Bill Colihan, BE '82, has a bit of an adventurer's soul. It's evident in his passion for his work--he's president of Knowledge Express, a King of Prussia, Pa., online research company--and in his love of motocross, a sport he's been involved with since childhood.

Colihan's not sure what initially attracted him to motocross--best described as cross-country racing on motorcycles--but he's certain it had to do with the element of speed and excitement.

"I would have been no more than 5 years old, and I must have seen a movie or something on TV where there was a dune buggy riding across the desert," the Kimberton, Pa., resident recalls. "This made an indelible impression. I knew I wanted to do that; wanted to be riding real fast, just flying along."

His father helped young Bill get a realistic start on his dream by getting him a mini-bike. It was the start of a lifelong love affair. Within a few years, Colihan--who was the neighborhood kid who got other boys interested in motocross--advanced to bigger bikes, and, by ninth grade, motocross or MX, as enthusiasts call it, had become an all-consuming passion. When it came time to choose a college, Colihan found that the University of Delaware had everything he wanted.

"Delaware had a reputation as a very good school that was reasonably priced and had a beautiful campus," Colihan says of his decision to attend. There were other selling points as well: He could keep his motorcycle on campus, and there were enough tracks in the area to keep his hobby going. (When at UD, Colihan mostly rode between his classes on a makeshift track behind the Chrysler plant.)

Now a married father of two, Colihan says his passion for motocross remains undiminished--as does his determination to stay fit enough to be able to partake in it. This means lifting weights five times a week and riding his mountain bike in Valley Forge Park near his office during lunch breaks.

"To be doing this at my age, you need to have a training regimen," Colihan says. "I work out constantly, but it's totally worth it because riding, to me, is the most fun thing in the world."

Motocross, he says, requires both strength and precision, making it a "combination of boxing and ballet.

"It's like boxing in the sense that you can get quite banged up, and like ballet in that you're engaging in the sport hopefully with an element of grace in your riding," he says.

And, when you're actually zipping along at speeds of up to 65 mph, you can go into a flow-state so intense--"the moto zen"--that you lose track not only of time but also of the awareness of how much exercise is involved in the sport.

While the youth-oriented X Games--and young stars like Travis Pastrana and Jeremy McGrath--have made motocross "hip," the demanding sport, overall, doesn't have many practitioners over the age of 40. But Colihan--who actually knows a few MX-ers in their 70s (and hopes someday to be in that category)--has a solid group of like-minded/aged biking buddies who typically meet once a week at private MX racetracks to compete against each other for practice. Call them "Baby Zoomers" enjoying a sport that Colihan says helps keep him young.

"Our neighbors think we're crazy, our wives think we're silly and our kids think we're cool," he says. "It keeps you totally in the present, and you need complete focus. You're making decisions every second, and your body is simultaneously doing bench presses and squats as mud splashes and rocks fly with every jump. The adrenaline is just flowing, and on each lap, you try to kick it up a notch. I just can't imagine anyone who's ever done this not always doing it. It's that much fun. It's that thrilling."

Colihan brings the same zest for motocross to his professional career with Knowledge Express, which he joined in 1994, becoming president five years later.

Colihan, who also holds an MBA from Villanova University, started his career at IBM in the Philadelphia area, where he worked for a decade. At Knowledge Express, he has created an environment that encourages all employees to "have a genuine passion for what they're doing."

The company has clients--corporations, colleges and government agencies--in 26 countries and is often used to gather information through a searchable data base before bringing a new technology to the business market. The company, Colihan says, "serves a tremendous need. ... In addition to the fun and creativity behind it, what we do has a real human benefit, such as providing information needed to create new drugs and vaccines.

"We're very customer-service oriented. We value everyone's opinion, including our employees and our clients, and, as a result, we have a high customer retention rate," he says.

Knowledge Express has the kind of progressive work environment in which Colihan says he thrives. There are no set sick days or vacation days, yet everyone is accountable for their impact in the company.

"It's up to you to determine what you need and what you're comfortable with," he says. "The system isn't abused and people are treated like responsible adults. Everyone has a stake in our success. Everyone is proud of what we're doing. This is more than just a way to earn a paycheck."

Between his job, his hobby and his family life, Bill Colihan is a busy and content man. "I'm having a great time," he says. "Each day, on and off the track, is an adventure."

--Nicole Pensiero