Ring of Fire Project Overview
It all started with a conversation in the tent, during another freezing night on a winter traverse of the Tibetan Plateau. Giardias’ despotic protozoa, high altitude thin air and chronic insomnia had a strong grasp on us.

“If we make it out of here alive, it’ll be pretty good! Yeah, hope it’s soon too! But if we do, then what? Hmmm, we’ll probably be human again, so we could keep on riding and travelling, keep this existence program of ours going. Yeah…but where to this time?”

“Well, mountains usually fulfill us beyond our… yeah, yeah but mountains where we won’t be freezing our butts off like this one! Hmmm… mountains, heat, fire, mountains of fire, volcanoes… the volcanoes of the Pacific Ring of Fire!”

“Yeah… travelling around the Pacific, pedalling from one volcano to the next! Yeah!”

This exercise, aimed at exorcising our little ailments at the time, took place in January 1998. In May 1999, we were riding out of Vancouver to Santiago de Chile… heading from one volcano to the next!

Cycling the Pacific Ring of Fire is an ambitious “cyclo-volcanic” quest circumnavigating the globe’s largest ocean in three stages, a full circle journey encompassing some 50,000 kilometers. By “volcano-hopping” around the Pacific, meeting its peoples, climbing to the summit of some of its “live” volcanoes, and trekking around others while getting acquainted with local cultures and landscapes, we set out to encounter and learn about volcanism, and its multifarious manifestations along the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire.

We visited with volcanologists in every country, visiting their observatories and getting briefed on their studies and research projects. Armed to the teeth – several SLR and digital cameras, miniDV video camcorder, mini-disc digital audio recorder, laptop computer, notebooks, all of our senses and both our memories! – we documented and recorded the daily life of the people and the behavior of volcanoes of The Ring of Fire, so we can share the adventures and our discoveries as the expedition unfolds.

Here’s how we tackled this behemoth, a 60,000 km and 70-month mega MTB-trek…