Just before the holidays I finished some editing work on a book called Passion in the Wind, which is now available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and from the author, Alan Leduc. The title might sound like a bad romance novel, but the book tells the true story of Alan’s 23000 mile ride around North America on a motorcycle.

With my editing credit, I’ve been having fun searching on my name at Amazon and BN.com. The project itself was familiar work for me. Alan has a background in industrial engineering, so his writing has a lot of the precision and technical detail that I’m used to seeing in my technical publications endeavors. But with my and co-editor Barb Smith’s help, Alan’s story hopefully reflects the adventure and excitement of his actual ride.

Two motorcycle riders, one age 68 and the other age 60, ride 23,000+ miles, with over 2700 miles of the most notorious gravel roads in North America, circumnavigating the United States and Canada in 48 days.

Mike Kneebone, President of Iron Butt Association, says:

In the world of motor-sports, challenges are often measured in miles. Whether it is the Daytona 500 or the IBA SaddleSore 1000, miles count. Miles are simple to measure and everyone can relate to them.

Alan and Tim’s ride has miles, so many in fact that the mere mention overshadows everything else. More than 23,000 miles in 48 days to the very far corners of the U.S.A. and Canada – many motorcyclists who have ridden around the world have traveled fewer.

But as impressive as they are, the miles covered are not what make this ride epic. It is the reach to the remote areas of Canada and Alaska. Their adventure takes them to places far removed from civilization, far away from any reasonable person’s comfort zone. Being prepared to face a freezing cold night on the side of a desolate road with a broken motorcycle — or worse, a broken leg — with help hundreds of miles away, takes a unique outlook on life.

Many riders will never reach the likes of Goose Bay, Inuvik or Prudhoe Bay, but to do so in one ride, to reach the far corners of North America’s arctic regions down isolated, dangerous dirt roads filled with swarms of blood-sucking mosquitoes, while the clock is running redefines the meaning of extraordinary. Alan’s strict engineering sense and Tim’s resourceful easy going nature are a rare combination that works as it takes a bit of both to complete this epic ride. Their intense mile-eating story of the ultimate circumnavigation of the U.S.A. and Canada should encourage all of us to seek out an adventure to make the most of the wonderful gift of life.

OK, I know serial commas and Oxford commas are the same thing. But I needed a third item in my headline list so I could use one.

Have you heard the brouhaha about Oxford University eliminating the namesake comma from its own style guide? (And here we must note that Oxford University uses a different style guide than that published by Oxford University Press, which still does recommend the use of the serial comma. Got it?) There’s been plenty of coverage, but my favorite so far is this late-breaking summary from Meghan Casey at Brain Traffic. It opens with an excellent quote from the also excellent Lynn Truss, author of Eats, Shoots & Leaves:

“There are people who embrace the Oxford comma, and people who don’t, and I’ll just say this: never get between these people when drink has been taken.”

For me, the serial comma is essential. Maybe not life-or-death essential, but I agree with Brain Traffic’s Melissa Rach:

“The serial comma is a courtesy. Is it required? No. Is it a nice thing to do for your users? Absolutely.”

The serial comma was part of the Bellcore style guide, Putting Words on Paper, which I cut my teeth on. That style guide is basically hard-wired into my brain, and so the serial comma is with me to stay.