Tours

Nov/Dec '09 Premium Content

East Africa

We are in Cape Town, South Africa, our bikes parked behind us. Bathed in the pink glow of the evening sun, our bodies weary and worn, we have ridden 24,000 miles through 11 African countries. We walk over the sand down to the water's edge, where the

Nov/Dec '09 Premium Content

PART I: Ohio River Scenic Byway - Cairo, IL to Maysville, KY

Our time on the Ohio River Scenic Byway is a journey that starts at river's end and flows almost a thousand miles upstream to its beginning, passing through an ever-changing landscape of people, history, scenery, and events. Time is a sort of river of passing events, and strong

Nov/Dec '09 Premium Content

The Central Sierra Nevada and Yosemite

In 1986, CBS created a mini-series that parodied the overwrought primetime soap-opera melodramas of the decade ("Dallas", "Dynasty", "Falcon Crest"). In this series, titled "Fresno", the California city was lampooned for its civic pride, especially its status as the 64th largest city

Nov/Dec '09 Premium Content

Shamrock Tour® - Jackson, Tennessee

In 1925, the Grand Ole Opry began riding the crackle of amplitude modulation (AM radio) into the foothills around Nashville. Not far west, in Memphis, the blues had long before cast its spell across the Mississippi Delta. But in the early 1950s, where the periphery of Appalachia finally merges with

Sep/Oct '09 Premium Content

Shamrock Tour® - Ashland, Oregon

On November 27, 1941, travelers on US Highway 99 south of Yreka, Caifornia were astonished to find a band of men blocking the road and waving hunting rifles. They handed out a Proclamation of Independence, which informed one and all that the State of Jefferson was in "patriotic rebellion

Sep/Oct '09 Premium Content

Rhode Island and Eastern Connecticut

My trip begins next to an 11-foot-tall green frog. On a spool of thread. On a bridge. Seriously. In the Connecticut town of Willimantic that's how they commemorate a peculiar bit of colonial history. One night in 1754, a terrible racket woke the local citizenry, and fearing an

Sep/Oct '09 Premium Content

Reader Ride - Washington State

So goes the old country song, and in today's economy those words fit most of us more snugly than we care to admit. Nevertheless, we freedom-loving, travel-addicted, wind-in-the-face motorcyclists will find a way to explore, even when our budgets can't stretch far enough to allow for

Sep/Oct '09 Premium Content

West Africa

In the dim morning light, a glance down at my watch confirms it's 6:30am. We broke camp and left Dakhla (Morocco's southernmost town) an hour ago. I ease my grip on the handlebars and take in a deep breath. The wind drying my face does

Sep/Oct '09 Premium Content

The Yukon

Dual sport riding is about sacrifice. It's about sacrificing comfort, taking on a little weight, giving up some road manners and, in the name of adventure, embracing the fear of the unknown. Within sacrifice lies balance, and in the case of dual sporting it's providing the

Sep/Oct '09 Premium Content

Southern Louisiana

The guys in the garage at the Transportation Revolution finish giving me directions just as a bank of inky clouds unleash their payload. Having no desire to guide the Triumph Scrambler into a curtain of precipitation, I wait patiently and try to contemplate the magnitude of the first leg of

Sep/Oct '09 Premium Content

Part 2: St Clairsvile, OH to Vandalia, IL

Because the National Road had channeled considerable prosperity to communities along its path east of the Ohio River, the states of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois implored Congress to extend the road through their territories, all the way to the Mississippi River. As the National Road stretched westward, however, trains became

Jul/Aug '09 Premium Content

Reader Ride: Sweet Virginia

Between the Blue Ridge and the Alleghenies lies a mystical land that has attracted pioneer farmers, statesmen, soldiers and settlers. It brims with scenic beauty and inviting roads of escape, all interwoven among the valleys and hills of this lush region. It's more than enough to make any

Jul/Aug '09 Premium Content

Vancouver Island, British Columbia

The sign is up for "Free Beer: Tomorrow" in the pub where Steve, Jim and I sit planning our Vancouver Island tour. And it seems that the gratification of good old West Coast sunshine will be delayed another day, too. The forecast promises the weekend will be fine,

Jul/Aug '09 Premium Content

Into Africa

Clinging precariously to the northern tip of Africa, Ceuta is the last Spanish enclave in this vast continent and the point from which our Moroccan adventure begins. At the border, it's late November and 100 degrees. We park in the shade, and Lisa has to remain behind, guarding

Jul/Aug '09 Premium Content

Eastern California

When I first learned to ride a motorcycle over a year ago, there were two places I wanted to go: Alaska and Saline Valley, a long, remote desert basin on the west side of Death Valley. Within the first year of learning how to ride, I did both. The California

Jul/Aug '09 Premium Content

Baltimore to St. Clairsville, OH

Road building in eighteenth-century America had always been a local responsibility, but an Act of Congress in 1806 called for a federally constructed road that would connect the waters of the Atlantic Ocean to those of the Ohio River. Baltimore, Maryland, an important shipping port, is where the National Road

Jul/Aug '09 Premium Content

Southeastern Arizona

As we are finishing a preview of a typical Frank Lloyd Wright museum tour, our gracious guide, Kimberly Higgenbotham, tells us that when asked which of his projects was his favorite, Wright would invariably reply "the next one." It occurs to me that this might be my own

Jul/Aug '09 Premium Content

Shamrock Tour® - Savannah, Georgia

Kathy and I have heard many tales about Savannah, Georgia's great food, fun pubs, and its arts atmosphere for years. And though many Southern sojourns have taken us tantalizingly close, the quick going-elsewhere spell of the super-slab has always prevailed. Until now our glimpses of the grand, old

May/Jun '09 Premium Content

Coastal Carolinas

As fall leaves swirl, the prospect of closing out the riding season becomes all too real. Shorter days and colder temperatures effectively squelch the freedom to just ride away on a whim. But occasionally, autumn will tease out one last enticing forecast that offers just enough room to roam. Bidding

May/Jun '09 Premium Content

Reader Ride: My Sunday Escape

Life is full of responsibilities, but the moment I turn the key on my motorcycle, the cares and pressures of everyday life begin to slowly subside. At the end of a 70-hour week, the open road irresistibly calls out with the promise of freedom and excitement. I have been fortunate

May/Jun '09 Premium Content

India, Nepal & Bhutan

"Of the gladdest moments in human life is the departure upon a distant journey into unknown lands. Shaking off with one mighty effort the fetters of Habit, the leaden weight of Routine, the cloak of many Cares and the slavery of Home, man feels once more happy. The blood

May/Jun '09 Premium Content

Western Norway and Russia

The ocean crossing from the Scottish Highlands to Norway has taken 22 hours. Waiting for the okay to progress ashore, I sit astride my BMW GS on the ferry's worn polished deck and do my best to ignore the cold, gnawing wind. My thoughts drift back to countless

May/Jun '09 Premium Content

North Central Oklahoma

In Choctaw, Oklahoma means 'land of the red people'. The recorded history of the region began when Spanish explorer Coronado traveled through in 1541, searching for Eldorado, the "Lost City of Gold." The Indian Removal Act of 1830 forcibly, and cruelly, relocated many southern Native American

May/Jun '09 Premium Content

Lake Michigan

"I love this state. When I was in the Marines, I couldn't wait to come back here," says the state trooper as he hands back my license. Thankfully, that's all he's handing back - no reprimands, no strings and no tickets attached.

May/Jun '09 Premium Content

Shamrock Tour® - Paso Robles, California

Known for its great variety of country roads, hillside vineyards, valley vistas and ocean bluffs, California's central coast has long been a favorite locale for photo shoots. And for motorcyclists, the town of Paso Robles is a perfect base from which to launch a shamrock tour of this