Meet The New Rider # 1301 Erik Azar

About Me

My name is Erik Azar, and my love for motorcycles started when I was six years old. My dad came home one day with a used Honda QA50, and that little dirt bike changed everything for me. In my teens my parents didn’t allow me to own a motorcycles while I lived at home, but the moment I moved to Silicon Valley for work in my early twenties, I bought my first bike to commute between San Francisco and Mountain View. I’m not loyal to a single brand or type of riding style, I love all motorcycles and I’m willing to try any style of riding.

That daily ride quickly became something much bigger. I spent weekends racing amateur events and exploring the mountain roads of Northern California with friends. When I started a family, riding took a backseat to raising three kids and building a career, but the pull toward adventure never went away. It was just waiting for the right moment to come back.

Why I Want to Ride in the Hoka Hey Motorcycle Challenge

In late 2021 and early 2022, I lost both of my parents. That loss forced me to stop and think about where my time and energy were going. I realized I’d drifted away from the things that once fueled my sense of purpose. With my kids grown and on their own, it felt like the right time to reclaim a part of myself that had been on pause. I created a website to begin sharing my adventures called Life Unpaused, although I’ve not been as good as I’d hoped about keeping it up to date. I’m too busy out riding.

In 2022, I got back into motorcycling and discovered the world of long-distance adventure travel. I traded my old Harley-Davidson Road Glide for a BMW R1250GS Adventure and spent that year exploring backroads and BDRs, covering over 10,000 miles. One night at a BMW club meeting, I heard someone talk about riding from Key West to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska. The moment I heard it, I knew I had to see if I could do it too.

 

In 2023, I rode solo from St. Augustine, Florida, all the way down to Key West and then up to the Arctic Ocean via the Dempster and Dalton Highways—over 16,000 miles in four weeks. That ride pushed me harder than anything else I’ve ever done and reminded me how alive I feel when I’m out there testing my limits. I raised just under $5000 for the American Lung Association in honor of my parents.

The next summer, while living on Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula for the summer, I watched Hoka Hey riders pass through Soldotna. I stood on the roadside cheering them on and following their progress online with daily updates from KSolo’s Podcast. There was something powerful in watching that kind of focus and determination roll by—the spirit of grit, purpose, and truth that defines what the Hoka Hey is all about.

My Charities and Fundraising

Cancer took my mom in 2022, and I’ve lost more than a few friends to it over the years. It’s a disease that touches nearly every family in some way. 

For 2026, I’m raising funds for the Child Cancer Fund, a Northeast Florida organization that’s been helping families through childhood cancer for more than 30 years. They provide not only financial help for medical expenses but emotional support when it’s needed most.

 

 

I’m also raising money for Mile Monsters, a group dedicated to fighting Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD)—a rare and aggressive form of muscular dystrophy that primarily affects young boys.

The Hoka Hey Challenge, for me, is more than a test of endurance. It’s a chance to live by the values that sit at the heart of the ride—respect, honor, integrity, and compassion—while pushing myself and giving back in the process. Riding for these kids and their families adds deeper meaning to every mile.

If you’d like to support my fundraising effort, please visit my website or donation links below. Let’s ride with purpose, push limits, and make every mile matter.



My travel blog and charity info:Life Unpaused


Donate to the Child Cancer Fund:Child Cancer Fund


Donate to Mile Monsters:Mile Monsters Inc


Erik “Glitch” Azar
HH #1301