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This is Blake Gordon, a 26-year-old aspiring photographer and writer who's driven by a youthful love of light, open spaces, and his five-year-old attire,

Italian-made, Bianchi, bicycle.

He ended up eating dinner with him and learning about a portion of life in that place that you're not going to read in a guidebook or you're not going to hear drinking at the English bar.

In 2005, Blake had just found photography. It quickly became his outlet for expressing a deeply rooted awe of the landscape. He also found himself an incredible opportunity.

His roommates, Mike and John Logston, were set to embark on an epic bicycle tour from Northern Alaska to the very tip of South America, roughly 15,000 miles worth of pedaling. You may have heard of their trip.

The Logston brothers lost their mother to a malignant brain tumor. In this ride, it became a eulogy of sorts. They partnered with the National Brain Tumor Foundation and hoped that their publicized trip would raise $50,000 for research.

Earlier in 2005, Blake had joined them for a few weeks of riding in Central America. The stories have been terrific. The riding was incredible, but photographically, Blake felt like he'd missed it. He wanted a second chance.

Now he's going to get the chance to join Mike and John for their final 2,500 mile push through Chile and Argentina. He wanted to get the one defining shot that had eluded him before, an image that conveyed the very essence of the brother's journey.

The funny thing is that without ever having set foot on the South American continent, Blake already knew what that photograph would look like. Before he even touched down in San Diego, Chile, he had taken this photo in his mind.

Like what I envisioned was a pretty classic just like out there in the open, you know, South America is a pretty rugged place. And particularly in Patagon, it's like very, the andes are there in the open step.

But I had this, you know, picture of the two guys biking in this open raw landscape with beautiful light and just to kind of conjure up that, you know, riding off into the wild open lands.

It was almost like a math equation, plugged 2,500 miles of pedaling into a raw and lonesome landscape out of few friends and Blake was bound to get the shot of a lifetime.

It's something every young aspiring photographer dreams about. It's that same motivation that pushes young skiers deep into foreboding mountain ranges or the drives aspiring climbers to your semity.

We imagine these moments a thousand times in advance, but when we finally get there, we're often surprised. Epiphanies require stumbling.

So today, we bring you the reckoning. You can ride your bike to the edge of the world, but when the road ends, it doesn't always lead to neat resolutions.

Stories and photos by Blake Gordon, I'm Fitzgahal and you're listening to The Dirtbag Diaries.

In mid-July, Blake left the blazing heat of his home in Austin, Texas. Packed the Bianchi, his bike trailer, winter clothes and camera gear and left for Chile.

Blake's first challenge would be to find Mike and John, who are competing by videographer Nate Alejo.

The short story is that I took a red eye flight from Austin and maybe 700 feet above sea level, arrived in Santiago at 7 a.m. to sun breaking through the smog.

They had to take off the previous day because the pass going over into Argentina was open. It's a very volatile pass, closing with snowfall one day, opening the next.

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