The Perils Of Reading

A few weeks ago, while perusing the shelves of my local library, I happened upon a book I’ve been meaning to read. Endurance: The Greatest Adventure Story Ever Told is a book by Alfred Lansing. It is an account of Ernest Shackleton’s Antarctic mis-adventure.

I’ll not get into the plot of this book other than to say it is an actual account of twenty-eight (28) men who went to explore Antarctica, had their ship stuck in the ice, had their ship crushed by the ice, lived down there for more than one (1) year, and escaped alive. If this book is not the greatest adventure ever told, it sure is close.

On a date-not-too-far-from-the-first-date, I found a book in the library on the “new non fiction” bookshelf. I grabbed Turn Right at Machu Picchu by Mark Adams.

In this book the author retraces the steps of Hiram Bingham in his re-discovery of Machu Picchu. This was another book I could not put down.

“So, where’s the peril?” you might ask. Well, these are non fiction adventure books. While they entertained me greatly, they also stoked my desire for adventure. Imagine that.

Yesterday biker friend Buckshot was passing through town. He text me and asked if I was up for lunch. You bet! We rendezvoused at a local eatery. The conversation turned to upcoming bike stuff. Again, my desire for adventure was stoked. Crap!

Thankfully I’m heading out of town at the end of next month. In the mean time, I’m going to start a list of possible adventures for this coming year. I do like to have a game plan. Some of those plans might involve making reservations for this or that.

In my quest to avoid a boring life (as in avoid like the Plague), I endeavor to seek happiness through adventure. Adventure does not have to be “Epic” to qualify. It just has to be. With the singletrack trails now dug, I’m SO looking forward to 2012 and getting back to adventure – whatever it might be – big or small. After all, this satisfies another activity I love to do – accumulate gear!

Ride On.