Adventure Motorcyclist Travel Book: Journey to the End of the World

Kevin Duke
by Kevin Duke

If you’ve been reading MO for more than a couple of years, you’ll fondly remember our former coworker Alfonse Palaima. Fonzie left us to pursue a freelance career, and his latest publishing project is this lushly illustrated book that chronicles an 11,000-mile journey along the vertical length of South America from Colombia to Argentina, culminating by crossing the Straits of Magellan onto the southernmost tip of the continent, Tierra del Fuego.

Dubbed Expedition65 and organized by RawHyde Adventures’ Jim Hyde, the trip follows along 65 degrees of latitude over epic terrain, including the magnificent Andes mountains, the world’s largest salt flats (Salar de Uyuni), and South Yungas Road, colloquially known as the Bolivian Death Road, north of La Paz, the world’s highest capital city.

Penned by Colin Evans and assisted by Palaima, Journey to the End of the World features riveting and colorful images captured by Fonz. It’s available for $39 from Octane Press.

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Journey to the End of the World is Out Now on Octane Press

AUSTIN, Texas – May 12, 2017 – In the fall of 2016, 15 seasoned adventure motorcyclists set off on an uncharted route to the edge of South America. The idea behind Expedition65, as cooked up by RawHyde head honcho Jim Hyde, was to travel across 65 degrees of latitude along the Andes mountains, from Cartagena, Colombia to Ushuaia, Argentina. Enlisting a veteran group of teammates, a fleet of BMW R 1200 GS motorcycles, and a support vehicle, Hyde, Alfonse Palaima and Colin Evans planned out a gorgeous, grueling and occasionally life-threatening, 11,000 mile route that would take them to some of the planet’s most epic and storied roads, sites and cultures, and, finally, to “the end of the world.“ The big, beautiful, full-color account of the epic ride, Journey to the End of the World, is now available from Octane Press.

Penned by experienced adventure rider Colin Evans and chronicled by long-time professional photographer Alfonse Palaima, Journey to the End of the World packages the insightful and often hilarious prose of Evans, with stunning images captured by Palaima, in some of the most intense —and beautiful—riding conditions imaginable. Along the way, the E65 group encounters many of South America’s most iconic locations, from the World’s Most Dangerous Road to the legendary Salar de Uyuni (the world’s largest salt flat), on single- and double-track trails winding across the soaring peaks of the Andes as well as the muddy paths of the Amazon basin. The duo also record countless death-defying moments, howling winds, a few fistfights, major “pucker-factor” moments, mechanical breakdowns, and finally, the crossing over the Straits of Magellan onto Tierra del Fuego.

The stories in Journey to the End of the World touch on insanely dangerous rides to laugh-out-loud absurdities, with rest stops that include high-class to low-brow and everything in between. This riveting account reveals South America’s highest mountain passes as well as its most intensely spiritual landscapes, all experienced from the saddle of an adventure motorcycle.

If you prefer to see it motion pictures, check out GlobeRiders and Touratech/BDR filmmaker Sterling Noren’s 4-part documentary dubbed “Expedition 65” at NorenFilms.com.

[Movie trailer here: https://youtu.be/QYkC7g5NzAs ]

Kevin Duke
Kevin Duke

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