Tours

Mar/Apr '07 Premium Content

Southwest Georgia: Spring Below the Fall Line

Fleeing south on Interstate 85, I'm feeling relieved to have, once again, successfully completed another circumnavigation of the city of Atlanta. The sheet-metal maelstrom known as Interstate 285, encircling the Capital of the South, arguably has the capacity to supply more "interesting moments" than any road

Mar/Apr '07 Premium Content

Montana: Into the Big Sky Sunset

Heads still awhirl from a day of amazing sights in Yellowstone National Park, Kathy and I exit the West Entrance and suddenly enter the town of West Yellowstone, Montana. Even though the shadows are lengthening, we decide that it's better for us to push on past this crowded

Mar/Apr '07 Premium Content

North Carolina: Nags Head Revisited

Up until a few months ago I didn't have any fond memories of Eastern North Carolina. The unfavorable impressions that I retain spring from long-ago drives to Nags Head on the Outer Banks  -  dull, dispiriting trips taken in old, mephitic cars packed with battered musical equipment and

Mar/Apr '07 Premium Content

Canada: Meandering in Manitoba

You don't always need a Paris-Dakar race-rally replica with a jacked-up saddle, a monster fuel tank, and knobby tires to ride in exotic places. Equipped with a normal street bike and a healthy sense of adventure, you can leave the pressures of daily living behind and easily escape

Mar/Apr '07 Premium Content

Colombia: The Far Side Of The Moon

Riding a motorcycle around the world is the ultimate learning experience. Take Colombia. Whenever Uwe and I had thought about the northwestern-most country in South America, we immediately imagined drug cartels, chaos, and danger. We could only visualize the dark side of a country whose people have lived through many

Jan/Feb '07 Premium Content

Connecticut: Cruisin' the Constitution State

Despite being one of the most heavily industrialized states in the nation and occasionally being derided as nothing more than a "suburb" between Boston and New York, Connecticut has plenty of attractions and sites of historic import, as well as some beautiful and scenic roads to offer the

Jan/Feb '07 Premium Content

Alaska: A Ride Under the Midnight Sun

The sign is in bold black letters, and reads: "Stop. Authorized vehicles only." So we stop. We are in an Indian reservation called Mentasta Lake. Riding on the Alaska Highway from the Canadian border, we were heading southwest from the town of Tok on Hwy 1 until we

Jan/Feb '07 Premium Content

Wyoming: Of Prairies, Peaks, and Pronghorns

Loneliness must have come to the rolling hills of southern Wyoming just to get away from it all. It liked what it saw and settled down. And we can feel it trying to grab hold as we cross the treeless landscape, rolling along over the smooth surface of Highway 191.

Jan/Feb '07 Premium Content

Iceland: Reykjavik and the Golden Circle

On the basis of its name, you'd expect Iceland to be swathed in snowdrifts and its shores locked in a frozen sea. But thanks to the warming influence of the Gulf Stream's ocean currents, the coarsely serrated coastline that looms through swirling clouds in the window

Jan/Feb '07 Premium Content

Peru to Ecuador: In the Footsteps of the Incas

The cobalt blue waters of Lake Titicaca are dotted with fishermen in their reed boats. At an altitude of 12,628 feet, the air is crystal clear. White clouds hang low over the red and brown hills of the Altiplano, reflected in the mirror-like surface of the lake. Irrigated maize

Jan/Feb '07 Premium Content

The Flight of Davis and Lee

From the beginning of the American Civil War, "On to Richmond" became the rallying cry of Union troops. The Union victory at the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863 was a turning point in the war, and the bulk of both armies eventually entrenched and fought around the cities

Jan/Feb '07 Premium Content

Shamrock Tour® - Bardstown, Kentucky

In many places, life is governed by stressful, pell-mell routines. Rush-hour traffic, get it done yesterday, I need that on my desk by five  -  now move, move, move! No wonder there always seems to be an underlying need to escape. That's why many of us ride. Out

Jan/Feb '07 Premium Content

Around the Delaware Bay

Hot humid weather makes the conditions for this day trip less than ideal, but I hardly notice any discomfort. My 1989 Honda GB500 single is sending lovely vibrations throughout my body as I rumble through one of the most historic areas in America Anchors Aweigh My 250-mile circumnavigation of Delaware

Nov/Dec '06 Premium Content

Northeast California

It's 6:00 a.m. when I awaken in my room at the River Inn in Redding, California, the sun streaking through a gap in the drapes. It's early summer and the city is sleeping off the pyrotechnic display and festivities of last night's

Nov/Dec '06 Premium Content

Shamrock Tour® - Lexington, Virginia

According to the road signs, we're closing in on Natural Bridge, Virginia. Normally, it's a good thing to be nearing the night's comfort zone, especially after nine hours of riding on a hot summer day. But this evening is different. Kathy and I are

Nov/Dec '06 Premium Content

Pennsylvania's Great Lakes Region

Pennsylvania's historic Oil Heritage Region and its border on lovely Lake Erie beckon us northward from central Ohio for a three-day motorcycle tour. Running late, we fly up Interstate 71 toward Cleveland, then head northeast on I-90 toward the city of Erie, Pennsylvania, and I'm wondering

Nov/Dec '06 Premium Content

Classic Roads: Highway 191 - Utah

As the remaining miles of Arizona's claim to Highway 191 dwindle to single digits, we look back on all we've seen. From its cool, high-mountain passes to sweltering, wind-blasted deserts, the Copper State has presented some of the most imposing scenery we've ever encountered

Nov/Dec '06 Premium Content

New York Scooter Tour

Stand on a New York City subway platform in the summer and you'll know how Dante felt at the gates of Hell. Down there, beneath the melting tarmac, the air is so thick with heat it can be cut with a plastic knife. The subway cars are air-conditioned,

Nov/Dec '06 Premium Content

Italy: Two By Two Through Tuscany

"The traffic rules in Italy aren't so much rules as suggestions," our tour guide says at our pre-ride briefing. "You can pass cars anywhere, just do so safely. Drivers here don't care; in fact, they expect it of you." Despite my lingering

Nov/Dec '06 Premium Content

Brazil: From the Amazon Basin to Rio

With the crossing by canoe of the rocky waters of the Mamoré River, we leave the tropical north of Bolivia and resume our two-wheel journey, heading north into a new and fascinating world called Brazil. A five-hour ride on intensely hot pavement takes us through lush fields to the town

Sep/Oct '06 Premium Content

North Dakota Roundtrip

'Throttle up and start cruising,' the North Dakota motorcycle map recommends. Sage advice I conclude while steering the Gold Wing out of the small town of Williston. The vast prairie does beckon in a beguiling manner, yet one can't help but feel a slight sense of

Sep/Oct '06 Premium Content

Shamrock Tour® - Palm Springs, California

I have a theory that most males are fascinated by either wheels or spheres. The latter group spends much of their recreational time chasing a ball or watching someone else do the same. The "true" wheel guys share a passion for transportation, and they couldn't care

Sep/Oct '06 Premium Content

Northeastern Michigan: Bay City and Presque Isle County

The opposite ends of this tour take in two different worlds connected by great scenic roads. In Bay City, you can stay busy sightseeing, shopping or sampling the night life. And over in Presque Isle County where the simplest pleasures hold sway, you can stroll in settings of undeveloped serenity

Sep/Oct '06 Premium Content

Classic Roads: US Highway 191 - Arizona

A little north of Tombstone, the coyote (Roadrunnerus digestus) emerges from the low scrub brush on the dusty shoulder of Arizona's Route 80. He stops mid-trot and watches with apparent nonchalance as our RoadRUNNER Gold Wing (Burn-em-upus asphaltus) breezes by. But I'm not fooled by his

Sep/Oct '06 Premium Content

North Carolina Mountains

In my younger, more impetuous days, my old buddy Rich and I were known for embarking on road trips that often defied logic in their timing and execution. Never sticklers for details, we'd throw caution to the wind and, on a whim, hit the road with reckless abandon.