OBSESSIONS DIE HARD

Obsessions Die Hard is the story of Ed Culberson’s determination to fulfill his dream. As a teenager, he was fascinated 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 Highway’s entire route between Alaska and Argentina. However, in the Darién region of eastern Panama and western Colombia, 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 Darién trespassers shrouds the region. But the Darién Gap, known as el tapón del Darién—the Stopper—didn’t dim Culberson’s dream. It became his obsession.

In the face of staggering obstacles, Culberson suffers failure before meeting a success, encountering killer bees, arrest by a corrupt law officer, cycling injuries, and back-breaking labor to get himself and “Amigo,” his BMW R80G/S motorcycle, through the torturous jungles and swamps. He also encounters strangers who become friends, including Cuna Indians, who guide him and share his triumphs.

A story of one man’s struggle with his own obsession, this is an amazing tale of human endurance and perseverance.