From Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, Steve and Jeff are “The Dirty Canadians”. Neither of us have ever left North America, never needed to have passports, and never had to apply for visas. This obviously qualifies us for a trip spanning 18 countries across 1/3 of the globe, on the other side of the planet. This is going to be epic!
 

JEFF Age: 30 Occupation: Retail Delivery Coordinator and Mechanic Special “Talents”: Project starter. Well versed at speaking “Engrish”. Only person to ever put a car on it’s side while doing a burnout. Single Most Useful Talent: Has the ability to somehow “fix” things without really fixing them. Biggest Concern: Playing “Tehran” by The Offspring in Tehran, Iran.

STEVE Age: 31 Occupation: Graphic Designer and Professional Shelf Stocker Special “Talents”: Uncanny sense of no direction. Can survive for weeks on nothing but noodles and Pepsi. Single Most Useful Talent: Earned a lot of badges in Cub Scouts when I was 8. Biggest Concern: Playing “Transylvania” by Iron Maiden in Transylvania, Romania.

LEE “Honourary Pit Crew Member and All-Important British Guy” Age: 30 Who?: Lee is our man on the ground, and despite not taking part in the rally, his services have been greatly appreciated. We’re not too sure how we’ll repay him for his efforts, but hopefully he can be paid in beer. Special “Talents”: Seems to have connections everywhere! Single Most Useful Talent: Will have to protect us from soccer hooligans while we’re in the UK after we call it ’soccer’ instead of ‘football’.

GNOMER (the Edmonton Oilers garden gnome) Age: Sticker says “©2009″, but what 2 year old has a beard? Occupation: Stands in peoples yards, watches grass grow, plays hockey with the birds Special “Talents”: Doesn’t argue. Has an awesome poker face. Biggest Concern: Being dropped.

In the 14+ years Steve and Jeff have known each other, we’ve learned many things: beer and chocolate chip cookies go quite well together, a Hyundai Accent can be launched over a meter-tall snow drift, it’s only OK to use a blender to make drinks if it’s gas-powered with motorcycle handlebars, and it’s not hard to make an 10hp riding lawnmower do 65km/h with very few modifications.

Jeff heard about The Mongol Rally over the winter of 2008/09 when his wife passed him a magazine article (so this is all her fault) and the idea of doing stupid things in two other continents was just too enticing to resist. After clearing it with his wife (probably a good idea when you’re going to be on the other side of the world for nearly 2 months), he talked to Steve and from there the the mission was clear: MONGOLIA OR BUST IN 2011.