Out of Captivity : Surviving 1,967 Days in the Colombian Jungle

300 OUT OF CAPTIVITYbut Tom described what the bike looked like and how the old triedand-truetechnology of carburetion and magneto-fired ignition couldbe temperamental but a joy to someone who enjoyed tinkering anddiagnosing and repairing almost as much as he liked riding. We endlesslydebated what bike we would each buy when we got out—usedHonda Rebels, Shadows, or Nighthawks when we were being realistic,and Harley-Davidsons when we were dreaming.Gradually our talk shifted to a ride the three of us would take—whatwe called the Freedom Ride. Like our ambitions about what bikes wemight ride, the Freedom Ride started out small. We’d tour Florida.We’d take all back roads, and Keith insisted we hit all the mom-and-poprestaurants and every barbecue joint and greasy-spoon diner we couldfind. Tom talked about his desire to keep it local and have his wife ridealong behind him—just being out and able to throw a leg over a bikeanytime he wanted to was freedom enough.In time, as our liberty and our chances of being released faded, weall expanded our ideas of the Freedom Ride. Forget the cheap bikes,let’s go all-out, maybe pick up some used Harleys and tour the SoutheastU.S. As our deprivation increased, and we needed even granderdreams to offset it, we thought we could walk into a Harley-Davidsondealership, tell them our story of being held captive, and get a sweetdeal on three brand-spanking-new bikes. We’d hit the road and gocoast-to-coast.Even when we stopped for a five-minute rest and could sense that wewere dragging or our spirits were down, one of us would say somethinglike, “I heard about this one road in Tennessee. They call it the Tail ofthe Dragon. Three hundred and eighteen curves in eleven miles. We’regoing to ride that thing.” I would spend the next part of the marchthere on that road, taking each and every one of those curves. Howmuch we relied on that fantasy and the extent to which we expanded itgrew in proportion to the length of time we were held and the degreeto which our hope of getting out of there diminished.