The Lord of the Rings

Why New Zealand? Why in the winter? Why now?

As many of you are aware I had been planning for months to go on an epic bike ride from Alaska to Argentina. The reasons for this is another story so I won't go into it now. But something interesting happened to me a few weeks ago that quickly changed my focus from 17,000 mile bike ride to nowhere to New Zealand.

There are a number of circumstances for this decision, and below are just a few of them. Some are more intersting than others of course.

Remember, as you read this be inspired to live your own dreams.

So it begins...

I was contemplating ways to raise money for my kickstarter project, Alaska to Ushuaia: Cycling the Americas. Mostly because my previous attempts were unsuccessful.

As a result I was beginning to think that the necessary funding wasn't going to come through. I only had 48 total days with less than 22 left. At this point we had only raised $836 of our $16,000 we had projected. Things weren't going so well.

Rather than lose hope and give up as many others might do, instead I went to the gym to clear my head and think of other options. Unbenounced to me, everything was about to change. Not only for me, but for my friends and family as well.

I proceeded to begin my workout as I do on an orindary day, walking on the treadmill, lifting weights, followed by yoga or a short bicycle ride, and lastly relaxing in the hot tub.
I finished my workout as described above and then headed to the hot tub to recover.

I was thinking about what I would do for a trip if I wasn't able to get the necessary funding that I needed.

I have been to 5 continents, with only Australia and Antarctica left on my list. Naturally the next place I go should be Australia to complete inhabited continents.

So after a little thinking I decided I wanted to go to New Zealand and Australia for the summer.

When I got home I told my brother the following story.

While I was the gym some tall guy with a white beard gave me a ring and told me I needed to destroy it.
He mentioned something about a mountain, and doom.

Naturally I thought the guy was nuts and that I vaguely remember hearing a story about this a few years back. When he was finished he told me I must go to a land in the middle of earth. He later told me it was New Zealand.

In order to complete this adventure I am going to be accompanied by my trusty sidekick, my brother. Two others may join as well should they be able to. My mom and older sister. Most likely they wont be able to follow the whole time.

So after much consideration I have decided I will take on this task.

We will also be visiting Sydney, Australia.

In order to complete this journey we will be required to hike through the mountains, paddle through rivers and fjords, and fight strange creatures such as kangaroos, koalas, and dingos. I imagine.

As I think about this trip I wonder the following:

I wonder if we'll ever be put into songs or tales. I wonder if people will ever say "Let's hear about Billy and the ring." And they'll say "Yes, that's one of my favorite stories. Billy was really courageous, wasn't he?"

"If we hurry, we can be home by tomorrow morning. We'll be heroes."
"Look, there's Billy. The heroes have come home."
"Welcome back, boys. You deserve medals!" - Yeah, Medals.

So that pretty much sums up why New Zealand.