Sticks and Carrots
Some of us go through life driven by sticks, but carrots—sweet carrots in the form of adventure—have always motivated me. Building and sustaining a successful outdoor gear and clothing business over three and a half decades has been hard work, but the longest, most grueling sales trips have always been tolerable knowing there was a little adventure waiting at the end. Whether it’s a weekend trying to outsmart a wily steelhead, or three weeks kayaking north of the Arctic Circle 1,200 miles north of the nearest tree, adventure has been my elixir.
I’ve explored the Himalaya—from the Tibetan side. I’ve hoofed my way along Namibia’s bone dry, desolate, and aptly named Skeleton Coast. Having been to Africa 16 times, I’ve led safaris and shared my love of the Serengeti, its animals and its people with others. I’ve experienced Alaska, (and the states and
provinces leading to it) from my motorcycle’s saddle.
Each of my adventures has been different, yet they’ve all shared one thing in common: they’ve had to conform to my schedule; my next business meeting; my next negotiation.
But my next carrot, the sweetest of all, will be different. The adventure will set the pace. The adventure will dictate the route. I’ll conform.
The motorcycle journey from Ushuaia, at the tip of South America, to Deadhorse, on Alaska’s North Slope, will take as long as it takes. This point-to-point, south to north, “halfway-‘round” adventure has wandered around in the back of my mind for years as the motorcyclist’s ultimate adventure, so why hurry?
The land route from the Beagle Channel to the Beaufort Sea is interrupted by the planet’s greatest variety of topography and weather. With that great variety comes the greatest challenge. The pampas of Patagonia, gravelly 15,000-foot Andean passes, foggy coastal plains, the Atacama Desert, the altiplano, equatorial rainforests, the Rockies, even urban landscapes—everything combines to test a rider’s limits.
Admittedly, such a journey stretches our physical, emotional, and mechanical limits, but from my viewpoint it’s more a journey of discovery and accomplishment than a proving ground. It will put a real face on those I meet. For once I’ll be able to attach sights and smells to what have always been mere dots or empty space on the map.
Although geographical extremes like Deadhorse
and Ushuaia have always been called the “ends of the earth,” I choose to look at them as beginnings…beginnings of the next adventure.
Hop on, we’ll see.
