When our good friends Morrigan (Mo) and Alan (Alan) mentioned, almost offhand, that they were planning on cycling around the world we said, “obviously.” Usually such a retort, if “obviously” counts as a retort, in this context would suggest sarcasm or at least shocking disbelief, but in our case, it was absolutely honest. They had just recently completed a 10,000 mile (16,093 km) trip circumnavigating the United States (USA). They called that trip Project Tandem. They had never cycled more than 50 (80km) miles at any one time, but they took on half of North America (sorry, Canada) with aplomb and after a year of staring at a skinny front tire, they returned home to Maine, victorious. And with an amazing body of photographs. And stories. If you get a chance to see them and hear them speak about this adventure, catch it.
Now they’re taking the obvious next step – world domination. And not just the 1st world, which many “round the world” cyclists stick to on their epic journeys, but the entire world – the real one, the one we all live in together. And they’re not just doing it for fun – though I imagine that’s a large part of it – they’re storming the planet on bikes to, as they put it, document the geography of youth. Or, perhaps less poetically, to spend time with people in their twenties, listening to and recording their stories, collecting their images, to get a global perspective on youth in the beginning of the 21st century.
Damn skippy.
Currently they’re signing up sponsors and taking donations via a kickstarter site. If you’ve got a few moments, take the time to find out more about them and their incredible journey.
We made this short film for them to help with their fundraising and publicity efforts. It was a few great days of green screen, stop-motion animation, Alan freezing in the middle of the street in front of my house and post effects excitement. We are very grateful to Mo and Alan for asking us to give them a hand – it’s not often one’s work has the opportunity to be so much fun and support such a great cause.
