By KEVIN SIEFF- The Brownsville Herald

“Eleven months and 12,000 miles after leaving their home in the Yukon Territory, Ken Madsen and Wendy and Malkolm Boothroyd pulled into Brownsville on bicycles.

In June, the Canadian family began their cycling trip from one corner of North America to another. It started as Malkolm’s ‘‘Big Year’’ — a quest to see as many species of birds as he could in 365 days. Even before the family left on the trip, Boothroyd’s goals had grown loftier.”