This trip is the vision of Dravis Bixel, an experienced cyclist and avid film maker. He is a bicycle courier in his home town of Seattle, and is very active in the cycling community there. This is not his first bike trip. He has already done extensive bike tours across Europe, Africa, Australia, and Asia. Covering thousands of miles over difficult terrain and adverse weather conditions. He has overcome injuries and equipment failure, never letting anything stop him.

Cycling around the world is nothing new. Thomas Stevens was the first to accomplish the feat in 1886. Many, many, cyclists have circled the world since then. The goal of this trip is not to retrace what Stevens did (or Fred Bichmore, or Ian Hibell). This route should expand on those who have come before. From highways, to back roads, to dirt tracks, and beyond where those paths end. To push the edges of cycling to the tip of each continent.


For and interactive map of the route that has been covered so far click here.

The route crosses over 20,000 miles through 23 countries. They are:

Why take on a journey such as this? To quote George Leigh Mallory, 'Because it's there.' There is something in humans that makes us want to take on great challenges. It is this ambition that drove our ancestors to leave Africa, to cross continents and oceans. It is the reason that we have permanent settlements on all seven continents and in space. The history of humanity is one of exploration and adaptation. That desire still lives in us. It is what makes humans climb the tallest mountains, explore the deepest oceans, and put a man on the moon. We do these things 'not because they are easy, but because they are hard; because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept;' as John F. Kennedy said. Not all of us are called to do these things. Fewer are willing. Now seeing that this expedition is possible, I cannot let it go. It has become my singular desire. The obsession that keeps me awake at night. This is my Apollo program. My Everest. To circle the world on a bicycle is the ambition now drives me.

Carl Sagan understood this when he wrote, 'For all its material advantages, the sedentary life has left us edgy, unfulfilled. Even after 400 generations in villages and cities, we haven't forgotten. The open road still softly calls, like a nearly forgotten song of childhood.' How right he was. After all these years cycling is still such a simple pleasure. I ride with the same childlike joy and enthusiasm as when the training wheels first came off. Exploring the world makes that even more fun. Packing everything you need onto two wheels and heading down the road is the ultimate freedom. You can go anywhere, ready for anything. This world is a vast and beautiful place, but too few of us get to understand it, to feel how enormous it is, and how small we really are. The problem with jets and cars is that you are traveling without actually being anywhere. One travels from location to location while missing the vast and beautiful in-between. The power of the bicycle is not just how far it can take you, but where it will take you. It allows you to experience the steep mountain passes, the heat of the deserts, the immense open prairies, and the endless forests. You have time to meet people from different countries, with different religions, who speak different languages. Yet all of us are one people. Sharing the same smiles, the same laughs, the same joys. The trip is more than just riding through the world, it is about connecting all the people who live there. I could not be more excited.