What is your impossible? That is the challenge of a 6,000 mile journey that Diego Gonzalez Joven, 26, recently completed. Diego and fellow adventurer Rachael Scdoris pedaled their special tandem bike from Alaska, through Canada and down the U.S. coast. They crossed the border into Mexico in December, heading to Los Cabos in Baja California Sur. Diego attempted to swim a 180 miles across the Sea of Cortez to Mazatlan before he and Rachael started cycling across Mexico. Diego says that the goal of the expedition is to inspire people. “To prove to people that nothing is impossible as long as one commits to their goals,” writes Diego on his website, www.whatsyourimpossible.com.
In a recent email to friends and supporters, Diego and Rachael describe the last part of their long journey:
“After 6,000 miles of cycling, over terrain that varied from boring flat desert to 11,000ft mountain roads, in freezing rain storms to extreme heat and humidity and everything in between, we rode our tandem bike of bamboo into beautiful Cancun. Immediately, we stuffed ourselves with tacos from the street vendor we found.
The ride from Mazatlan to Mexico City was long, hot and hilly but we made it there in time for Christmas with three days to spare. We took those three days to relax and explore the city. We spent Christmas with Diego’s family and took one more rest day. We felt like we should have been on the road but the extra day was necessary as we were so bloated from all of the amazing food, there was no way we could have ridden anywhere. Then it was time to push on toward Cancun.
We met so many wonderful people along the way. Diego’s friends, one of our police escorts, or just people we met randomly along the way would take us in and treat us like family.
For the new year, we took a slight detour from the expedition and celebrated in a small coastal city called Veracruz. The next day we were back on the bike, averaging an easy 60 to 80 miles per day at 15 miles per hour. We had planned to average 100 miles per day but everywhere we went, we had media lined up to speak to us and the people were so warm and engaging, it was hard to leave.
The last two days, however, all of us were ready to finish. After we finished our presentation in Merida, we did two days of 100 miles at 15mph.
We are so thrilled to be finished and so thankful for all of your support. And we are ready to move onto new challenges. We spent a few days in Cancun, mostly playing on the beach. Now we are heading back to Mexico City. There Diego will begin to coordinate his second attempt at the sea of Cortez.”
