Moto Escapism - Sport Touring, Motorcycle Rides, Travelogues and Tech

Welcome !

This site exists to advocate finding the middle of nowhere; the place where you can park on the double yellow line, eat a sandwich and contemplate where the hell you are on the map. I encourage you to go out and put yourself into situations that become the stuff of legendary stories. Have a look around and enjoy.

2010 Challenge Announced

The 2010 Challenge is the list of 10 tasks that I've set out for myself to accomplish this year. The overview is published and progress reports and summaries will be published under the 2010 Challenges menu in the Challenges section of this website. The list this year is significantly harder than last years and I'll be exploring my limits, but as it says in Mountaineering: Freedom of the Hills,"Use creativity and boldness to overcome the difficulty."

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The 2010 Challenge

Friday, 15 January 2010
I never really thought twice about whether I would do another set of challenges in 2010. Somehow, when I put the challenge stuff together for this site back in January of '09, I didn't make any provision for ever doing another year of this stuff, everything was 2009 linked and listed. Yet, somehow, by July, I was already thinking of what I would be putting myself to this year. There is certainly a familiarity to most of these items, with a heavy emphasis on physical, outdoor activity. However, I didn't want to limit myself to that and so, there are a few bits on the list that are, decidedly, unlike the others. That is by design. If I want to explore new areas of living and experience the fantastic, I know I don't only need to seek it beyond the front door; there are good reasons to stay inside as well. Last time, "Climb Grand Teton" was on the list because I read it in a guide book. This time, "Hike Angel's Landing" got on the list for nearly the exact same reason. One goal fulfill long held dream, another is a deliberate attempt to chase down and vanquish a nightmare. However I break it down, sitting here, in the middle of January, I've already spent a long time looking at the calendar and I can honestly say, 2010 isn't very long, I've got a lot to do. So let's get busy and have a look at what I'm going to be doing.
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2009 Challenge Review

Tuesday, 12 January 2010
Done After close to 200 miles hiked, five summits, one mountain expedition and nearly sixty dives, let's have a look back at each of the goals for 2009. I wanted to push myself harder than I ever had before, and see if I could follow through on a commitment to achieving long term goals. Now for some people, perhaps one year isn't "long term", but for someone that never has led a particularly physical outdoor life, committing to being prepared to go mountaineering for the first time in my life, six months before I'd ever actually used a climbing harness, seemed pretty bold. Of the challenges, the hardest, by far, was the last one accomplished, climbing Mt. San Jacinto, while the easiest, was achieving my Advanced Open Water certification. The highest point I climbed to was 13,000' on the upper saddle of The Grand, and the lowest point I dove was 120' on the Eureka Oil Platform off of Long Beach. Those are the bookends though, and certainly for some of these tasks I accomplished in 2009, what I did went far beyond simply attaining an elevation, or descending to a specific depth. Below the fold I'll go into greater detail on each of the challenges.
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Latest Updates

February Mini-Challenge

Here's the challenge: 25 days of solid training in February. For training I will count any day in the gym, a day of hiking, a FULL day of diving (one night dive doesn't count), or more t...

January Round Up

Well, that was a lot of work. The whole concept of re-doing my apartment seemed a little daunting at first, but I really wasn't expecting it to be quite as comprehensive a task as it wound u...

January Mini-Challenge

Goofy as it sounds, the mini challenge for January is to clean my apartment. Dive Emperor Brett and Buddy Rich can attest that my apartment isn't a dump or a mess, but there are niggling thi...

The 2010 Challenge

I never really thought twice about whether I would do another set of challenges in 2010. Somehow, when I put the challenge stuff together for this site back in January of '09, I didn't m...

Editors Picks

June - Article
The article for June is the Arizona Sport Touring Ride. This motorcycle travelogue describes my first forays out on my Triumph Sprint ST only six short days after I purchased it. Talk about learning at the school of hard knocks.

June - Image
One of the most ready memories I have of Germany is Der Wasserturm in Mannheim . When I was four, I remember walking around the edges of the fountain and marveling at them. We had nothing like that back home in Napa.