When Matt and Andrew Sufficool decided to spend the past year bicycling from one end of the Americas to the other, it definitely raised a few eyebrows.
Andrew Sufficool explained that many younger people under 50 questioned them asking in Andrew’s words,” ”What do you mean, you guys have to work.’ We’re like, ‘Yeah, we saved our money for a couple years, that’s how we can afford to do it,’ ” Andrew said that they just couldn’t comprehend that you don’t have to work all the time.
Andrew continued, “Our grandma’s generation, they all weren’t asking why, but more like ‘Do it.’ All of them had a story, ‘I always wanted to go to this place’ or ‘I always wanted to hike this.’ There was something in their life they wanted to do and they never did it and they were mad. They regretted that they didn’t ever do it.”
“You only live once,” Matt Sufficool said. “Some people say, ‘Well wait till you retire,’ but there’s no guarantee you’re going to make it there. Some of my friends, their parents have died at 45, 50 years old. [So we] Saved my money and said, ‘Let’s do it.’ ”
Two brothers from Brooksville and Hernando High graduates, 33-year-old Matt and 31-year-old Andrew rode their bicycles 16,700 miles from Deadhorse, Alaska to Ushuaia, Argentina.
The trip took one year and one day, beginning June 4, 2014 and culminating earlier this month. Their trip was chronicled on their website, http://www.end2endadventure.com.
Along the way they experienced numerous cities, towns, cultures, cuisines, terrains and weather patterns. “We saw a lot of scenery,” Matt Sufficool said “Mountains with forests on them, rivers, lakes, Yosemite National Park, glaciers, deserts.”
“We were like, ‘Man, I bet you’d see some really cool stuff and meet all of kinds of different people,’ ” Andrew Sufficool said. “Then, once we were kind of talking to people, everyone was like, ‘You’re going to go through Mexico, you’re going to go through Colombia?’ ” Andrew explained that these sort of questions encouraged them to “prove to people that you’re not going to go to Mexico and get kidnapped or you’re not going to go there and get killed.” He continued, “We wanted to show people that you can actually go to these countries and you’re going to meet a lot of great people, and that’s what ultimately ended up happening.”
A sports medicine instructor and athletic trainer at Tampa Preparatory School, Andrew Sufficool had often used his summer breaks to take long-distance bike tours.
His brother, who worked in the medical industry, had joined him at times, including when they rode across the country on the Trans-America Trail in 2011 after seeing a documentary of a father and son that completed the same trip.
Neither is married nor has any kids. Andrew was able to take a year’s sabbatical from Tampa Prep, while Matt ended his apartment lease, and the two were able to pick up and take off for their excursion down two continents.
They noted that the cost was minimal, since 90 percent of their time was spent living in a tent. They did, however, make a point to visit restaurants, bars and other venues unique to the areas they passed through. At times they did stay in hostels, hotels or were invited into someone’s house. They also made sure to take some days to stop and soak in the surroundings.
The weather provided an interesting challenge. Seasons are reversed in the Southern Hemisphere, so the duo ended up dealing with two different winters. Matt Sufficool said the scariest part of the trip was riding on ice.
There were rough times, bouts with food poisoning and illness that they often had to ride through in order to maintain their year-long timetable. Traversing the South American mountains threatened to delay the planned finish.
Occasionally they ran into some less than welcoming individuals, but for the most part enjoyed those they came across. They felt they changed some perceptions of Americans the locals had gleaned from media portrayals, and were embraced for their willingness to learn Spanish.
“Mexico was our favorite country on the whole trip,” Andrew Sufficool said. “The people were just incredible. They were so friendly. Nothing bad against us. “We saw the good, the bad and the ugly of all the countries, including the States” added Andrew. “The majority of the people are just like here,” Matt Sufficool said. “They’re looking to live their life and they’re not looking to mess with people that are different. But of course you’re always going to have a few bad apples in every tree.”
Now back home, the brothers are settling back in but still find themselves hopping on a bike from time to time. “You’re happy to be with family and friends,” Matt Sufficool said. He admitted however, “I still kind of miss being out and seeing new stuff and whatnot. It’s an adjustment period like anything.”
“I think the biggest thing is each day for a year, for the most part, you’re used to each day you’re seeing something completely new,” Andrew Sufficool said. “You’ve gotten used to that, where now I feel like each day I should be doing something.”
Future trips are likely, they indicated, though probably not for such a lengthy amount time. Still, they’ll carry the memories of the past year for the rest of their lives. “Get out there and see some of these places,” Matt Sufficool said. “Cause some of these places, the way they’re portrayed in the media, it’s only a small image of the what the place is really like.”