about a year ago, i got my first bike, something at the time that i thought would be the best thing to learn on, and something to help me find my way in the motorcycle world. oh, find my way it did. i learned how to ride, took a few spills (mostly out of stupidity), and overall... became a rider.

the road empowers me, it makes me feel free. i try to think of anything that i've experienced before, and nothing comes close to the feeling of freedom, of control, and a healthy dose of fear. the exhilaration calls me, beckons me, entices me with the thrill of the ride, the wind enveloping me, the freedom. the freedom is not that of being free of something... there is nothing to run from; is the freedom of being rid of everything. anything that bothers me, any worry, any cause for concern. the day to day worries of life... are stripped away by the wind, for those short moments that you are on the road, where there is nothing to worry about but the next corner, or how soon to stop for gas.



over the past year, the draw of the road has dwindled, not so much that the desire has worn off, but that the sense of adventure has grabbed me, and is pulling me off of the road into the dirt. i want to explore not just the roadways that get you from point a to b, but the dirt roads, canyons, and trails that get you to c, d, and e; those that are off the beaten path, and without traffic.

not that advrider.com being open on every browser of every computer i own helps; it probably makes that draw towards the dirt worse than it should be. i know i've talked about the effect that the adv community has on me before, no need to belabor the subject... it's a part of my life now, and it's going to stay that way.



a few weekends ago, i scheduled a little jaunt down the coast with darknrgy, looking for some relaxation, and relief from a predicted record high temperature in san jose. the coast was predicted to be quite a bit cooler, so before it warmed up, we were already on the road, headed to the pacific coast highway (PCH or Rt1 for short). pch proved to be a bit more of a temperature difference that we were hoping for, as there was a bank of fog coming off the ocean, obscuring views as well as keeping the weather quite chilly.





we had high hopes for the day, both of us had gone to the trouble to bring our DSLRs to take photos. but the fog enveloping the coastline, and at times the road (visibility dropped to under a hundred feet the closer we got to the water), caused a bit of a damper in out spirits. we continued down to BigSur, where we stopped for breakfast, hoping the fog would lift. as we ate a quick brunch the temperatures rose, but it was short lived and localized to the inland areas... as soon as we got back out to the coast the fog was still there. the gloom we felt came right back.



further down the coast we stopped a few times for photos, eventually losing hope of the lifting, and heading back up the coast towards home. the last stop we made on pch was right near the bridge above. we both took off our major gear, walking around the little pull out for 15-20 min, just taking photos. it seemed that we had accepted the fog, deciding to make the best of the day. looking back, i shot more photos in that twenty minute break than i had shot all day.




across from our photo-break spot, lay our next adventure; a dirt road marked "travel is stupid when raining". the decision was made in short order to try it out, street bike be damned. the road wove up and down through the valley, getting us into the first sunlight, and warmth of the day. the road passed a few homesteads, and quite a few warning signs, most of which telling people that the road wasn't maintained, and to turn around now... we didn't.



it was the most exciting 20 min of riding we'd both had all day. as we came out into the blazing heat of the open space atop the hills, we contemplated continuing our exploration, or heading back. the fact that we didn't know where we were going, an impending time to get back, and the fact that it was our first foray into the dirt made the decision easy for us, and we gingerly turned around to head back to paved surfaces, and eventually home.



the way down was just as much fun as the way up... until i found myself going a little bit too fast into a corner, and hit the brakes. of course, being on a streetbike, with no dirt experience, i started skidding, weaving, locking the front wheel... everything you're not supposed to do. i almost recovered, and was about to make the corner when the front locked again and slid away on me, and i went down, going about 5mph at this point. as usual (each time i've dropped the bike or fallen) the brake levers (one or both, both this time) broke off, to an unrepairable state.

i picked the bike up, took a photo and assessed the situation. we were about 2 miles from a hwy 1, mostly downhill on a dirt road, and i had almost no brakes. no front brake to speak of (the lever snapped at the pivot point) and just the arm of the rear brake... and i was laughing about it. i didn't care, i was having such a good time in the dirt that i had almost expected to fall, and now that i did, i could get on with things. i knew, right at that moment that i needed a bike to handle this kind of terrain.

the ride back was uneventful, with us taking it real slow on the way back to the road, a 2+ hour ride back directly to the moto-shop where i picked up a new front-brake lever. it didn't matter, i had my mind still on that dirt road, almost envisioning where it went, and when i would go back to explore it, properly equipped the next time.

...

the next phase hasn't been decided, but i felt at the end of that day that a path had been set, and it was turning me away from the traffic clogged paved highways of the cities, towards the dirt roads of rural america. there's so much to explore...

all i can think of is getting out and exploring it.

Labels: adv, explore, moto, photo

since i was a kid, i've always been an outdoors person. not really an true ourdoorsman, but more of an adventurer, an explorer. i grew up with a huge forest behind my house, that if i followed a certain path, and crossed a singe road would become a state park.

i'd spend all my free time exploring. i knew all the paths, trails, & bunkers of that park & forest. i found solace walking or biking in those woods, getting lost, and eventually finding my way back home. over time, i found dozens of places to hang out, that i felt were my own. i'd go to those places, and just sit and think. mull over my life, and where i wanted to go.

as i grew older, i found myself exploring less, probably because i had less free time. friends & activitites kept me pretty busy, but I inevitably i would find myself alone, with time to kill and be drawn to see what was around the next corner. My cueious nature was never satisfied.

just out of college, i moved to cambridge, ma, and the explorer in me took over full force. any available time that i had found me outdoors, in a city that i had grown up essentially next door to, but with new wonderment. i would wander or bike through the streets, alleyways, parks & parking lots... trying to get lost, just to prove i could find my way home. i would form a mental map of the city in my head, always trying to find a new ( or more interesting ) way to get from a to b. over a very short time, i got to know the city's ins and outs, any the explorer in me was satisfied.

two years later found me on the eve of an opportunity of a lifetime; the chance to move to the other coast. i'd lived in the boston area all my life, but i had the undeniable urge to see more, to do more, to get out of my sheltered zone and experience another part of the country. so, i took everything i owned and packed it into a uhaul, and drove across the country ... which was an adventure in itself.

i landed in the bay area, the silicon valley, ca, and started to make a life of my own. i was alone, with only a few people in the local area whom i knew before i got there. everything was new, everything was something to explore, no matter how mundane it would seem to others, it was exciting to me. every day i would go to work, leaving as early as i could... just to forcibly get lost on the way home. some nights i would find a quicker way home, some i wouldn't get home until almost midnight, i was having so much fun getting lost and learning the area.

later that same year, things took a turn for the worse for me, and i was laid off. i fell into a huge depression, and lost the desire to do pretty much anything. for years after that, even after i started working again at my dream job... i was still stuck. aside from a random weekend every once in a blue moon, i didn't get out much. i was content (for the most part) in my own little world, with no desire to get out and explore.

... until i got the motorcycle.

after i got the bike, and started to get my confidence in me, i started to really look at the maps of my surrounding areas, looking for the really twisty curvy roads that are so much fun to ride on a motorcycle. i started joining motorcycle-based forums in the area, seeing where other people liked to ride. this led me to pashnit.com, which has both a great resource of motorcycle roads, and some amazing user-generated ride reports, w/ pics, pics, pics. i spend days upon days reading about other people's trips, the amazing places they'd been, living vicariously through their reports.

somewhere along the way, i found advrider.com, and something inside just clicked. adv has the same style ride reports (the forums also have the "w/ pics, pics, pics" name as pashnit except they're almost all off road in some form or another. for me, the adv ride reports are on a whole 'nother level. there's something about dreaming of being off of the major roads, getting off into the dirt that makes me feel like a kid again.

these days, i'm addicted to the adv reports. to fend off the stressful and boring moments as i go through my day i read through people's reports, see all the beautiful pictures of far away places that i may or may not ever see. my imagination lives vicariously through these other adventurers, giving me ideas for the future. most reports are filled with photos, which are probably a large part of it for me. the reports combine many of my favorite things into one adventure... photos, motorcycles, and exploring.

i feel like the tides have turned, and the explorer that lay dormant in me all these years has returned. the adventure down the open road (hopefully off-road) is calling me, and the only thing stopping me now... is that i bought a road bike. now, dream of the places i'd like to go, and of the dual sport bike that i hope will get me there.

the explorer within me is back... with a vengance.

Labels: adv, boston, explore, moto, siliconvalley