December 20th

I apologize if this email is only in English… but I don’t really have the time to translate all this right now in French, broken Portuguese, broken Spanish or anything else and it’s good practice for all of you anyway!
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Before I forget, Merry Christmas, Hanukah, Kwanzaa, Boxing Day, Mardi Gras, Setsubun, Chinese New Year, Freedom Day, your birthday or whatever else you wish to celebrate in your corner of the world over the next 2 or 3 months !

OK, so, some of you have asked what I have been up to lately and here is the latest update.

In November, I partook in a mountain biking race in Costa Rica (la Ruta de los conquistadores http://www.adventurerace.com/) where I faced a few difficult challenges …
On the way over, my bike got “lost” AKA stolen by the airlines. Consequently, I had to rent at the last minute a local smaller red bike which made the race a lot more challenging.

Missed the 4th and last cut off time on the first day as 100 other racers did...
But did Ok and completed the course on the 2d and 3d day. Having said that, since I did not finish the first day race, I am not considered as an official finisher which means that I will have to come back next year to complete the entire race...
During the race, I got to meet some great racing companions from Brazil and Spain with whom I may plan other endeavors in the future!
The race went over some great single track trails, good elevation gain and some serious amount of mud.
I definitely recommend it to anyone who wants to take on the challenge.
Btw, you might want to hurry since the race might only be staged for 2 more years.

Besides the race, I had a great time in Costa Rica , before, during and after the race while taking part in all kind of activities with for part of the time, my girlfriend Timmion who came to join me for 9 days.
The activities included zip line in the rain forest, trekking, eating near a partly exploding volcano, snorkeling, surfing, cave kayaking, waterfalls rappelling, as well as visiting national parks, hot springs , city markets, a butterflies reserve and even a fascinating herpetarium !

Then, “on the way home” I stopped in Miami where I went to kayak solo in the Everglades National Park for 4 days.
Great trip where I encountered a large amount of migratory birds, alligators, dolphins, raccoons and only a few mosquitoes while sleeping on chickees and one last night on a deserted island. I highly recommend a kayaking trip in that part of the world !

Afterwards, I stopped home for a few days in Seattle before rushing to Fairbanks , Alaska to embark on my next endeavor…
I went in deed to Fairbanks to test testing equipment in -30F (up to -5F during the press conference !) and to conduct a press conference with Karl Bushby, my British expedition partner.

Karl has walked over the last 6 years from the tip of South America in Punta Arenas in Chile , up across the Darien Gap in Panama , up to Unalakleet in Alaska . We met in Kaltag last year and walked together to Unalakleet where he had to stop to renew his US visa. I went on for 200 more miles solo to Nome where I completed the Iditarod trail invitational after having walked 1100 miles non-stop in 37 days.

In any case, Karl and I are going to attempt over the next few weeks to be the first men to successfully cross the Bering Strait by foot in the winter from East to West.
We are going to walk together from Nome to Wales and then proceed on across the Bering Strait to Russia where we will be facing challenging adversities along the way such as hard weather conditions, open water where we will be required to swim from one iceberg to the next, encountering polar bears, etc…

You can get more information on www.earthtrekuk.net. Check the section “latest update” which should be updated during our expedition.

Besides the expedition web page, the press coverage will include National Geographic Adventure Magazine in the US , BBC TV in United Kingdom , local Alaskan TVs and publications as well as other potential reviews we are currently working on.

If you want to see the slide show, I will send it to you directly, UPON YOUR REQUEST, but please be aware that it is 17 Megs and it is difficult to compress because of the videos and complex slides attached.

I apologize in advance if I may not be able to communicate over the next few months since I am currently wrapping up a lot of logistic issues before taking off in the next 2 to 3 weeks and will have limited email access thereafter, if any…

Cheers !
Dimitri