Tours

May/Jun '12 Premium Content

Hot Springs, Arkansas Shamrock Tour®: The Valley of Vapors

The Ouachita (wah-shi-tah) River runs through it: the largest mountain chain between the Rockies and the Appalachians. The gentle folds of the ancient Ouachita Mountains offer some of the best motorcycle roads in America. We’re based in a place that Native Americans called the Valley of the Vapors, so

May/Jun '12 Premium Content

California: Digging Up History in San Diego County

Eighty years ago, travelers to the gold rush town of Julian in remote eastern San Diego County had a different tale to tell about getting off the beaten path. Today, paved roads and the civilized world occupy nearly every mile of the backcountry. Escape isn’t so remote anymore, but

May/Jun '12 Premium Content

Reader Ride - Tennessee: Dual Sport Waltz

Mar/Apr '12 Premium Content

Taos, New Mexico Shamrock Tour®

The Sangre de Christo Mountains tower like a wall above the Taos Plateau. This will be my playground for the next few days. The sceneis particularly impressive when approaching the range in the late afternoon, when it is lit by the sun from the west—a beautiful sunset is almost

Mar/Apr '12 Premium Content

Virginia: Crooked Road Tour

I’m no music expert; riding motorcycles is my thing. Sure, I still dabble with playing bass in a local garage band and can claim a fat-fingered mastery of a chord or two on the six-string. But music, like riding, certainly doesn’t require a professional license to enjoy. A

Mar/Apr '12 Premium Content

Southeastern Ohio

Roller coaster roads hugging the curves of the landscape like someone rolled out a ribbon of asphalt, cresting hills with merging side streets, off-camber curves left and right—yes, these are the roads of southeastern Ohio. The adrenaline always rides high on these roads, because it’s always a thrill

Mar/Apr '12 Premium Content

World Travelers: Pamir Highway and Silk Road

The Pamir Highway: Since time immemorial, the Silk Route (M41) in Central Asia has existed as an artery of trade connecting west to east and north to south. Contrary to its name, the Silk Route is not a singular road but a web of ancient tracks and rock-strewn trails trodden

Mar/Apr '12 Premium Content

Reader Ride: Northern Vietnam

My husband, Josh, and I decided before starting a family that we really needed a BIG bike vacation. We wanted culture shock. Yet without a lot of money to spend and no previous adventure travel experience, we found it. Toronto to New York, west to Seoul, then arriving in Hanoi

Mar/Apr '12 Premium Content

Arkansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma

Arkansas’s 19th-century western border bumped up against what was then Indian Territory. Although the Native American tribes enforced their own laws, the territory had become a haven for outlaws seeking refuge from American justice. The borderlands between Arkansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma have a colorful history and some of the

Mar/Apr '12 Premium Content

Ottawa Valley: Oh, Canada!

June in Canada can make you forget that “Great White North” is the nickname for our neighbor above, for no signs of frosty, snowy whiteness appear anywhere. Rather, the tapestry of the Canadian countryside wraps the landscape in lush layers of summertime green spiked with colorful threads of blue, yellow,

Jan/Feb '12 Premium Content

World Travelers: Russia

As soon as I board the RUS ferry headed for Vladivostok, I can't help but notice that times are changing - and it's not just because the clocks are adjusted to Siberian Time. Once the hospitable, carefree environs of Japan are left behind, you immediately get

Jan/Feb '12 Premium Content

Adirondacks, New York

A mecca of sorts for motorcycle touring believers, the Americade in Lake George, NY, draws riders from throughout the U.S. and Canada to make this epic journey each June. For six days, heaven on two-wheels ensues, as countless tours, demo rides, vendors, and camaraderie fill the Adirondack Park. Ken

Jan/Feb '12 Premium Content

Reader Ride: Wyoming

The Big Horn Mountains in northern Wyoming include 200 miles of the most picturesque pavement in the Cowboy State. Situated midway between the Black Hills of South Dakota and Yellowstone National Park, the Big Horns are home to towering peaks, rocky canyons, and fast-flowing mountain streams. Every bend in the

Jan/Feb '12 Premium Content

Southeast Europe: Adriatic Rollercoaster Tour

Europe is a fantastic venue for motorcycle touring, thanks to its astounding variety of terrain and gorgeous scenery, ability to visit several countries and cultures within a short time and distance, and its long and fascinating history. The Edelweiss Adriatic Rollercoaster tour promises “motorcycling at its best combined with spectacular

Jan/Feb '12 Premium Content

California Coastline

Imagine the Pacific Ocean crashing against the rocky coast of California’s northern half, a ribbon of asphalt longer than a day’s ride drawing the line between the land and the sea, and you’re on your way there right now. Your flight is booked, your motorcycle rental is

Jan/Feb '12 Premium Content

Kansas

In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue, and he taught the world a thing or two. Why then do I find myself in the middle of Kansas thinking that maybe ol' Chris got it wrong? I've ridden more than 30 miles since lunch and haven't

Jan/Feb '12 Premium Content

Tour of the Week: Rockville, Indiana, Shamrock Tour®

A horse-drawn buggy moves at a trot along a gravel road walled-in by regimented rows of verdant green cornstalks. The driver slows the horse to a walk before entering the dark confines of a red covered bridge, gracefully spanning a laconic stream’s slow-moving waters. The buggy emerges on the

Nov/Dec '11 Premium Content

Reclusive Labrador

We have every intention of riding to Alaska someday, but since we aren’t prepared to take that much time off work a ride on the Labrador is calling our names. We chat with our riding buddy Glenn Parker about it, and he says it’s one of those roads

Nov/Dec '11 Premium Content

Ellijay, Georgia Shamrock® Tour

I knew that Florian and I were in for a great Shamrock Tour® when I woke to the softly layered Appalachian mountains stretching out in front of our hotel, with a twisting two-lane highway cutting an inviting path between them. Four days later, parking our Harley-Davidsons for the last time

Nov/Dec '11 Premium Content

Eastern Kentucky

Guided by a symphony of commands, the tires of my V-Strom 650 carve graceful arcs along the ribbon of pavement draped at the base of a rock wall. A different type of carving, to be sure, than that of Yellow Creek, whose efforts helped form nearby Cumberland Gap. At the

Nov/Dec '11 Premium Content

Rocky Mountains Part II: Wyoming, Idaho and Montana

The owner slowly scuffles toward the entrance of his café, unlocks the door, and lets us in. Like him, the interior is simple, original and down to earth. Breakfast is the same: a huge pot of coffee, hash browns, bacon and eggs. Eat it or leave it. But something else

Nov/Dec '11 Premium Content

California

I’m just finishing a leisurely 100-mile cruise through California’s Joshua Tree National Park on a late afternoon in April. I head north on Highway 247, and soon after entering this massive OHV area, strong wind gusts from all directions start shoving around my laden, 712-pound Honda Interstate cruiser.

Nov/Dec '11 Premium Content

Central Europe

Expectations were high when Christa, the publisher of RoadRUNNER, asked me to put together my favorite route through Europe for her readers. “Great, how much time would they have? Two months? Maybe three?” I asked. “12 days,” was her short and definite response. That’s when it got tricky. Through

Nov/Dec '11 Premium Content

Peru

…At 13,123 feet (4,000 meters), we stop to add liners for warmth and sip hot Coca tea. The world that is The Andes transforms before us: the flora and fauna, the native peoples, the texture of the landscape that defines this magnificent mountain range – everything looks majestic here,

Sep/Oct '11 Premium Content

Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee

It doesn’t take much to prompt a tour at the RoadRUNNER offices, especially after an unusually cold winter – at least by our thin-blooded Southern standards – has been keeping us annoyingly close to home. So when coworker Florian called and announced that two Can-Am Spyders were in dire need of