Wednesday, April 7, 2010

And so it begins...

ad·ven·ture (d-vnchr)
1 a
: an undertaking usually involving danger and unknown risks b : the encountering of risks
2 : an exciting or remarkable experience

In a world filled with IPods, laptops, cell phones, and video games we are so over stimulated with technology that we have completely lost the spirit of adventure. Video game bowling? Really? Are you serious? If Hemingway had sat at home downloading apps for his IPhone and playing video games do you think we would be reading his epic novel about tragically blowing a 300 game in the tenth frame on Wii bowling? Me neither. Sir Edmund Hillary said he climbed Everest because it was there. No reason other than to see if he could do it. Warren Harding spent over 45 days hanging in a harness while pioneering the first route up the shear face of El Capitan. I was born in the wrong era. I feel that I have been getting soft and life has become too predictable. I remember reading an obituary in climbing magazine about a guy that built a bicycle in Sweden and cycled to Nepal, where he climbed Mt. Everest solo, and then road home. The same guy was cross-country skiing across the northern ice fields and was stalked for four days by a polar bear. In an effort to survive he finally devised a plan to trap and kill the polar bear. What a life, what an obituary, what a man. This blog will chronicle my experiences in the pursuit of adventure. I'm not talking about dance lessons. I'm talking about taking it out and chopping it up, putting a brick through the other guy’s window. The crazy Swede inspired my next adventure- Cycling from St. Augustine, FL to San Diego California with a climbing buddy, my fellow champion of life, Delaware. Why ride across the country on a bicycle? I planned the ride just to see if I could and because Jacques Cousteau never sat around playing video games.

-Jake

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