All Around Down Under

A pair of Incline Village siblings are embarking on a 10,000-mile bicycle journey that will circumnavigate the Australian coastline.

Why do it? No real reason - other than for an adventure and to have a good time.

"Really, it's just two guys going out to have an adventure, going to live life for a year," said Scott Barnett, 30, who recently moved to Incline to train for the endurance ride. "In a career, you can't just take a break for a year. It's basically career suicide to take a year off. But right now, we have the chance, and we're taking it before we don't have the chance anymore."

Barnett and brother Patrick left for Australia last week, and after a few vacation days, they began their one-year quest this week, beginning their down under bike ride in the country's capital of Sydney.

They plan to ride about 50 miles a day, spending a minimum of 10 months for the trip.

Besides having a good time, Pat Barnett said he wants to inspire people to pursue their own adventure.

"Personally, I hope we can serve as an example for everyone, that when they look back at their life 15 years from now, they aren't talking about the things they could have done," he said. "We want to convince at least one person to get out there and have their own adventure. We're not getting any money or special grants to do this. We're actually kind of poor. "But to go out there and to do these adventures and meet people, it really makes the world a bit smaller, which is great."

The Barnett brothers have spent time in Incline since their teens, as their parents, Dan and Robin Barnett, have lived here for 10 to 12 years. Their younger brother Jacob is a senior at Incline High School.

After graduating from the University of Oregon in 2000 with degrees in chemistry and psychology, Scott spent six years in the U.S. Marine Corps, leaving as a captain in 2006. He spent a year working a desk job with Johnson & Johnson pharmaceutical company, quitting after realizing desk jobs weren't his thing.

Once he returns from the southern hemisphere, Scott said he plans to attend medical school.

"This is kind of my last big individual push until medical school, before I go into what I feel will be a little more dormant stage," Scott said. "There was a study done that said that 90 percent of the things people regret in life are the things they didn't do. I don't want to look back at my life when I'm 80 and say, 'wow, I wish I would have done those, or done that.'"

Pat, 25, came about the trip a bit differently. He originally had planned on a motorcycle trip from Canada to Alaska, but once Scott brought up the idea, he decided to run with it.

The duo already had been to Australia in 1998 for a bike trip along the continent's east coast.

"Australia is really neat because it's so unpopulated," Pat said. "Outside the major cities, there's really nothing there. It's got that Wild West feel to it. It's pretty exciting."

The duo's entire route, which begins in Sydney and travels west around Australia's perimeter, can be viewed at their Web site - www.theridersofoz.com.

The duo will stick to main roads along the way, as to avoid becoming too secluded from civilization.

As for sleeping and eating, the duo isn't too worried.

"We've receive a lot of invites for places to stay once we get there," Pat said. "So that's cool, having a place to stay and a meal waiting for us along the way."

While the trip is planned to take as little as 10 months, the group applied for the full year visa to make sure they get it done.

"We better, because they'll kick us out once the 12 months are up," Scott said.