After 12 months on the road Isai Madriz feels 'changed for the better'

Isai Madriz is on a personal quest few people would ever dream of, much less embark on.

For 12 months, the 26-year-old Mexican native has battled cold, heat, and occasionally hunger while riding his Schwinn bike on a solo mission to travel around the entire coast of South America, about 22,500 miles by his calculations.

He set off on Sept. 11, 2007 from his family's house in Montgomery with some canned food and a little money in his pockets, and has so far pedalled more than 6,000 miles through Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama and Colombia. Right now, he is somewhere in Ecuador.

Madriz sleeps mostly in his one-man tent off the side of the road, and occasionally in the homes of kind folks he meets on the way.

He has ridden through quiet, solitary mountain passes, and on busy, trafficked roads. He has fought off fire ants, climbed volcanos, admired ancient Mayan ruins, and feared for his life at the hands of a drunken sailboat captain.

Madriz is still going, undeterred and with a remarkably cheerful attitude.He is doing this both as personal adventure and as a public statement in support of the Jesus Guadalupe Foundation, out of St. Charles, which awarded him a scholarship and helped him earn a college degree in May 2007. The foundation gives out scholarships to Latinos who don't have enough money to attend college. Last year, 10 students received scholarships for $10,000 yearly a piece.Although at times the trip has been really trying, Madriz says he has absolutely no plans to stop until he has reached his goal.Reached recently by telephone, here is what Madriz has to say about his adventure.Q. Where are you now?A. I am in Popayan, Colombia, I have been here since yesterday. You have no idea what just happened to me, a crazy old man almost killed me.Q. What? Tell me!A. I hitched a ride on a boat with a captain from South Africa to cross from Panama to Colombia. He seemed like a nice guy at first but then he started drinking and he spent all his time drunk, and I think he was also completely senile. I had to steer the boat myself when he wasn't looking. Good thing for my oceanography class in school.Q. So now that you're back on dry land, safe and sound - when you look back at your year on the road, how would you describe the experience?A. Doing this is a way to show that you should always do anything you wanted to. The vast majority of people want to do something like this, and you should always do what you want to do, no matter if you are alone or not. Sometimes I would like to have somebody with me, but you have to follow your dreams.Q. Has this trip changed you in any way?A. I am pretty sure it has changed me for the better. One thing is that I don't see Mexico the same way - in every country that I have been, people love Mexico.Q. Do they say why?A. Probably for the culture, but I don't know exactly why. But they treat me very well because I am from Mexico.Q. How is your bike holding up?A. It's doing well. I had changed the frame in Guadalajara (before Christmas) and I have had no trouble, anything that happens I can fix it right away, like a flat tire.Q. What about your tent?A. It's falling apart. I was in such a hurry to get my stuff from the boat that I forgot to take the steaks. Now I am using strings... the mosquito netting is all bloody and encrusted with bugs.Q. How are you doing with money?A. Right now I am selling the bracelets that my aunt in Mexico City had made for me. They are cheap, like made out of clothing tags, so whenever I go to schools to talk to the kids about the foundation, I sell them. Sometimes they don't have money, so they will give me a pencil or some gum. She gave me 500, I have 100 left.Q. What will you do for money when the bracelets are gone?A. I don't know, maybe I'll juggle bottles or something!Q. What do you think has been the best part of the trip so far?A. That's a really difficult question. I think the beautiful people and the beautiful scenery. Every country has had awesome people, half of the trip is meeting people.Q. What about the worst moment?A. Definitely the boat trip. I haven't even had time to write about it. I write everything in my diary, I write really tiny so I won't carry extra weight.Q. What do you miss the most?A. Taking a shower, I don't care if it's warm or not; having clean clothing. I am getting wet all the time, I smell like a wet dog.Q. What about emotionally, what do you miss the most?A. I do miss my girlfriend a lot, my mother and my whole family, especially when it's somebody's birthday.Q. When you left you thought you'd make it to Tierra del Fuego by mid-March. Obviously this is going to take a lot longer. Has your plan changed?A. I still have the same plan, maybe I won't go east into Brazil like I thought, but the basic idea is not going to change. My goal is telling everybody in every country about the foundation.How to helpTo help out Madriz during his trip, you can make a deposit into account 4440502733 of Washington Mutual Bank. The staff of Reflejos and the Daily Herald contributed $85 to buy him a new tent.To support Madriz's cause, mail a check made out to the Jesus Guadalupe Foundation, 902 S. Randall Road, suite C-322, St. Charles, IL 60174.You can also visit www.isaimadriz.com. 357512Isai Madriz before leaving on a 22,500 mile bicycle trip.Laura Stoecker/lstoecker@dailyheral.com 512342A view of Ometepe island, NicaraguaIsai Madriz 512342This image was taken at Ruinas Becan in Campeche.Isai Madriz 512465Isai Madriz, 25, of Montgomery is on a 22,500 mile bicycle trip from home, through Mexico and around almost the entire coast of South America.Laura Stoecker | Staff Photographer 512342This image was taken at Laguna Guerrero in Quintana Roo. <div class="infoBox"> <h1>Earlier Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Stories</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=232628">Madriz's mom content with helping him follow his dreams<span class="date"> [09/07/08]</span></a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=233192">Volcano climb gives Madriz a special thrill<span class="date"> [06/06/08]</span></a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=149782">Through 3,700 miles, new adventures<span class="date"> [03/08/08]</span></a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=74445">Thorns, a bad toe, and some big rats<span class="date"> [11/10/07]</span></a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=69606">Suburban man's 22,500-mile trek through the Americas continues <span class="date"> [11/02/07]</span></a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=36869">Suburbanite bikes 22,500 miles to a dream <span class="date"> [09/13/07]</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>