Continental drift: characters come and go as one man and his motorbike trek through the Americas

Travel

Puerto Williams in Chile, which was part of Peter Murtagh's trip through the Americas. Photo: Getty

Liam Collins

Riding a 250kg motorcycle for 200 days, from the bottom of South America to the top of North America, has all the hallmarks of a man in a mid-life crisis. But Peter Murtagh was about to turn 70 when he set off on this epic journey.

Going it alone without any great plan, he trusted his instincts, his knowledge and information gleaned along the way. Shortly after he began, Covid hit and he had to make a last-minute dash back to Dublin. Resuming after lockdown he went from below Puerto Williams in Chile to above Deadhorse in Alaska, a 45,000km trip.