THROUGH CRACKS IN THE PAVEMENT
Speed and convenience have drastically changed the nature of surf travel. We’re all familiar with how advanced forecasts allow for quick strikes timed to perfection. Pre-packaged tours remove all the guesswork and risks. Hermetically sealed environments and modern-day gadgets allow us to bring our living rooms wherever we go. Even access to the world’s most remote locations is getting easier and easier, while adventure—true adventure—is harder and harder to find…or is it?
Over the past few months, a handful of surfers have walked through the doors here looking haggard and dirty, with that familiar look on their faces that says they’ve just endured something special. And each of them did, simply by jumping off the tourist bus and onto their bikes for a fresh round of travel fun. Some, like Chris Del Moro and crew, turned an average trip down the coast into the trip of a lifetime.
Others, like our own Curious Gabe Sullivan, slowly worked their way through New Zealand, hoping all the while to be sidetracked. After being on the receiving end of their many tales, we figured this was a trend worthy of some attention. So we asked Mr. Sullivan to gather some experienced pedal-adventurers and compile a case as to why you and yours might want to redefine your next little adventure. The following is what he delivered.
Chris Del Moro
Don’t ever invite Keith Malloy on a bike trip. I knew Keith was in good shape, but I didn’t know he was fricken’ Superman. He’s pretty much ready for the Tour de France. The first day of our bike trip down the California coast, he nearly killed us, and maybe that was his plan—I’m not sure. But by the end of the day we all had to pop five aspirin and lay flat-out dead on our backs, while he was walking around like nothing happened. Something tells me he was the only one who really knew what we were in for, and our little trip wasn’t even his idea. He definitely needed to be wearing the yellow jersey. Every stop we made, he was sitting there waiting for us to catch up. He might as well have been reading a book or eating lunch, because there were times he had to wait for a while, but that’s one of the things that riding a bike makes you do. You slow down and stop all the time. And that’s why you start absorbing things.
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