From The Pegs
Thoughts, musings and diatribes from the people who bring you Ride2Adventure. Now that we think about it, some of this stuff may be really weird.
Riding Adventure? Just Add Water…
I don’t know about you, but I really like my adventure riding wet. Yup, wet and sometimes even muddy. I’ve been lucky enough to have been to a few places around the world. In those places I’ve ridden across a fair amount of water crossings, hard bottomed puddles and even quite a few soft bottomed ones. But mix them all together and you have a recipe for riding adventure. Big splashes, roosts, and the occasional drop combine to make things all the more interesting for you and your riding mates.
I don’t mean the kind of interesting where your bike engine drowns and you’re in for an engine tear down exercise. I’m talking about the kind of interesting where the flying water, shaking handlebars and changing balance exhilarates your soul. Where the completion of a deep water crossing provides a sense of accomplishment, a muddy bottom plays tricks sparking momentary fear, and where the occasional fall reminds us that it’s important to stay humble.
All of them remind me that as much as I love to ride and as far as I have ridden in my 30 plus years of riding, whether in the wet and in the dry, I am indeed still a small part of the day-to-day adventure that is life. You too should get out there, ride and exhilarate your soul… oh, and do it in the wet.
Ride2Adventure – Shrinking the Planet One Ride At A Time
What Effect Does Adventure Riding Have?
Have you ever wondered what effect you have as you travel the planet by motorcycle? As a participant in two-wheeled roaming, women and men wander across vast stretches of land, riding away the days, potentially with no real destination. They may watch sunrises in early morning chill and witness sunsets having experienced the searing heat of the day. They may have ridden through monsoon rains of Southeast Asia or the seemingly ceaseless winds of Patagonia. Does such riding represent the sorrow of a lonely rider, a “rich” person’s folly, a lost soul’s wanderings or is it something more?
I would argue it’s much more. While traveling the planet by motorcycle may indeed represent one of the above, it more often represents a person’s desire to observe. Observe and more often than not, share. You see, when someone chooses to travel by motorcycle, they have chosen to expose themselves to a myriad of experiences, the effect of the elements and their fellow human beings. They have consciously made themselves far more vulnerable than they would have been had they surrounded themselves in a cocoon of metal and glass in climate controlled comfort, with cup holders and other conveniences. No, the motorcycle rider often chooses to bypass these in favor of experiencing the all the planet has to offer.
The smell of the flowers on the spring, the sudden change in air temperature as they pass from searing heat to a pocket of cool air and even the beginning of rain having watched the clouds swell and darken as the day progressed. And most importantly for many adventure riders, when the wheels stop spinning, a chance to stop and think about the day’s experiences and perhaps share them as well as their journey’s experiences with the people of the community where the rider finds themself.
It’s through this sharing that the adventure rider gives and takes. She gives others the benefit of her life, the lessons learned, of the things she has seen and knows from the miles she has traveled. In so giving receives a gift without asking. The people she shares with often give back more than she has given. What is their community like? What have they experienced? How can they help her? This giving without really trying furthers understanding between people and communities far more than any politician could.
So the effect of your adventure riding is to further the community of the planet. Ride to new places, observe and share with others. Keep riding and everyone benefits.
Ride2Adventure – Shrink The Planet One Ride At A Time
Ride 2 Adventure – Shrinking The Planet One Ride at a Time
Welcome to Ride2Adventure. A website for adventure motorcyclists and people who are interested in new places and new people. We hope that you will stop by often and look around. In the coming months (and hopefully years) we will provide content including ride reports from far away places and perhaps a place near you. There will interviews with interesting riders who will share their ride experiences and what they found on the road and off the path less traveled.
We’ll do some product reviews and let you know what we think of some adventuring products. What can’t you leave without and what should you leave behind. It’s all important when weight and space is limited.
Of course we have to discuss adventure bikes. A topic which will never be exhausted. We may not all agree, but they are always fun to talk about. We at Ride2Adventure go on the theory that “lighter is better”, but there are a whole universe of people that wouldn’t think of traveling on an adventure ride on anything lighter than a big twin cylinder machine.
At Ride2Adventure, the topics are open so long as they revolve around adventure riding and the people who ride them. So come along, join the adventure.
Mike and Kim Botan
Ride2ADV 