Roundtrip Tour

A collection of 83 posts

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New Mexico: The Land (and Sky) of Enchantment

There is an inexplicable sense of magic in the air as soon as you enter New Mexico. This sacred land is a Southwestern gem, a place where the natural world, culture, and spirit are entwined. I wanted to find out what made this place so magical in the first place,

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Tuscany, Italy—In Search of Iconic Images

Ah, Tuscany. This magical region of northern Italy paints so many iconic images in the mind of anyone who has ever seen TV shows or magazine articles featuring it. Rolling sun-kissed fields of velvet green with winding unpaved roads, lined with tall cypress trees leading to idyllic hilltop farmsteads. Medieval

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The Boys of Summer, Part 3: Illinois to Washington

Although baseball is a beloved pastime on the East Coast, the age-old American sport is merely an echo that travels gently toward the Pacific Ocean. There are no obstructions along its path, so it might resonate with the people trapped in the noise. After Wrigley and Guaranteed Rate fields (the

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Costa Rica: Cruisers in Paradise

The Great Getaway is BMW Motorrad’s organized trip to locations chosen specifically for the R 18 cruiser. With tours in Portugal, Costa Rica, and Oregon, BMW is partnering with local tour companies to lead these trips. These aren’t intense ride-rinse-repeat type tours (which can be great) but rather

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Northern California: The Coast Range

The Mapquest route from Ashland, OR, to San Francisco, CA, heads due south for 350 miles, covering the distance in a little over five hours. You could go that way. However, if you’re up for a slight detour—only an extra 600 miles and three more days—you can

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Touring the National Parks

I feel that national parks are in my blood. Growing up in Alberta, Canada, I was spoiled by the proximity of the Jasper and Banff National Parks. I caught my first fish in the turquoise-blue waters of a glacier-fed mountain lake. During my teen years, I summited multiple glacier-capped peaks

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Valley of the Gods—A Good Adventure for Father and Son

“The adventure leads the ride.” —JJ Lewis It was July, 107 degrees, and not a sliver of shade in sight. My son Ben had just ripped a gash in his rear tire on the razor-like rocks so common in this part of the northeastern Arizona desert. It was a “good

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The Battle of the Twin

I returned home from the October 2023 press launch of the BMW R 1300 GS in Málaga with mixed feelings. On one hand, I was totally enthusiastic about the bike's brilliant handling on the road. On the other, I was disappointed by the event’s too-short off-road part.

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Cuba: A Land of Promises and Problems

Only 10 minutes after giving the safety briefing, my motorcycle slipped on a piece of greasy road and I fell. Another 10 minutes after our guide told us the rain was gone for the day and we didn’t need rain gear, we were in a monsoon. Near the end

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Japan—40 Years Later

In October 1984, I took the Shinkansen bullet train from Tokyo to Hiroshima, totally unprepared for what became a three-year adventure of living in Japan. In October 2023, almost 39 years to the day after my first arrival, I got off the Shinkansen from Tokyo to Okayama. This time, I

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A Mindful South American Journey

As motorcycle enthusiasts, we must acknowledge that our passion for nature and adventure has a significant environmental impact. However, selling our bikes isn't the solution. This journey through Chile and Argentina aims to describe both epic adventures and simple acts with the potential to create a positive impact.

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Tuscan Tryst: Exploring Europe with a Zavorrina

Lesa and I have always traveled unconventionally. We began married life with an eight-month backpacking honeymoon adventure that included renting a BMW K 75 in Sydney and heading up into Australia’s Blue Mountains with a tent strapped on the back. We often joke that we’ve been on t

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Baja California—Monkey Business

With the picnic tables dotted among the ponderosa trees of Arizona long gone, we rode onto what looks like a nose-diving dragon—775 miles in body and 200 miles in girth—from Mexicali in the north to Cabo San Lucas in the south. The Baja peninsula, or Baja California, is

Roundtrip Tour

A Year In Review: Top RoadRUNNER Tours of 2023

Stories from the road are what we are known for. We don't just write about places that we think might be interesting to visit, we actually ride there. When you read RoadRUNNER's tour editorial, you know our team of experienced motorcycle travel journalists have put the

Nov/Dec '23

Italy: Apples & Speck

Italy beckons many riders. Although some might be put off by recent reports of punitive noise regulations and reduced speed limits, those restrictions only apply on a few roads in the summer or near urban areas with high air pollution. The Italian Dolomites is still one of the best regions

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Ducati’s Second Annual Giro Alpino

Overlooked by Mount Mansfield, Stowe is a recreation haven in northern Vermont. The town is likely packed with more miles of hiking and skiing trails than it has residents, considering its population of only around 600 people. An enormous fiery-red tractor trailer emblazoned with a huge white Ducati logo pulled

Nov/Dec '23 Premium Content

Arizona: Cowboys, Miners, and the Devil's Highway

The red-sashed cowboy welcomed us to Tombstone, AZ. The outlaw challenged the Earp brothers as the O.K. Corral standoff began. “Wait, there are motorbikes in the street!” Joshua Manning and I were parked at Tombstone’s main street, the first stop of our epic Arizona route. The tour included

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Riding the 2024 Kove Rally 450

A few years ago, I was at a motorcycle trade show in Chongqing, one of the world’s largest cities in the heart of China. It was a chaotic affair, and the noise and strange bikes probably traumatized me a little. The event almost made me lose interest in the

Sep/Oct '23 Premium Content

ZenMoto Part 4: Oregon to California

It takes just one day off the bike for all of my gear to leap out of the bags and be strewn all around the room. It’s been a good day off in Jacksonville, OR, but it’s time to gear up for the final stretch. Ocean It’s

Sep/Oct '23 Premium Content

Along the Waterways of Ohio

As Florian and I saddle up in Zanesville for our Ohio roundtrip, it occurs to me that the Buckeye State often doesn’t get its due. Phrases like, “flyover country,” “your hometown river is flammable,” “mistake on the lake,” and “Hey, at least we’re not Michigan,” don’t exactly

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Ukraine's Heart of Darkness

On a clear summer day, with the sky that deep rich blue they always seem to use on holiday postcards, the pure white clouds fought with the endless miles of brilliant yellow sunflower fields for our attention. Occasionally, the vibrant blanket of color turned to a patchwork quilt of wheat

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California: A Ride Along the Eastern Sierra

Geoff, this is not good. I can’t see anything!” “Can you see the yellow line down the middle of the road?” “Well, yes.” “That’s all you need to see.” That is a short snippet of bike-to-bike communication my wife Liz and I went through while riding Carson Pass

Sep/Oct '23 Premium Content

Peru: Altitude and Adrenaline

I squinted my eyes in disbelief. Clouds had started to gather, crowding the sky like lumbering beasts. On a grinding wheel of terror, a whole city’s worth of boneheadedness came crashing down like a shelf full of shoes, all around my head at once. Initially, Lima’s bustling Miraflores

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Central California: A Study In Contrast

Nature does not always define borders the way humans do. An imaginary line scrawled on some obscure document can define and separate societies, but Earth itself has more dramatic means of doing so. California is a case study in how, just below the surface, the planet resembles a butcher’s

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MotoGP 2023

Way back in 2005, my good friend Andrew Ferguson and I witnessed Nicky Hayden win the MotoGP race at Laguna Seca. What a glorious day it was for both him and Colin Edwards, who placed second ahead of Valentino Rossi. Hayden rode Honda and the Yamaha bikes were colored yellow