The Long Way Up Home

Got an invite to speak at RICET 2025 in Montevideo, Uruguay on emerging technology in cybersecurity. I'm excited to head south of the equator for the first time, but it's a Monday out, Friday back flight marathon. I'm thrilled to be going, but a Tim with more control over time would fly down and then take the long way up home.

Timing this to sync with the seasons would be the trick, but it would also slow me down. Ushuaia isn't easy to get to at any time and if you're going to do it you want to make it on the longest days of the year (southern hemisphere). If I wrapped up Montevideo October 24th and took the weekend to sort myself out and unpack the Tiger (ship it down in advance?), I'd be over to Buenos Aires for the end of October and ready to tackle Patagonia and the long ride south through November up to the mid-winter holidays.

New years at the southernmost point and I'd start the long ride up, working my way over to the Pacific coast. The ride north could be accomplished (with stops and without rushing through it) over 3 months, getting me into Buenaventura in Colombia at the end of March.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/wGXW5JrPTEF1ihWCA

There are lots of floating options for crossing the Darien Gap to Panama from Buenaventura, so that'd swallow another week of loading, boating and unloading. They call it RORO shipping (roll on, roll off). 

Then it's on to the North American portion of the odyssey. I'm loving Cali's 'last bastion of the Constitution' that they've got going on, so it'd be through Baja and up the PCH on a ride I've always wanted to do, getting me to Vancouver in May.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/3ogTHUvhpXatQzmTA

Timing crossing the Rockies would be the next trick because the weather isn't a sure thing at that time of year, but a well timed May to June crossing Canada and ending back home would replace the 20+ hours of flying with an epic seven month odyssey up the Americas.

After RICET 2025 (I did last year's RICET 2024 in the DR so I already know people), I imagine I'd have an opportunity to follow up with cybersecurity types across the hemisphere on the ride back home to Canada. My research buddy from Mexico City is also on the route. Rather than fly over it, I'd use the trip to Uruguay to get deeper into the places and cultures that would otherwise be present at the conference.

TMD was originally named after Chez Guevara's The Motorcycle Diaries, where he rides across South America to understand what was happening through colonialism and early globalism in many countries. It'd be cool trace some of those roads, this time with cyber intentions in order to get a better understanding of challenges in the region.

I would, of course, take the old Tiger. It's ticking along very well at the moment and I'd be
curious to see if the old Girlie can make the trip. It'd get the Hagon shock I've been thinking about and I'd go through it end to end for tires, inner tubes, bearings and the like to get it ready for over 26,000kms of riding.

I'd take the stock panniers and a roll back across the back and aim for lightness with a focus on staying with locals whenever I could.

I'd be dangerous if I had the money and time (money is time)...