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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Journal Entry June 27, 2009 - Grand Teton Climb Day 3

Tuesday, 28 July 2009
Lower Saddle Sunrise Entry from Daniel Hienzsch's journal... June 27, 2009 Grand Teton National Park Exposure, wicked cold, driving winds and ungodly views; but no summit. I slept until 3:30 AM, then awake immediately and laid in the tent, listening to the wind whipping. At 4 AM, I heard the alarm in the hut, followed by Darrent getting up, followed by a headlamp moving around outside. Then I heard hot water getting started. So, 15 minutes before Darren came to wake me, I knew we were going for it. I kitted up in synthetic wool socks, base layer long johns, a standard wicking gym shirt, hiking pants, fleece vest, rain pants, gaiters, Kayland mountain boots, and a parka. In my bag: 160' rope, extra socks, rain/wind breaker, heavy/light duty gloves, first aid kit, signal mirror, my ice axe and my crampons. I brushed my teeth, drank some water, had a quick bite, grabbed my bag of snacks, donned my beanie and helmet and off we were at 4:45AM. Venus blazed in a dark, dark blue sky.
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Journal Entry June 26, 2009 - Grand Teton Climb Day 2

Thursday, 23 July 2009
A Quiet Moment Entry from Daniel Hienzsch's journal... June 26, 2009 Grand Teton National Park I woke to the sound of rain on my tent around 5:30AM after fitful sleep. I drifted in and out for another two hours, hoping the storm would pass. At 7:30AM, I put on my raingear, got up and brushed my teeth west of camp and settled into the Guide's Hut. In about an hour, the women arrived and there we stayed as the rain became slushy big snow flakes. For three hours we were confined to the hut, sitting around until the sun finally popped out. Darren and I went out immediately to run through snow school while the women did some simple top rope work ont he boulders around camp. Snow school consisted of self arrest techniques: sliding on your back feet first, sliding on your belly head first, sliding on your belly feet first, and the most disconcerting, sliding on your back head first as you might if you lost your balance with a heavy pack on. We practiced glissading (sitting and standing) as well as short rope technique while the women worked on their climbing calls: "ON BELAY", "CLIMBING", "CLIMB".
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Latest Updates

World Cup 2010 Bracket

Just a quick note with a link to the bracket for the knockout stages of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Times are in PST and the channels are for standard US cable packages. If you want to watch the ga...

Feb. 9, 2010 - Seven Years

I miss you mom. Please donate to the American Cancer Society . ...

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...

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.