Cyclist takes on world, one highway at a time

Every year, hundreds of cyclists all over the world leave home to take on the open road. In 2002, Colombian fire-fighter Henry Cardenas left his family and friends behind, determined to set a world record by pedalling to the Alaskan border and along the way stopping in every country in South and Central America. Cardenas arrived in Belize last Friday and is waiting for a Mexican visa to continue his journey. When we caught up with the forty-seven year old this afternoon, he told News 5 that one of his goals is to garner support for fire fighters across the world.

Henry Cardenas, Colombian fire-fighter/Cyclist

“The Colombian Fire Chief supported me in this tour to help Central American fire fighters who have no uniforms. Some of them are not paid, such as in Nicaragua. It’s very important what I’m doing, not only for the sake of setting the record, but for getting their concerns known to governments worldwide. I started in Colombia and rode south to Chile, then riding back up through every country to begin my tour, spending a few days at a time in each. I plan to ride through Mexico and go westerly into the U.S., finishing in Alaska in the next month and a half.”

Financing for Cardenas’ world tour comes from international supporters and his own pocket.