Two riders, six countries and 1,620 rice-based meals: the 2 by Bamboo story

Emily and Sam rode the length of South America on bamboo bikes they built themselves — finishing in Cartagena after six countries and a very long mountain range.

The challenge

Most people who buy a bamboo frame kit ride it to the shops. Emily and Sam pointed theirs at a continent. Their plan, riding under the name "2 by Bamboo", was to cross South America from the bottom up — through Patagonia, the Andes and the Bolivian highlands — and raise money along the way for Conservation International, a charity working to protect the natural world.

What we did

The two of them built their own bamboo bicycles before they left — the kind of home build the Bamboo Bicycle Club exists to make possible. A bamboo frame is light, it soaks up vibration, and once it's bonded it's tough. For a trip measured in months and mountain passes, that mattered: the frame is the one part of a touring bike you can't easily replace on the road.

The outcome

They made it. In their own words, the ride added up to six countries, roughly 11,300km, "a bloody long mountain range", and 1,620 rice-based meals — finishing in Cartagena, on the Caribbean coast of Colombia. They raised funds for Conservation International as they went, using the bikes themselves as a way to start the conversation: a bamboo frame turns heads, and a turned head is a chance to talk about why you're riding.

In their words

"After 6 countries, 11,300km, a bloody long mountain range, lots of laughs, a few sobs, unbelievably kind people and 1,620 rice-based meals — we made it across the finish line in Cartagena!"

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— Emily and Sam, 2 by Bamboo

Why it matters

A bamboo bike isn't a novelty. The same frame a beginner bonds together on a weekend can carry two riders across a continent. That's the whole point of what we do — put the skill to build something genuinely capable into ordinary people's hands, and let them decide how far it goes.

Proof and links

• Verified rider quote: BBC blog, 11,300km Across South America for Charity: The 2 by Bamboo Story
• Riders, charity and route corroborated via the riders' own Two By Bamboo project and contemporary coverage (Conservation International; Ushuaia to Cartagena; six countries; departed October 2017)