When we told the story of Jurgen Knupe’s Panamericana bikepacking challenge earlier in the year it created intrigue and admiration from other riders, and after a staggering 25623 km over 230 days Jurgen’s trip is now complete.
As number one in the VeloViewer Explorer Max Cluster leaderboard and in the top three of the Explorer Tiles leaderboard, we were keen to learn more about Jurgen’s focus and motivation during the trip and his love of tile hunting.
Get inspired by Jurgen’s tales of adventure….
1. How long had you planned the trip for, and was it hard to make the time to take on the challenge?
The idea for this trip came to me in early 2023. However, it wasn’t until January 2024 that I started planning properly. I had decided to end my working career early, and my last day of work was scheduled for Friday, July 26, 2024. Just three days later, my flight to Vancouver, Canada, left.
Many people will ask why I didn’t start from the very north in Alaska, or why from north to south and not the other way around.
There were several plans: from south (Ushuaia) to north (Anchorage), or from north to south. I quickly discovered that the shortest route is about 23,000 km – that should be doable in seven months! Since you travel through several climate zones and are traveling in very different seasons, it seemed best to travel from the summer in one hemisphere to the summer in the other. Since I wanted to start right at the beginning of my free time, it quickly became clear that I would go from north to south.
So I started with a rough route planning – I didn’t want to take the shortest route, because I wanted to include one or two cities and/or sights if I were to do something like this. It quickly became clear that I couldn’t do it in seven months from Anchorage (Alaska)! Seven months because it can get wintry in Ushuaia from March onwards. Since my girlfriend Mariagrazia wanted to accompany me for the whole of August, we found a good compromise: we’d skip Alaska and Canada and start directly in Vancouver, just before the US border, and thus be able to travel the entire west coast of Oregon and California together.
The planning also included finding out the entry formalities (visas) for all 15 countries I had to travel through, whether special documents were required, and what risks (especially political and medical) I might have to expect. Ultimately, as EU citizens, we only needed a visa for Canada and the USA, which was easy to apply for online. My passport was sufficient for all other countries.
I had roughly planned about 20 routes (each 600-1500km long) with Komoot, but already in the USA, we deviated from this route twice because we received better travel recommendations along the way, or because a coastal road was closed due to a major landslide.
In Mexico, I quickly realized that you can rely even less on Komoot planning there than in Europe – I was sometimes sent onto impassable paths, so I quickly switched to the Strava route planner, which I managed well until the end.
2. Which country presented the most challenging riding?
I had already experienced high passes in Mexico, and then in Colombia and Ecuador, but never felt at my limit there. I first reached my physical limits in Peru. On the approximately 1500 km along the coast to Lima, you cycle long stretches through desert, and I had to contend with strong headwinds. From Lima, I headed to the Andes. There, I spent four weeks constantly at an altitude of between 3,500 and 4,200 meters, crossing the 4,818-meter Ticlio Pass and another 11 passes above 4,000 meters. This altitude was a completely new experience for me, and my body slowly had to adjust to the lack of oxygen, and I was only able to pedal at about half the power.
I reached my physical and mental limits once again on the last 1,500 kilometers in Patagonia, where I had to contend with extreme winds. On some days, the wind was so strong that continuing to ride was unthinkable; the wind would simply blow you over while standing still! If you haven’t experienced it yourself, it’s hard to imagine!
3. Did you learn a lot about riding during this time, any tips for people planning big tile hunting adventures?
I’ve already learned a lot about route planning and what to look out for over the past few years while planning and executing my numerous tile hunting rides. A very important aspect of such a long journey is, of course, food and a place to sleep. I always planned my daily stages a day or two in advance and looked on Google Maps to find small towns with shops or restaurants along the way, and where I could find accommodation for the evening. It’s important to know the length of the route, the elevation gain, and the condition of the road, as well as to be able to estimate how far you can/want to ride. I had the longest stages without any food options on Baja California and Patagonia (150-200km). There, I carried up to five liters of water and a few sandwiches. But the nice thing about my trip was: I was repeatedly offered drinks and something to eat by drivers throughout my entire journey. And if I had urgently needed something, I could have flagged down a car, and I would have definitely received help. So I certainly wouldn’t have died of thirst or starvation anywhere!
4. What pieces of kit got you through the 25,623 km and which enhanced your route planning?
My most-used piece of equipment was probably my WACACO Minipresso coffee maker. I only learned about it two weeks before my trip through a friend. It’s a portafilter machine that requires only hot water and ground coffee, and the water is manually pressed through the coffee at high pressure. I love coffee, and since the coffee in some countries is poor, I used this machine very often, especially in the mornings.
As for the bike: as an engineer who builds and maintains all his bikes himself, I always make sure that my bike is in excellent technical condition. For this long trip, I reinstalled the entire drivetrain (bottom bracket, wheel bearings, chainrings, cassette, chain), as well as the brakes and tires. I only had to replace wear parts along the way (4 tires, 3 chains, 1 set of brake pads). Only the front aluminum rim developed a crack on the inside in Argentina. Luckily, I was able to get a replacement rim.
Two other items I wouldn’t want to go without on such trips: my Garmin radar taillight and a small rearview mirror on the handlebar end. Over the years, I’ve become very accustomed to using the rearview mirror, which helps me better assess approaching vehicles. A few times, I preferred to swerve to the right when I saw that the car or truck wouldn’t leave me much room. I’ve certainly avoided several close calls this way!
I used Strava to plan my route and then uploaded the routes to Komoot, where you can better view the route and elevation profile along the way. For navigation, I used a Garmin Edge 830 and downloaded the necessary maps of North and South America from OpenStreetMaps at home. I also had a Garmin InReach with me for safety. This allowed my family and friends to track me live, and in the event of a life-threatening situation in a remote area, I could have used it to call for help via satellite.
5. How does it feel to be top of the Explorer Max Cluster leaderboard? How do you plan to hold on to this lead? What is your next adventure?
I was already the leader in the MaxSquare rankings a few years ago, and I’ve been the leader in the Cluster rankings for over a year now. To be honest, I expected my closest rivals to take advantage of the 8 months of my absence and push me out of that position!
In the Total Tiles ranking, I actually advanced from 6th to 3rd place over the long journey, so I’m now in the top 3 in all 3 rankings 😊
But to be honest, it’s not that important to me what position I hold in these rankings. Over the past 9 years, since I’ve been collecting tiles, I’ve learned how wonderful and exciting it is to constantly ride new roads and discover new countries. If someone collects more tiles than me in a ranking, then that’s it! I’ll congratulate that Tiles Hunter warmly 😊
This year, I want to do some more work on the west side of my MaxSquare. This is a very challenging area in the Black Forest with a lot of elevation gain and gravel roads. I’d also like to expand my cluster to include Luxembourg, Belgium, the Netherlands, Slovakia, Hungary, and Poland. I’m also planning a bikepacking tour with a friend in England.
On the Pan-American Highway, I’m still missing the section from Deadhorse, Alaska, to Vancouver, Canada. I’d like to ride that section next year. Patagonia on the Chilean side of the Andes also appeals to me.