After is trip he just could not stay off of his bike. He has a software job now, but continues to do all of his travel by bicycle and planned a trip to ride across Europe. He is drawn the the pace of the bicycle, something that only it can offer.

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Kristin Jackson, " A Seattleite's epic bike ride from Alaska to Argentina," The Seattle Times, 2007, Northwest Traveler.


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