In 1972, Ian Hibell, along with Gary Bishop and John Bakewell were the first to complete an overland wheeled crossing of the Darien Gap, a strip of swampland dividing Panama and Columbia. Hibell, Bishop and Bakewell took the “direct” overland south-to-north route, including an overland crossing of the Atrato Swamp in Colombia.

Ian Hibell spent the better part of 40 years exploring the world by bicycle and was the first person to cycle from Cape Horn, Argentina to Alaska . Tragically, Ian was killed by a hit-and-run driver on the Athens – Salonika highway on the 23rd August 2008.