1.) What Was El Paseo Mexicano 2007

El Paseo Mexicano 2007 was a 4,000 mile motorcycle ride done by Ken Smith (me), and Jim Lyman (my bro-in-law). This blog is the story of that ride.

OK. I admit it. This was more than a simple motorcycle ride for me. I am going to take a risk here and comment on some of the "private" stuff driving why this was so important to me. I promise, I'll keep this sort of stuff to this page only and will not plaster the whole blog with psychobabble. If you are not interested in the personal reasons why I did this ride and would rather get on to the pictures, then that is 100% fine. Just skip on to page two.

For me, this ride was designed to provide the absolutely maximal amount of mental, emotional, and physical stimulation I could cram into one month. I wanted to overload my senses in every way imaginable. And I wanted fear to be a big part of that emotional rush. I think all human beings have ghosts and skeletons in the closet. This trip, in a strange sort of way, was an attempt by me to deal with some of those things in my own life, especially those that revolve around my choices related to how I interact with Fear.

I loved Apocalypto. I relate to Jaguar Paw...

I have decided that I want to control when to acknowledge fear, and then do it on my own terms. I do not want to be forced into incapacitation on fear's terms. I want to control the dynamic, if that makes a bit of sense...

So, this trip was conceived to place me squarely in the realm of Fear. To face it down, to overcome it, and in the process, Live My Life.

So why accomplish this on a bike, and not on a psychotherapist's couch? Basically, because I think the outcome would be similar, and this type of activity is lots more fun!

Why a bike? Because there is some danger involved with the process of riding. We all know it is sort of a crap shoot. Why Mexico? Because everyone knows that cut-throats live down there. Plus the cultural differences are a total mind buzz. Plus we would probably get dysentery, which would be cool. Why mountains? Because I have a fear of heights. What better place to face that fear down. Why twisties? Because I have only been riding a motorcycle for a year. My skills are not that well defined yet and the roads we rode in Mexico were like Deal's Gap, but instead of a piddly 11 miles long, the twisties went on for literally 200 miles. Basically, we chose Mexico because it promised the most "Buzz Potential".

So, in case you can't read between the lines, I believe that the victory of overcoming is well worth the pain of enduring. And I love to be stimulated. I wanted this ride to be a victory. Not just an experience.

And, I got what I wanted in spades.

Now, on with the pictures!