A little background on me: I'm on a break from a 40,000 mile (so far) meandering trip across North America and Europe. On a Panigale. in 2012, I was just like any of you here who think, eat and breath motorbikes. I was sick of the world, though. I'd lived a good life, full of hard work and sacrifice and reward. But was still very much unsatisfied. And I grew tired of not being in control of my fate. So I bought one of the first 1199s made and left the following day on an open-ended, no-destination-in-mind trip across North America.
It led to some fairly unreal experiences, one of which was Ducati calling. I'd been writing about it and posting pictures on ADVRider and Ducati.ms without any idea that the CEO of Ducati had been following along. (Talk about a cool f'in company!) In one year I went from my first Ducati to being their guest at the Int'l Press Launch of the 1199R. The lesson is more important than anything that's happened. And that lesson is this: you can live every day of your life doing the things that lead to expected results. But you'll rarely be surprised. It's only when you say '**** it' and do exactly what you love--despite whether or not it makes any sense at all--that all kinds of unexpectedness will happen. Most of this world--and everything in it, from the people you meet to the places you could never dream existed - and even the animals you'll encounter - will blow you away. Day 1 of this trip did just that. And this is how it begins.
The past few days are a Scrambler-spirographed blur of sensory stimuli--sights, sounds, scenery all muddled into a sleepless, smudgy mess that I'm still trying to make sense of, like memories flashing before the eyes of a dying man. Only I'm not dying. I'm living and alive. So f'in alive!
Like a game of word-association, when I first heard "Scrambler" I immediately thought, "Road of Bones!" A part of me said, "Road of Bones--on a Scrambler? Why would you want to do any of that, *******?" (that was my ******* talking). So I sat my ******* down and explained how it is: when you're passionate about something you'll be forced to endure challenges; and these challenges are what makes life meaningful. I had a discussion about this very thing with Miguel Duhamel Saturday night (see what I told you about my mind being a blur from the **** that happened this weekend?). The more difficult the journey, the more profound the reward.
Unfortunately I only have the Scrambler for a week. It's not mine. So no Road of Bones. But the worlds most extreme outdoor amusement park is just fine by me:
It led to some fairly unreal experiences, one of which was Ducati calling. I'd been writing about it and posting pictures on ADVRider and Ducati.ms without any idea that the CEO of Ducati had been following along. (Talk about a cool f'in company!) In one year I went from my first Ducati to being their guest at the Int'l Press Launch of the 1199R. The lesson is more important than anything that's happened. And that lesson is this: you can live every day of your life doing the things that lead to expected results. But you'll rarely be surprised. It's only when you say '**** it' and do exactly what you love--despite whether or not it makes any sense at all--that all kinds of unexpectedness will happen. Most of this world--and everything in it, from the people you meet to the places you could never dream existed - and even the animals you'll encounter - will blow you away. Day 1 of this trip did just that. And this is how it begins.
The past few days are a Scrambler-spirographed blur of sensory stimuli--sights, sounds, scenery all muddled into a sleepless, smudgy mess that I'm still trying to make sense of, like memories flashing before the eyes of a dying man. Only I'm not dying. I'm living and alive. So f'in alive!
Like a game of word-association, when I first heard "Scrambler" I immediately thought, "Road of Bones!" A part of me said, "Road of Bones--on a Scrambler? Why would you want to do any of that, *******?" (that was my ******* talking). So I sat my ******* down and explained how it is: when you're passionate about something you'll be forced to endure challenges; and these challenges are what makes life meaningful. I had a discussion about this very thing with Miguel Duhamel Saturday night (see what I told you about my mind being a blur from the **** that happened this weekend?). The more difficult the journey, the more profound the reward.
Unfortunately I only have the Scrambler for a week. It's not mine. So no Road of Bones. But the worlds most extreme outdoor amusement park is just fine by me:
