TRAVERSE Issue 05 - April 2018 | Page 96

of the best natured people on earth. Over the past weeks I’d realised that I may have embarked on a solo adventure, but I had yet to be alone. Once a person straddles a bike and feels the earth below their feet, you join an eternal family, no matter if it’s a Crotch rocket, Cruiser, or Du- el-sport. It doesn’t matter if you’re a day, weekend, or long-distance rider, you’ve felt the freedom of what a bike can offer and that makes you part of the family … and what a family we can be! EM Emmanuel is an unashamed addict ... addicted to travel. With parents who encouraged, parents who pushed in the right di- rection Emmanuel set off and started travelling, started exploring. He discovered many things, yet one thing kept coming back, his na- tive USA, North America had very little information on what to do and see, very limited information on how to 'explore' his home. With this in mind Emmanuel packed up his bike and started Riding The Unknown ... www.ridingtheunknown.com highway and left us to camp in the middle of the Canadian Rockies. The amount of tourists, all stuck, filled up every camp site and hotel in the area. We had no option but to camp road- side. We sat around telling our tales un- til the wee hours of the morning, and created a bond that would last forev- er. A bond linked by the passion of riding and exploration. We were able to ride out of the park the next morning and arrive at the U.S.-Canadian border in Montana. I stood there, thinking back on the past few weeks since I’d left home. My new friends and I soon parted ways, to either finish or, as in my case, start a new journey. I reflected on the people that I have met along the way, filled with that same two-sided coin, not just from the disbanding of the group, but also for leaving Canada. It truly is a beau- tiful country, one that is made for ad- venture riders, and filled with some TRAVERSE 96