The Ride Of Passage:Into the Great White North - Mike B. Matlock

Mike Matlock is a friend of ours from Santa Barbara...one part survivor man, one part moto gypsy, and all renaissance man. He armed himself with a motorcycle and a surfboard and headed out to find what his adventure had in store. Here's a few words from Mike and a few photos of his travels.

The Ride of Passage is a two wheeled adventure paying dues to the elements and earning your experience. To create a harmonious connection between man, machine and the environment in search of natural beauty and waves.

This is my attempt to break the patterns of my life that I have seemed to become reliant on. I wanted to get far away from comforts and the feeling of being comfortable. I want to be completely exposed to the elements and humbled, in order to gain a deeper understanding and respect through interacting with my environments. I want to throw my iphone and computer in the opposite direction I am traveling. No more searching the internet for answers its time for me to find them on my own.

The plan was to ride solo along HW 1 from California to Canada surfing and camping. No where to hide and a long lonely coastal highway to run. I prepped the bike into the ultimate surf seeking machine. I custom fabricated a 13 gauge stainless steel surfboard rack capable of holding two surfboards. 2 aluminum, lockable and watertight side pannier boxes filled with camping gear and tools. 1 mounted and lockable pelican case filled with food and 1 large dry bag filled with 5 mm neoprene wetsuit, booties, gloves and hood strapped to the seat doubling as a back rest.

The time of year is fall with rain and more rain in the forecast. Armed with a basic road map and passion for adventure I pinned the throttle North. I have never ridden in the rain and haven't rode more than 2 hours straight at a time. The added variable of aerodynamics with a surfboard at hi speeds and cross winds is um interesting to say the very least. I figure by the time I realize what I got myself into it will be too late to turn around.