Americas Top to Bottom. Six months on a motorbike. Prologue.

Three men, long past the point where to be called middle-aged was a shock – indeed it could almost be called a compliment – are about to embark on a long ride by motorcycle. At roughly the half way mark we will be joined by a fourth.

We will start in Alaska,  riding north from Anchorage before turning south. We will end in Ushuaia, the southernmost tip of Tierra del Fuego that is accessible by road.

We have our own bikes, bought and prepared specifically for this ride.

We have our own ingenuity, tents and sleeping bags and cash for accommodation with roofs. And we have each other as the resources we will need.

The random ramblings of a muddled mind rarely make for riveting reading. But staying focused has not been easy of late. The enormity of the project has at times seemed overwhelming. Yet here we are, just over two weeks to go before the three of us set off on what will surely be the trip of a lifetime. For a while at least, it will be what defines us.

The bikes have all been delivered, loaded with the minimum amount of kit, to the Motofreight depot at Heathrow. Worth saying that they have been fantastic – Kathy, Roddy and Tim are so professional and organised, as well as reassuring and friendly – many thanks to them.

The three of us – that is Tom, Ian and me, Phil – will make our separate ways to Frankfurt from where we will fly together to Anchorage on Sunday 18th June. The plan is to collect the bikes from the air-freight depot there on the Monday, and after a day or two set off northwards to Prudhoe Bay on the Beaufort Sea, part of the Arctic Ocean. This is as far north as one can get by road on the North American continent.

We aim to keep a record of what happens, what we do, see learn and all the rest, with some photos and maybe videos as we progress, via this blog.

There will be more introductions I’m sure as time goes on; each of us will contribute including Mark, the fourth Loose Nut who will join us in Colombia in September.

For now, I need to continue to prepare the house in Newcastle for winter!