Far Horizons

Across the Great Divide

Stalked by a black bear, encountering a close shave with a bull buffalo, having his tent eaten by an elk and being mugged by a gang of racoons; these are just a few of the adventures the author experiences as he attempts to circumnavigate North America by motorcycle in 2009. In doing so he discovers a land and two countries that feature a number of different divides – political, national, cultural and geographical. The early chapters describe the minimal planning that took place and the doubts that hit him when he begins his journey, finding his motorcycle impounded by US Customs, but then gradually transform with the release of the bike into a classic road trip as he delves down the Appalachians into Alabama, meeting kindred spirits from the biking world on the way and warming mile by mile into a deep appreciation of the splendour of the landscape and the warmth of the inhabitants. Later into the journey he travels through the First Nation reservations and looks into the history surrounding the demise of the Great Plains culture, describing the victory of the Sioux and their allies at Little Bighorn then the massacre at Wounded Knee, meeting descendants of those involved. The book is light-hearted and written in the spirit of gentle adventure by someone who admits to being a ‘pretty slow rider’ and a navigational incompetent to boot. If he manages to get back to Baltimore it will be a small miracle and hopefully, by the time he gets there, he will have finally found out what the ‘Great Divide’ really is.