Obsessions Die Hard: Motorcycling the Pan American Highway's Jungle Gap

Obsessions Die Hard: Motorcycling the Pan American Highway's Jungle Gap by Culberson, Ed. paperback edition. ISBN: 9781884313066.

Obsessions Die Hard chronicles Culbersons determination to fulfill his dream. Ever since he was a teenager he had a fascination with the Pan American Highway System, which runs the length of North and South America. In his early forties, he acquired another passion--motorcycling. It was only natural that he would merge the two. Culberson, then a retired U.S. Army officer, wanted to ride his motorcycle along the Pan American Highways entire route between Alaska and Argentina, but in eastern Panama and western Colombias Darien region the road is broken by an 80-mile gap filled with jungles, rain forests, rivers, and swamps, forcing travelers to detour around it by boat or plane. The area is so inhospitable and unexplored that a myth about its impenetrability has evolved over the centuries, and a curse aimed at Darien trespassers shrouds the region. But the Darien Gap, known as "el tapon del Darien"--the Stopper, didnt stop Culbersons dream. It turned it into an obsession. Culberson set his sights on riding Amigo, his BMW R80 G/S, the entire length of the Pan American Highway--including the Darien Gap, a feat never before accomplished by a motorcyclist. He suffers failure before meeting success, encountering killer bees, arrest by a corrupt law officer, cycling injuries and back-breaking labor to get himself and his motorcycle through the torturous jungles and swamps. A story of one mans struggle with his own obsession, Obsessions Die Hard is an amazing tale of human endurance and perseverance in the face of staggering obstacles. The new edition of this classic adventure tale includes an updated Epilogue written by Culberson shortly before his death, and a new Conclusion by writer and motorcyclist Bob Higdon.