Jul/Aug '15 City Escape: Santa Clarita, California > Santa Clarita lies just north of Los Angeles along the West Coast’s main north-south corridor, Interstate 5, so it’s easy to get to from many surrounding areas. Just north of town is Six Flags Magic Mountain amusement park, with fantastic roller coasters, and Castaic Lake, which offers
Jul/Aug '15 City Escape: Jacksonville, Florida > The low-lying coastal region surrounding Florida’s largest city isn’t home to lots of curves that many motorcyclists crave. However, what a rider will find along this day ride from the city are lovely little seaside towns, southern swamps, and quiet rural communities to give one a much-needed
Jul/Aug '15 Premium Content Wisconsin: A Finger in the Lake On the northern tip of the Door County peninsula, the waters of Green Bay meet those of Lake Michigan creating a particularly dangerous stretch of water known to the region’s first French explorers as Porte des Morts Passage or the “Way to the Door of the Dead” (aka Death’
Jul/Aug '15 Premium Content Trans-America Trail, Colorado to Oregon: Detours, Broken Bones, and New Friendships As if on cue, my new riding partner, Luke Swab, rolls into Fairplay, CO, on a Yamaha WR250R, where I am waiting to meet him by the side of the road. I’m relieved, yet I’m apprehensive to have a riding partner. The first half of the journey had
Jul/Aug '15 Premium Content State College PA Shamrock Tour®: Roads Less Traveled It’s early October in central Pennsylvania as days grow shorter, temperatures decline, the air is crisp, and fall foliage blooms. I’m reminded that it’s been 11 years to the month from when I did my first tour here for RoadRUNNER under the tutelage of magazine founder, Christian
Jul/Aug '15 Premium Content Switzerland: Lakeside Luxury One country and four different languages—Switzerland spreads various cultures and sheer beauty between the pearls of Lake Lucerne and Lake Maggiore. Helicopters are circling. A dozen police bikes are riding toward us. We get stopped right at the top of Albula Pass. The reason is harmless and almost disappointing:
Jul/Aug '15 Premium Content Reader Ride–Utah Highway 12: It's the Journey and the Destination In my impetuous youth, I felt the kickstand was my sworn enemy. I was one of those guys who wore continuous hours of saddle time as a badge of honor and total miles for the day like the crown jewel on my riding tiara. In my more mature years, I
Classic Roads Premium Content Route 66 East: America’s Main Street More than any other stretch of pavement, Route 66 imprinted the open road into the American psyche and helped shape the cultural fabric of the nation as the automobile came of age. The historic route can trace its origins back to 1857 when the Army Corps of Engineers began work
Classic Roads Premium Content Route 66 West: Riding the Mother Road Today, when people think about Route 66, they see visions of dramatic expanses of southwestern desert and the adventure of exploring the wide-open country. At its peak, the stretch of 66 through New Mexico, Arizona, and California was a bustling highway as Americans moved west to seek their fortunes. Then
May/Jun '15 City Escape: Oklahoma City > This mixed terrain ride takes you by The Round Barn, through an old ghost town, and returns via Route 66, where a restored WPA-era armory and the Seaba Station Motorcycle Museum make history of your rowdy scramble down Oklahoma's backroads. Spring and fall are the best riding
May/Jun '15 City Escape: Seattle, Washington > This circuit includes Seattle's own volcano, Mount Rainier, climbs over the 5,430-foot Chinook Pass, goes through Mount Rainier National Park, and returns via the Puyallup River valley. Park entry fee is for motorcycles. Stop in charming Elbe and take a two-hour steam train ride on the
May/Jun '15 City Escape: Washington, D.C. - Virginia Hunt County > From the streets of modern-day Leesburg, VA, riders motor through the idyllic horse and vineyard country of historic Loudoun and Fauquier counties, VA, and also will navigate briefly into Maryland and West Virginia. This backroad ramble can be taken anytime from spring through fall but is most enjoyable during
May/Jun '15 Premium Content Sedona, Arizona Shamrock Tour®: Mountains High and Valleys Low I wake to a beautiful fall morning, and standing on the terrace of my room at the Matterhorn Inn, I am afforded a spectacular panoramic view of the red rock formations that characterize this city. I wanted to explore Sedona and the surrounding area by motorbike since I first passed
May/Jun '15 Premium Content Trans-America Trail, Tennessee to Southern Colorado: Banjos, Tears, & Corn Nubbins I have arrived in Tellico Plains, TN, and the official starting point of the Trans-America Trail (TAT). It took thousands of miles just to get here, but as I prepare to make my first turn onto the trail, I feel a weight and a reality of what I am about
May/Jun '15 Premium Content Québec: Epicurean and Moto Delights in Nouvelle-France A trip to the Canadian province of Québec is like going to France but skipping the long plane ride. Having been to Montreal and Québec City on a previous occasion, though, I’m looking for deeper immersion into the province’s culture and exquisite cuisine. Riding my BMW F 800
May/Jun '15 Premium Content North Carolina: Boone Town Mountain Loop Back in RoadRUNNER’s August 2014 issue we introduced our Budget Touring Project Bike. The goal was to prove how affordable motorcycle touring can be by purchasing the cheapest road worthy motorcycle we could find and take it on tour. We bought a 1984 Honda Shadow 700 for $ 1,000
May/Jun '15 Premium Content Boston, Massachusetts to Baltimore, Maryland: Life of Pie Pizza is the United Nations of food, the one dining option that a group of hungry riders can readily agree upon. Burger joints are for carnivores; salad bars are for rabbits. But pizza, ubiquitous pizza, can be customized for nearly everyone. Chew on this for a second—on any given
May/Jun '15 Premium Content Riding Baja, Mexico The year was 1972 … the last time my old man sat on a vinyl seat, pulled on a helmet, and rode off into the sunset. So, when I approached him about riding bikes in Baja for a month long journey down Mexico’s infamous peninsula, I was surprised he agreed
Mar/Apr '15 City Escape: Minneapolis, Minnesota Once out of the Twin Cities, this loop follows the Mississippi and Minnesota Rivers and countless lakes through serene landscapes that define the heartland. The best time to go is mid-May through September. Minnesotans love being outdoors in the summer, so plan accordingly. Length Approximately 228 miles Meet-up Spot Bob’
Mar/Apr '15 City Escape: San Diego, California This exhilarating day ride emanating from San Diego comes within a quarter mile of the Mexican border at its southernmost point and reaches an elevation of almost 6,000 feet to the north in Mount Laguna. In addition to the elevation and terrain changes, this route has the added attraction
Mar/Apr '15 Premium Content Ontario, Canada: Riding Explorers' Edge It’s early afternoon, and the sky is overcast with intermittent drizzle filling the air. I’m in the little town of Severn Bridge, ON, about 60 miles north of Toronto preparing to “Ride the Edge.” Up here, the locals still don’t think they’re that far north, citing
Mar/Apr '15 Premium Content Colombia: Blue Moon Over Bogotá Imagine the most amazing motorcycle road in the world. What would it be like? Would it race along the Pacific coast like California’s Highway 1? Would it launch you high into the Andes where condors soar beneath the clouds? Maybe you would be greeted by ghosts of the ancients
Mar/Apr '15 Premium Content California and Oregon: High Sierra Hoedown Call it unfinished business, if you will. In 2006, I collected a Ducati Multistrada 1000 DS from Southern California Motorcycles in Brea, CA, and set off to tour the northern Sierra. My trip would include most of the famous Golden Chain Highway, California 49, through the foothills and over the
