Results for “Go South”

After about two weeks without a motorcycle, CrossFit Media’s Pat Sherwood finally comes face to face with the broken machine in the mechanic’s workshop. He likens it to a dead animal: “You can see a skeleton of what it used to be and there’s just carcass everywhere—that’s my bike.”

The decision is made to donate the bike to CrossFit San Miguel de Tucumán, and it throws a monkey wrench into the Latin American motorcycle adventure Sherwood and videographer Ian… Continue Reading

Now bike-less, Pat Sherwood and Ian Wittenber are in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Day 98 of their “motorcycle” adventure from the U.S. to Chile.

The duo has dedicated four days to visiting affiliates in the country’s capital. Among them is CrossFit Underdog, which Blas Raventos started in his bedroom in his parents’ house.

“It was normal for me to have six, seven people at the same time here,” he says while standing in his bedroom.

He has since graduated from… Continue Reading

Globetrotting Pat Sherwood explains how trainers can explore the world via the CrossFit affiliate network.

During our 100-plus-day journey through the Latin American CrossFit community, an idea has been presented to us numerous times. First, I heard murmurs in Mexico. Then I heard the same suggestions as we pushed south through Central America. As we made our way through country after country in South America, we… Continue Reading

It’s Day 95 and Pat Sherwood and Ian Wittenber are in Tucumán, Argentina. About 30 miles into this leg of the trip, Sherwood’s motorcycle goes kaput.

With the help of Max Benejam of CrossFit San Miguel de Tucumán, he’s able to get the bike to a mechanic. The diagnosis isn’t good.

“They kept saying this word fundido. And they’re like, ‘I think the motor is fundido,’” explains Sherwood. “And I’m like, ‘Fundido, like, I don’t know that one,’… Continue Reading

It’s nearing the three-month mark and Pat Sherwood and Ian Wittenber are in Bolivia, making preparations to head to Argentina as part of their 12,000-mile motorcycle trip from the U.S. to Chile. There’s just one problem: no gasoline.

“Bolivia, if you’ve got plates from a different country, the overwhelming majority of gas stations will not allow you to purchase gasoline,” Sherwood explains. “Our bikes are on fumes here at the hotel.”

Thankfully Marcelo Torrico of… Continue Reading

On their 12,000-mile journey from the U.S. to Chile, Pat Sherwood and Ian Wittenber were prepared to find unsavory characters, including those who would take advantage of “the gringos” in a foreign country.

But that hasn’t been the case.

“It has renewed my faith in humanity. People on Earth are good people, and they want to do the right thing, and they want to help you out, and they’re just like you and I, and… Continue Reading

Day 60 doesn’t begin well.

During their motorcycle adventure from the U.S. to Chile, Pat Sherwood and Ian Wittenber miss the exit for Cali, Colombia, and Sherwood’s bike has a flat tire.

“In the middle of nowhere, bad-guy land, not a good place for two gringos to be,” Sherwood explains. “Night’s falling, it’s dark and we’re stranded.”

Eventually, the police arrive and offer a “free” tow to an area mechanic.

“The old… Continue Reading

Pat Sherwood will start the WOD while you’re in the bathroom, but deep down he really loves working out with you.

I hate competing in CrossFit.

When my daily workout becomes a competition with someone other than myself, all the fun is gone for me. I do CrossFit for selfish reasons. It is my daily escape from the stresses of life. It’s my hour to… Continue Reading

It’s Day 50 of Pat Sherwood and Ian Wittenber’s journey from the U.S. to Chile, and they’re at a Kawasaki dealership in Panama City, Panama, to service their motorcycles in preparation for air shipment to Colombia.

Roughly 40 minutes afterward, the duo notices a problem: the rear brake on Sherwood’s bike is no longer attached. After a verbal tongue lashing from CrossFit Level 1 Seminar Staff member Adriana Roquer, the Kawasaki… Continue Reading

On Friday the 13th, CrossFit Media’s Pat Sherwood and Ian Wittenber were headed from Guatemala City, Guatemala, to El Salvador.

The border, though, wasn’t what they had anticipated.

“It looked disgusting. It looked bad. It looked worse than any other border that we had (been to),” Sherwood says. “I mean, it just, it looked about as appealing as Satan’s asshole.”

To make matters worse, immigration and customs officials in El Salvador didn’t… Continue Reading

One hundred days, 16 countries and 12,000 miles by motorcycle—one with a broken starter.

Pat Sherwood and videographer Ian Wittenber have yet to leave Mexico for Guatemala, and Wittenber has to push-start his bike.

“We’ll push start it until we can’t push start it anymore. We’re goin’ to Guatemala,” Sherwood says assuredly.

The duo takes to a windy mountain road, where Sherwood gets hit by what the two men have dubbed “death buses.”

… Continue Reading

One hundred days, 16 countries, 12,000 miles by motorcycle—and rain. Lots of rain.

“It was the worst day of riding I’ve ever had in my entire life,” Pat Sherwood says of the ride out of Guadalajara, Mexico. He describes the rain as not just torrential but “biblical.”

“It’s freaking freezing outside,” continues Sherwood, whose hands are so frigid he can barely extend his fingers.

His mantra for the day?

“Don’t die, don’t die, don’t die, don’t die, don’t die.”

After thawing out… Continue Reading

Competing at their first CrossFit Games, Natalie McLain and Wes Piatt each had two top-10 finishes, but their experiences weren’t without struggle.

After repeatedly missing the final rope climb in the Games’ Legless event on Friday night, Piatt was upset, especially because he was so close to touching the metal and completing the last ascent.

“When … you can hear everybody screaming for ya and, like, you want to give back and… Continue Reading

One hundred days, 16 countries, 12,000 miles by motorcycle—and it’s the first border crossing that proves troublesome.

It costs $400 to get into Mexico, and Pat Sherwood’s credit card is frozen. Ralph the credit-card representative didn’t seem to care about the pricey international call to sort out the situation.

“I just wanted to crush my phone, fly on a plane, punch Ralph in the face and drive back down,” Sherwood says.

Afterward, it was on to… Continue Reading

One hundred days, 16 countries, 12,000 miles—by motorcycle.

In this second installment of Pat Sherwood and Ian Wittenber’s trip to Santiago, Chile, Sherwood talks about his motivation for hitting the road.

“Every now and then, over a greater period of time, if I don’t do something that I consider bigger or on a larger scale or whatever, I just have an amazing sense of not being fulfilled,” Sherwood says.

After driving from… Continue Reading

One hundred days, 16 countries, 12,000 miles—by motorcycle.

In this first installment of Pat Sherwood and Ian Wittenber’s trip from Santa Cruz, Calif., to Santiago, Chile, things go wrong before the adventure has even begun.

With 100 miles on his new bike, Sherwood is hit while riding on the highway near Santa Cruz. After a police report and visit to the doctor, though, he’s good to go.

The duo begins its ride through the Americas by… Continue Reading

When Samantha Briggs sent Lindsey Valenzuela a Facebook message earlier this year and asked if she could come train and live with her, the Southern California athlete was taken aback.

“‘With me?’” Valenzuela recounts. “‘Yeah, I mean, I don’t know if I can keep up with you, but let’s do it.’”

For Briggs, it was an obvious choice.

“She comes from a strength background. I’m more endurance. So I thought what better person to train… Continue Reading

When Chris Spealler walks into the StubHub Center this year in Carson, Calif., it won’t be as an athlete. It will be as a media commentator.

“That is going to be a really difficult experience for me,” says the legendary CrossFit athlete who has competed at six iterations of the CrossFit Games, “but I think … it’s more important for me to show the community how to handle that with grace than with… Continue Reading

On Episode 283 of CrossFit Radio, host Justin Judkins interviewed two female CrossFit Games competitors: Natalie McLain from Colorado and Michelle Letendre from Quebec. This episode was webcast live at 6 p.m. PDT on Wednesday, July 3, 2013.

2:20 Natalie McLain placed second at the South West Regional and qualified for the CrossFit Games for the first time. She gave her thoughts on the Regional competition and talked… Continue Reading

Mike Hoge of Comal CrossFit missed Regionals in 2012 but figured it was because the competition was getting better and better.

When he started losing weight, performing poorly at the gym, waking up with a dry mouth and urinating frequently, Hoge used the Internet to come up with a self-diagnosis of diabetes. Turns out he was right on, and he was hospitalized shortly after that.

“I remember just putting my… Continue Reading