The day started off pretty stressful. We weren’t sure we were going to be able to attempt the ride to the Arctic Circle. It has been raining for two days straight. It has not stopped. We learned today Fairbanks had Read More →

We pulled into Fairbanks, Alaska this afternoon. The entire ride was cold with a steady rain. If you’ve ridden a Harley Davidson in the rain then you know just how miserable it can be. We are hopeful for better weather Read More →

Another milestone today as we crossed into Alaska! After 6 full days of riding through beautiful Canada we are back in the USA and excited to be ever closer to our destination. It reminded me of seeing the Gulf of Mexico Read More →

Yukon is beautiful. You can ride for miles and miles without ever seeing another soul. And there is plenty of opportunity to clear your head. Honestly, I’ve needed this time and I am extremely grateful for the experience.   If Read More →

As Dave said about midway through our ride today, “an uneventful day is a good day!” We really didn’t see much today other than lots of asphalt. Strangely enough, the only wildlife we saw today was a moose that just happened to Read More →

Sometimes the best days get off to a rough start and today was one of those days. We are continually moving north and west. As you can imagine the days are getting longer and our body clocks keep wanting to Read More →

Forty hours of riding in four days can take a toll on the body. Our objective was to get as far as possible into Canada in order to gain some extra time in case we needed it. So much can Read More →

Of all the border crossings we experienced riding all the way from the tip of South America back to the United States, Canada by far has been the easiest to cross (including the US Border). I think it took all Read More →

If you ever get the chance to ride our route today I think you will agree it is one of the most beautiful rides in the world. We tried to take it all in. It was a long day. We Read More →

In the first two days of this trip we have seen as much or more rain than we experienced throughout South and Central America in 2011; and that’s not very much. We stopped to put on rain gear once, but Read More →

All the Miles With A Mission riders would agree that making a difference in the world requires more than just an objective, it requires a lifestyle. Yesterday, Doug demonstrated that by turning a milestone into a mission in a very unique Read More →

We appreciate the continued interest in Bruce’s recovery. It is nothing short of a miraculous story as many have prayed for his healing and recovery. I received this update from Linda (Bruce’s wife) and want to share it with everyone. Read More →

Gary, David, and I started driving south yesterday to meet Doug & Brad, and we finally connected early this morning in Ft Worth, Texas. The Dream Team (as we like to call them) arrived at our hotel shortly after midnight. It Read More →

Doug and I have returned home many times from trips outside the USA, but yesterday’s arrival back in the country was more memorable for us than any other. We had ridden our motorcycles 10,000 miles to get here. As we Read More →

These pictures were taken somewhere on the roadside in Costa Rica.  This would be my 3rd of 4 flat tires, so far. There’s no other way to fix a flat but to just dig in and remove the wheel, then Read More →

We visited Bruce today at St Luke’s Hospital in Kansas City. What a special time we had with Linda, and we were also able to meet their son (Kevin) and youngest daughter (Katie). What a delightful family. Bruce has been Read More →

I had a crown come off early in the trip. What do you do when you’re on a 10,000-mile motorcycle trip in South & Central America? What could we do; we decided to save it and look for the right opportunity Read More →

Late this evening, a medical airlift jet touched down at the the downtown airport in Kansas City with some very special passengers.  Linda accompanied Bruce on the flight from Panama, where Bruce had been hospitalized the last 8 days. Bruce has Read More →

Linda, Bruce’s wife arrived in Panama to be with Bruce during his recovery.  Here she is at Bruce’s bedside for the first time. Everyone, including the hospital staff, feels much better that Linda has now arrived to be with Bruce. Read More →

During the night after his surgery Bruce suffered a serious setback.  He lost consciousness and was rushed to the Intensive Care Unit for treatment.  He is still there, stabilized, and undergoing further observations and treatment. The surgeons said the actual hip replacement Read More →

Yesterday, we were finally on our way again after several days of service and shipping arrangements in Bogota, and then a few days of waiting in Panama City, Panama. However, about 25 miles out of Panama City the trip took Read More →

Today (Monday) started with five hot and humid hours working to get our bikes through Panama Customs. Without the help of Abdiel Asprilla (orange shirt) with Servicios Aeropuerto, it could easily have been double that. Thank you Abdiel for making it happen! (Abdiel Read More →

A special thank you to all our friends at Bogota Harley Davidson for servicing the bikes so quickly and crating the bikes for shipment across the Darien Gap. Thanks!

This has been one of those very long days – of waiting. Very demanding and fatiguing. We have spent 10 hours with Columbian Customs… back and forth to the Warehouse, Customs, Narcotics Police…. 7 different times. At the end, they Read More →

One of the bad (maybe good) things about riding a motorcycle is that there’s no room for accumulating souvenirs. But when the sales people at a roadside stop look like this, how could I resist? Besides, these little knitted finger-puppets, Read More →

When my grandson, Emerson, was about 2 years old, he was working on a project of some sort and declared boldy, “tape works”. He then prcoeeded to tape up anything that needed fixing. Well, I have adopted Emerson’s slogan and can Read More →

My wife, Linda, should never have given me dance lessons when I turned 50.  Now, anytime I hear music that I can dance West Coast Swing to, I immediately begin to tap my feet. Sometimes you just find yourself with an available Read More →

Every country has it’s critters and one of the daily maintenance requirements of this trip has been keeping the face shields of our helmets clean. Interestingly, Bruce prefers an open-face helmet (no face shield). It’s true, there’s a certain breed of Read More →

Motorcycle helmets save lives. I know this for a fact, because a helmet saved my life about 10 years ago when my straight-on collision totaled not only the motorcycle I was riding but also the Toyota Corolla that I hit Read More →

Everyone likes our Miles With A Mission patches and stickers, especially the stickers.  You’d be surprised where they put them. Of course it’s great advertising for Miles With a Mission, and hopefully a keepsake for them of our visit. These Read More →

When night begins to fall in a country in which it’s unsafe to ride after dark, it’s time to stop in the next little town and ask for directions to “el mejor hotel” (the best hotel).  That has led to Read More →

Yesterday started early as we left our tiny 3-bedroom bungalow in Pallantanga, Ecuador. We had stopped there the night before in the rain after getting some pizza at a roadside stand. Leaving Pallatanga, we rode through sunshine and rain in Read More →

Crossed the equator today. “Mitad del Mundo.”.  Ushuaia was “Fin del Mundo.”

It is always energizing to discover a pleasant place to stay after another stressful day on the road. We are holding up in Tulcan, Ecuador this evening….not too far from the Colombian border.  We rode in beautiful weather today in the fantastic Read More →

On of the things that has struck the most are the faces of young people in South America. There is aspiration in their eyes. They are bright, interested and resourceful.  They are here and I’m sure they will do fine. Read More →

In Guayaquil, a city of 3 million people, it was a meeting with three friends — two from Kansas City and another from Buenos Aires.  (OK, not a random meeting, but one arranged via emails when we realized we would Read More →

A very special thank-you to all our new friends at Harley-Davidson Ecuador. We appreicate the quick turn-around on all of our repairs, as well as the hospitality while in Quito. We look forward to seeing you again! We recommend Harley Read More →

Some people don’t understand why we’d attempt a trip like this on two wheels rather than four. Well, as you may have seen in the BEHIND THE MISSION video on this website’s home page, my point of view on that is Read More →

Bruce and I stayed and watched the bikes by the side of the road, 100 kms from Brad’s destination. It was hot with a much appreciated breeze. The many trucks that passed readily acknowledged us with a honk or two….instantly Read More →

We had quite the adventure today…. never any danger really… but we were literally sitting in the shade watching some very ingenious mechanics beat, and then weld Brads front wheel back into usability. It’s a bit painful watching even the Read More →

(Written By Doug) The desert riding has been a great experience…very challenging at times because of the sometimes deep sand on the highway. The temps in Peru have topped out at 90, unlike the 100 degree temps we had in central Read More →

In the first 2,700 miles of resuming our journey, we’ve experienced plenty of contrasts and variety. We started with sunshine, then came the rain and sleet crossing the Andes from Bariloche, Argentina to Osorno, Chile.  Then sunshine again, complete with Read More →

We didn’t want to miss seeing “the mummies”we had heard so much about from the Extreme Team in the tiny town of Quillagua, Chile. But when we arrived there, it was siesta time.  The town park and streets were deserted.  Thankfully, Read More →

While we are old friends and new friends, on this journey you become the best of friends. While taking a few photos today along the ride today, I was reminded of all the miles these bikes (Old Friends) have traveled Read More →

Every journey includes important milestones and today we reached one. From our earliest days of planning several years ago we had hoped to see a handful of notable sites along the way. Today we reached the The Hand in The Read More →

Because of other commitments I cannot continue the trip, so yesterday morning in Bariloche, Argentina, I passed the torch to our newest rider, Bruce, and I bid the new Dream Team farewell.  Standing by the beautiful Nahuel Huapi lake, I Read More →

Today, the Dream Team resumed the mission!  They left Bariloche, Argentina around 7 o’clock this morning!  After a full year of recovery, and many changes of plans, the team arrived in Argentina this past Wednesday. They were able to secure Read More →

Many have asked for updates on the remaing three riders; myself, Brad, and Steve. Following my accident on February 18th of this year, our team of six split into two teams of three; theExtreme Team and the Dream Team. Once I was Read More →

(This is the 2nd of 3 parts of the Colombia story originally posted on March 16th.)  One of the greatest reasons for not wanting to backtrack to the border was that we were trying to make it to Cali on Sunday to visit a Read More →

No one really anticipated the way Gary was to arrive at his destination. He approached the campus perched on his mortally wounded Harley Davidson Road King, engine running, sagging pipes roaring; strapped in the bed of a rented Ford F-150 Pickup. Read More →

We called Doug earlier in the day, from just south of San Antonio, saying we would be coming through Oklahoma City and would like to stop near the campus for a minute and say hello to he and Margaret, and Read More →

We’ve been watching the odometers closely, knowing we were getting close.  And it couldn’t have happened at a more beautiful spot on the journey; just northwest of Tula Mexico. We hit the 10,000 mile mark.  You might be wondering why Read More →

(Written by Gary Morsch) Well, it’s been a pretty wild week, to say the least.  I’ve decided to take the time to write, so you all would have the full story, and not just be hearing the rumors.  So here’s Read More →

After many weeks of riding together you start to notice each others patterns.  Within the first hour or so of riding each morning Gary takes the lead and usually goes on ahead. Sometimes it’s quite a while before we catch Read More →

We left Panama this morning headed for Costa Rica.  We decided Panama has the worst drivers we have encountered so far. At a fuel stop, one guy told me Panama’s worst national problem was “No Respect While Driving”. It was Read More →

We are in Panama City!!! Stay tuned, we will post the rest of the story about our Colombia experience very soon.  To quote Charles Dickens, “It was the best of times; it was the worst of times.”  Suffice it to Read More →

Most people don’t realize that there are no roads connecting Central America and South America. Between Panama and Colombia there is a small strip of land called the Darien Gap. The strip of land is only 99 miles long and roughly 50 Read More →

Now that we are safely across the Darien Gap and into Central America, we are now comfortable explaining of our delays in Colombia. To get to the point:  not only did we enter Colombia improperly, but also we did not Read More →

We are now in Costa Rica for a few days of previously scheduled R&R.  Our bikes remain in Bogota Colombia, due to some challenges we encountered there (more details to follow). Thank you for your continued prayers.

Our longest day of riding was over 500 miles several weeks ago.  Today was our shortest day, at just 94 miles.  Only 94 miles, but it took most of the day. One of the distractions are the toll booths. We aren’t Read More →

We left Ibarro, Ecuador early this morning headed for Colombia.  The scenery is really hard to describe. The mountains are very beautiful, but often covered in thick fog. (in addition to rain most of the time) However, our greatest concern is Read More →

It’s difficult to explain how intense the trip has become since we crossed from Peru into Ecuador and on to Columbia.  We drove over 5,000 miles, through sparse populations and many miles between towns.  However, once you enter Ecuador it Read More →

Everything we learned about the roads in Chile and Argentina has now changed. First you have to understand that in Peru, there are basically two types of motorcycles; very small bikes between 75-125cc, and enclosed three wheel machines called Moto-taxis, Read More →

Today we crossed the 5,000 mile mark.  We are halfway home! To celebrate this momentous occasion, Gary led all the workers and a few other drivers at a local filling station in a resounding upbeat addition of “The is Power, Read More →

The only place available in Atico, Peru was a hostel; which ended up being nicer than some of the hotels we’ve stayed at.  Anything that is clean with internet service is considered a great place to stay. However, it has Read More →

Today we crossed the 4,000 mile mark!  You could hear a few shouts over the radios as we celebrated this accomplishment.  That’s 40% of the journey now behind us! Today was MORE DESERT.  We are ready to be done with Read More →

If you left New York City and drove to Los Angeles and then back to Denver; that is how far we’ve come!  And, yes it feels like it!  We are finally adjusting to the aches and pains, and soreness.  There Read More →

We were sad to leave Vallenar. Our host and her daughter (Jennifer) at the Hotel Takia were very kind and hospitable. Vallenar is not a town you would probably choose to visit, but it will be one of the highlights Read More →

We left Santiago mid morning headed for Vallenar. It would prove to be an eventful day.  The drive was spectacular.  Probably some of the most scenic of the trip so far. Of course we had a bit of difficulty getting Read More →

It seems like it was months ago that we left Ushuaia, and began this very long journey.  In reality, it’s been only eight days of riding, and so much has happened in those eight days. If you’ve kept up with our blog, you Read More →

Team A said goodbye to Team B at the hospital in Bariloche today and headed west around Lake Nahuel Huapi.  We arrived at the Chile border around 1:30 and spent several hours exiting Argentina and entering Chile. The Andes mountains are Read More →

On Friday, February 18th, as we left the enchanting Patagonian town of Sarmiento, we were making up for lost time and celebrating the fact that we now had 10% of the journey behind us. In spite of some daunting challenges Read More →

Yesterday (Thursday) we drove to Sarmiento, Argentina.  A small town located toward the center of the country between two very large lakes (which are mostly dry).  It took most of the day to get there.  The drive reminded us of Read More →

Here we are, supposedly six tough guys riding Harley Davidson’s across South and Central America, and then today, out of the blue we ran into the Vogel family (from Idaho) at a small desolate lunch stop in Fitz Roy, Argentina. Read More →

We want to give a big thank you to our friends, Steve and Marcos at SM Moto in Rio Gallegos.  They are motorcycle specialist with an incredible workshop. They are willing to tackle any task.  Steve has the patience of Job, and Read More →

We are in Rio Gallegos, Argentina.  We were on the road 17 hours arriving here this morning (Tuesday), just after 4 AM. I cannot begin to describe the Patagonia winds.  We found that it IS difficult to ride a motorcycle Read More →

Day 1 of riding was February 14.  Heading north out of Ushuaia, Route 3 took us through the beautiful jagged mountains at the southern tip of Tierra del Fuego.  Intermittent showers were actually pleasant, and a few minutes of light hail even Read More →

Suddenly it all comes together.  On Saturday, just before 6 PM, Brad received at text from the shipping agent’s office in Miami. Check out his name in the photo of the text (left)!  Providential?  Either way, it’s always encouraging to Read More →

We want to give a special thanks and appreciation to the hotel POSADA FUEGUINA, in Ushuaia, for taking such good care of us during our stay in Ushuaia. We have spent many hours coming and going; checking on the status Read More →

As the old saying goes, “there is no time like the present”.  And when you are delayed in Ushuaia, why not complete some dental work?  I thought now might be a good time to have two root canals completed. Earlier Read More →

 Customs has proven to be more of challenge than we ever expected. We aren’t completely sure of why the offloading has been delayed.  We have confirmed which container our bikes are in. We also know now that our container is Read More →

We arrived in Ushuaia on time and were taken back by the beauty of the region.  Think of a mixture of between Switzerland and the Amalfi Coast of Italy. Ushuaia is the southernmost city in the world. The locals refer Read More →

We left Campinas late yesterday afternoon and drove an hour to Sao Paulo Brazil, to catch our flight to Buenos Aires, Argentina.With a population of over 11 million, Sao Paulo covers an area of over 600 square miles.  It is a Read More →

We are now in Campinas, Brazil.  We flew here yesterday, February 5th.  It’s a short 90 minute flight from Rio.  We went directly to the Brazil Nazarene College where we were welcomed by the students and faculty, along with several Read More →

Getting out of the States proved to be more difficult than expected.  Most of the midwest was hit hard by a blizzard and most flights were delayed or canceled. We slowly arrived in Rio de Janeiro between February 1st and Read More →

Several of us enjoyed send-off parties from our office teams this week (..while yet others began to party in our absence).  This cake showed up today at one of those parties.  Pretty special – wouldn’t you agree? As we’ve said Read More →

Mark Schlachtenhaufen, a reporter for the The Edmond Sun newspaper, of Edmond Oklahoma, ran a story on January 17th featuring Miles With A Mission.  Check out the article  here.

All six Miles With A Mission bikes made it safely to the Miami port.  The bikes were placed into a 40 foot shipping container and loaded aboard the cargo vessel LANGENESS. The 18,000 ton ship flies under a Gibraltar flag Read More →

Ok, so all the planning… hundreds of hours of planning. It feels very real, or so you think.When the motorcycle you’ve been tweaking on for months is sitting on the shipping pallet, being crated and loaded onto a semi truck and Read More →

The support team in Oklahoma City includes a special shop in Yukon, Oklahoma simply called “The Shop”. Ted and Richard were our go-to guys looking over the bikes very carefully. The request?  “Fix anything you think might go wrong in the next 15,000 miles.” They tuned Read More →

  We tested a new camera today that we will be using on the trip to document our travels. We are using a High Definition GoPro camera that is used to capture the action in most major sports (Nascar, Motocross, BMX, XGames, etc) . Read More →

The plan was to share the story of Miles With A Mission and leave a lasting impression on those who gathered for the SNU Alumni dinner this past Saturday evening.Showing the Miles With A Mission video seemed like a good Read More →

Welcome! This is the official location to get more information about the Miles With A Mission trip. We hope you will take time to navigate the site and learn more about the trip, the riders, the charities, as well as Read More →

A trip of this magnitude requires a few significant partners, and Miles With A Mission would like to thank two very special partners for making this a ‘mission possible’… CRANE WORLDWIDE –  A full service Air, Ocean, Trucking, Customs Brokerage & Logistics Read More →

Skype has been a real benefit during the planning process.  Originally we expected to talk monthly, but we soon realized we would need to talk much more often.  Last night we gathered once again via Skype to share updates with Read More →

Today Brad and Doug visited an old airport that’s now a drag strip, and even a museum parking lot, searching for what could be the meeting place to begin the final 10 miles of a 10,000 mile ride.The plan is Read More →

I stopped by my local dealer today, Rawhide Harley Davison, to check out the crating process.  If you’ve never seen how a Harley Davidson motorcycle is shipped from the factory, it really is an ingenious process.The bikes weigh as much as 900 lbs Read More →

For months now we have planned, changed plans, and planned again in preparation for the trip.  The logistics for prepping such an adventure are more than we could have imagined.  The first significant milestone that we have waited for will Read More →

We have talked via Skype many times, but for the very first time today, all six riders were together – in the same location (Doug, Brad, Steve, Gary, David, & Gerald*). The occasion was a film shoot for promotional materials Read More →

 Last night was an important conference call for the group. We made a significant change to the trip. We have decided to reverse the trip; and instead of riding to the tip of South America, we are going to ride Read More →

Everyone is on board.  Six riders have committed.  Six Harley Davidson motorcycles are confirmed. Here we go!  After many months of consideration and talking with various potential riders, the group has been finalized and everyone is committed.  Some serious soul Read More →