The Spoken Tour

The final installment of our project. Ending on a nice, round number, just like we planned from the beginning. A few clips dusted off and pulled from the archives, along with some freshly recorded listener questions, trying to distill the whole experience down into something smooth and concise. Needless to say, that is easier said then done, so we recommend a beer to chase as we give one final Spoken Tour 'Cheers' to the kindness of strangers.

WE FRIGGIN' MADE IT!! Wrapping up the Carretera Austral, in typical not-the-way-we-planned fashion, followed by some icy-cold, windy miles along Argentina's Route 40. Pulled into Punta Arenas, Chile leaving it all on the road, and met one of our best friends to start the slow fade back north.

A debaucherous farewell to Argentina and their tiny empanadas. A soul-sucking traverse of the Andes. A few overlooked gems from early on in the trip. And a glorious arrival to the crown jewel region of our travels--Patagonia...but rest assured, we still have many a mile to go before we hang up the cleats.

Not one, but TWO listener submissions in this installment of The Spoken Tour as we look back on our journey through the backwaters of Bolivia. We discuss our supernatural experience with the local canine spirits of the Salt Flats of Uyuni. We ask some hard questions, like, "why is this god damn pot of water refusing to boil, night after night, on the altiplano?" And we continue to be astounded at the goodness of complete strangers that we have never met and will likely never see again.

Faced with the most strenuous, high-altitude, mountain riding of the trip so far on the Huascaran Circuit in the Cordillera Blanca of Peru, we both rose to the occasion, and also shat the bed...in more ways than one. But lost gear, long bus rides, and less than stellar health have not kept us from pursuing all the treasures of this spectacular country with the same fervor as El Inca himself. Stay tuned for a bonus clip at the end of the episode.

Well, actually no, there were not any jungle cats...but Tommy did get stung in the ass by a particularly ferocious bumble bee. That, and other happenings from our first episode in the Southern Hemisphere: heartbreak of a fellow ciclo-viajero, daring open water rescues, harrowing descents from a high-altitude volcano blizzard, and another sobering reminder that we are still gringos struggling to talk good.

New continent. New stoke. New Hot Saddle segment. Same old humbling gratitude.

After succeeding in Tom's wild goose chase to the El Salvadorian coast, we reflect on hitting six months and 6,000 miles on the road.

...After accidentally deleting 9 hours of brain-melting podcast work, we got drunk and did it in 50 minutes. Best episode yet. Enjoy!

Three months and nearly three thousand miles later, we've made it to the Guatemalan border. Avoiding crocodile attacks and the floodplains of coastal Oaxaca, we pedaled our way, by tooth and nail, back into the Southern Sierra. Our final stand in Mexico truly made its mark, but not nearly as much as the kindness of Mexico made upon us. - Listener request: send in a short recording of what motivates you in any part of your life right now; whether that's learning how to ski double blacks, learning to dance the Tango, starting a new job, running a marathon, or whatever the heck else you're doing, we want to hear it from you. The easiest way to do this is simply using the Voice Recorder app on your phone. Send clips to thespokentour@gmail.com

Safe and sound after two monster earthquakes hit Mexico. Long weekend with friends, a tenth episode bonus clip, and some colorful conversation after too many mezcales.

We almost didn't have time to produce this episode because we were so busy fitting in with everybody everywhere.

After over 28,000 vertical feet of climbing, we made it to Durango and got our first real taste of mainland Mexico...mmm...gorditas.

And so! they find themselves tried and tempted in the desert: crashed, broken, risen from the ashes and still looking for that elusive "rhythm".

From bikini-clad babes on the beach in San Diego to broken bikes in the backwoods of Baja, this episode has it all! Plus an eye-opening peak into the drama of team dynamics and partnership that is THE SPOKEN TOUR.

The end of the beginning. We made it to the Pacific Coast, lucked our way into an inside look at Patagonia's headquarters in Ventura, CA, tried our hand at fielding our first listener question, and took some time to look back on our odometer's 2,000+ miles.

Goodbye Colorado...hello Utah! ...and hello desert heat, and horrible biting noseeums, and more mechanical problems, and that magical combination of sand and sweat in every crack and crevice imaginable. All this, and more, led to some memorable freak-outs by both parties.

First installment of the Hot Saddle interview segment. We were privileged to sit down with Brian Calvert, the editor-in-chief of High Country News in Paonia, CO. We discussed some important current events taking place right now in the American West, specifically the federal revision of Bears Ears National Monument, as well as some lessons learned from Brian's impressive career in modern journalism.

Leaving the front door in Denver to tackle the Rocky Mountains... in May... via snow-choked bike paths... yeah, good luck. Pshh, rookies...

The first episode following two friends attempting to bicycle 15,000 miles from Denver, Colorado to Patagonia.