While perusing the newly released books at our local library I came upon Lois on the Loose by Lois Pryce. Any book with a picture of a motorcycle on the cover gets my attention. This one recounts Lois’s story of riding from Anchorage, Alaska to Ushuaia, in the Argentine province of Tierra del Fuego at the southern tip of South America.
Pryce has a lot of good stories to tell. I connected right from the start with her painfully familiar description of how the day-to-day workplace can feel if you would rather be riding.
I smiled at her experiences with other riders giving sage advice concerning the suitability of making the trip on a small, underpowered Yamaha XT225 Serow. I suppose holding the book in my hands refutes those judgments. Pryce does point out one leg of the trip that her little motorcycle wasn’t up to but I seem to remember that involved riding at 14000 feet or something. She took the low road instead.
Making this trip largely by herself and without a formal support or backup systems seems remarkably courageous to me. I can’t see myself doing it. I’m really glad she has the writing and storytelling talent to allow me to share the trip vicariously.
If you are interested in more information about the trip, book, bike, whatever, check out her Web site — Lois on the Loose.
D. Brent Miller, author of the Sojourn Chronicles blog recently interviewed me for a podcast, which is now available HERE.
Brent is planning to produce a regular podcast and you will find one with Carla King who like Lois Pryce had her own riding adventure. She made a solo-circumnavigation of the United States on a Russian sidecar motorcycle.
If you have a minute check out Brent’s site and the podcasts.