Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127589
~ OFF·ROAD Moto Aventura Motor ele Tours By C h ris J onnum IWelcome to the ~ JIM aybe I was wrong," I mumbled to myself, scratching my head as I eyed the t ra v e l assignment boa rd on our office wall. "Perhaps the editor isn't trying to kill me after all." I was rapid ly approaching my oneyea r anniversa ry a t the newspaper, an d w hile I was still very ha ppy w it h the job, I was beginning to wo nder if one of my es teemed coh orts might be atte mpting to bump me o ff. Th in gs se emed friendly enough ar ound the office, but s o me thi ng a bout m y recent tra v el assi gnments was making me susp icious. The first clue came when I wa s chosen to cover an a m ateur motocross near Waco, Te xa s, r ight a t th e h e ight of David Koresh's infamous cult stand-off ther e. Th at ja u n t h a d a ct u a lly gone off without serious incident, bu tnext on the list was a n excu rs ion to th e b ustling metro polis of Tulsa, O klaho ma , where I wo uld be covering a four-day National Reliability Enduro that was taking p lace n earby. This ma y sound h armless enough to tho se not in the know, but as near ly always happens when a motorcycle race is he ld in th e Sooner State, a d eadly torn ad o ravaged the area on day three, leav in g me to seek refu ge in a ha il-pelted hot el room w ithout electricity. . I actually surviv ed both assignments re lativ e ly u n s cathed , b ut w it h tw o stra igh t trip s in to the hearts of veritable d isas ter areas, a seed of suspicion had been planted , and it was with a feelin g of im pending do om that I had snuck a glance a t the ass ign ment board to d iscover my next destination. I snapped to atten tio n when I read the simple entry below m y name - Costa Rica. At first I feared a typo, assuming that 1 was meant to cover some stimulating press confe re nce in my pict u res q u e home city of Co sta Mesa, but it seems that a co mpany call ed Mot o Aventura h ad ac tually in v ited an edi to r o f our .choice to join them on a five-d ay trail rid e throu gh th e Cos ta Rica n ra in forest s. Both Kit -a n d Donn - the other tw o off-road riding a ficio nados in our office- alre ady had travel assignments for th e w eek of th e trip , so I wa s the lucky w inner. " Fina lly, a cus hy as signment!" I thought, while visions of beautifu l beaches and even more beautifu l Latin girls danced in my head . My ela tio n took a sha rp n ose-d iv e when jus t th ree days before I was set to leave, the nig htly news reported that an obscu re guerrilla group calling itself the "Commando of Death" had take n 19 of Costa Rica 's 22 Supreme Court magistrates hostage in the capi tal of San Jose, where my flight would be landing...So mu ch for my cushy assignment. Cover me . .. I'm go in ' in! Actually, while vio lence a nd po litical u nrest ravage m uch of Central and South America, Costa Rica is known for bein g a very peaceful coun try, and no d oubt the rare e ruptio n w hich caused me so much alarm had been ca refu lly pre-arranged by one of my co-workers. In fact, the en tire ordeal was resolved before I even left the Sta tes. Cost a Rica is a lso m u ch r iche r tha n th e co u n trie s w hich n ei g h b or i t, so m uch s o th at man y inh ab itants of t h os e n a tion s wo uld give their righ t arms to cross the borde r p e rm anen tly . Af te r a week of trail rid ing there, eve n I was consid ering relocating! 20 Rid ing across this na rro w b rid ge was a bit un ne rv ing. The miss ing plank didn't hel p much, either.