Tours

Sep/Oct '05 Premium Content

Portugal: Curves, Culture, Cuisine

Either the flight to Portugal took more out of me than I thought or my normally nutty dream pattern has been kicked up a notch. Somewhere within the jet-lagged haze of a nap, a distant cuckoo clock chimed fifteen, paused, and began another rhythmic announcement of an hour well past

Sep/Oct '05 Premium Content

Scranton, Pennsylvania

What is it about riding the back roads that creates such an intimacy with the surroundings? Maybe it's the heightened sense of awareness that's required for this type of riding. The mind is wide open, processing not only the sights, but the rhythms and even the

Jul/Aug '05 Premium Content

Shamrock Tour® - Ashland, Wisconsin

Nightfall, and after a long tiring ride we turn into the drive of The Inn at Timber Cove, our tour base camp. Hidden behind old, massive trees, this romantic Bed and Breakfast lies in a lush green meadow. The owners Tina and Brian Miller escort us to our cottage and

Jul/Aug '05 Premium Content

Rhode Island

An hour out of the Big Apple on my 2004 BMW Rl150R, I spy surly, fat, gray clouds rushing belly-up behind me in the mirrors. I, in turn, rush east on the super-slab of I-95 through Connecticut. I'm on my way to begin my tour of the biggest

Jul/Aug '05 Premium Content

South Africa: Between Cape and Kingdom

Braai (equivalent to an American barbecue) is the first word in Afrikaans that many travelers learn simply because they're invited to them so often. Having a braai involves grilling something over a fire, from huge succulent steaks to whole fresh fish. And it always tastes very lekker. In

Jul/Aug '05 Premium Content

Medford, Oregon

Commitment isn't what it used to be. Each New Year's Day millions commit to lifestyle changes that last, on average, two weeks. Couples vow " 'til death do us part," yet divorce is commonplace. True commitment  -  a parachute jump, for example  -  offers

Jul/Aug '05 Premium Content

Arkansas

Farm tractors churning earth on either side of I-40 west of Memphis have created finely powdered clouds the prairie gusts tumble over the featureless landscape. Target: Gold Wing. Thanks to the conspiratorial workings of Mother Nature and John Deere, the grit slowly building on my sunscreen-slathered face has inspired images

May/Jun '05 Premium Content

Florida Panhandle Tour

The R rule is one of the seafood basics I remember from my younger days on the Chesapeake Bay. If a month contains the letter R, it's OK to eat oysters. My destination is the Florida Panhandle, the month is February, and the Apalachicola area of the Panhandle

May/Jun '05 Premium Content

Shamrock Tour® - Around Gillette, Wyoming

Mention Gillette, Wyoming, to most people and you'll get a blank stare. Motorcyclists may show a glimmer of recognition and a puzzled frown. When you add "90 miles west of Sturgis," the lights come on. Western-based bikers frequently stop for gas here, northeast Wyoming's

May/Jun '05 Premium Content

Southwestern New York

I've been hammering the Interstate for the last nine or so hours and I'm ready to quit for the day. Despite the surprising comfort of the Aprilia Falco and the diversion of my trusty iPod, I'm beginning to wilt. Thankfully, the mileage numbers to

May/Jun '05 Premium Content

Colorado Pass Roads

Parked at Extended Stay America in the Denver suburb of Aurora, I make sure the reinforced steel cable lock wraps around the front wheel and frame of my '04 Electra Glide. This baby's goin' nowhere. The next morning I'm packed, ready to roll, and

May/Jun '05 Premium Content

Piaggio X-9: Eastern Shore Maryland

It's amazing how a few years of separation can inspire a whole new outlook on things previously unnoticed. Having grown up in Annapolis, Maryland, I was aware of the region's deep historic roots. But, like most teenagers, my coming of age concerns centered on girls, parties,

May/Jun '05 Premium Content

Sweepers, Samba, and Sugarloaf

The flight was long  -  8 hours from Miami  -  and although it was a night flight, I was too excited about the upcoming tour to sleep well. Drowsy, I staggered from the plane. A morning brew of warm, humid air swamped my face. A curtain of gray clouds concealed

May/Jun '05 Premium Content

East Africa: Among Gorillas, Lions and Elephants

A washed-out track that winds through green banana plantations to the Ugandan border has led us here. And once inside the post on the Kenyan side, it's obvious we've committed the serious offense of disturbing a well-fed immigration officer during his power nap. Call out the

Mar/Apr '05 Premium Content

Hunting Mountains in the Heart of Dixie

Years ago while on our way back to college in Western Maryland, my friend Rick and I stopped at a wide spot by the road next to the Potomac River. We simultaneously picked up rocks and hurled them into the current. Rick opined that it's impossible to stand

Mar/Apr '05 Premium Content

The Land Chief Joseph Lost

On a blue-sky July day in tiny Joseph, Oregon, a carpet of golden grassland stretches north to the horizon, hemmed by a line of sturdy, white-topped mountains. So much land, so few people. You'd think there would have been enough to go around. And there almost was. Until

Mar/Apr '05 Premium Content

Iron Country Getaway

Industry and the Ohio River go hand in hand. Mighty tugboats muscle teams of barges laden to the waterline with raw materials destined for factories and power plants along the banks. Despite the fact that Ohio may not be experiencing the best of times, it is obvious that this area&

Mar/Apr '05 Premium Content

Northeast Africa: Fear & Roving in Africa

If not for these unnerving roadblocks all the time, Egypt could be really enjoyable. A boiling hot ribbon of tar takes us through the densely populated Nile Valley. Palm trees lining the shores of the mighty river rush by. The lush green sugarcane plantations are dotted with workers dressed in

Mar/Apr '05 Premium Content

Through Trees of Stone

The wind howls across the Arizona plains as I aim a Honda Gold Wing 1800 toward the Petrified Forest National Park on US 180 east. I lean the 850-pound machine into the gusts to hold a straight line. The Painted Desert spreads before me  -  a vast horizon of cracked

Mar/Apr '05 Premium Content

Bakersfield, California Shamrock Tour®

Arriving at John Wayne Orange County Airport, the "Neuhauser Motorcycle Gang" is excited to begin their explorations in yet another area of Central California. In the next few days we'll roam over four loops in the Bakersfield area and our base, the Four Points Sheraton, is

Jan/Feb '05 Premium Content

Charleston, South Carolina

Call me crazy, but I have this firm belief that motorcycles should be on a trailer for only two reasons: mechanical issues and the absence of a license tag. If you want to ride somewhere, ride to get there. This goes for scooters too. When I told people I was

Jan/Feb '05 Premium Content

Alaska

Tired, I stumbled into the airplane. Heading for Seattle on a BMW K 1200 GT, I had left Spokane at five o'clock in the morning. Four hours later, I spotted the city skyline, made for the airport and eventually fell into my seat totally worn out. Only a

Jan/Feb '05 Premium Content

Riding the Royal Road: Australia's Princes Highway

The Hume Highway is a one-day straight shot of superslab, notorious for the fleets of truck convoys thundering over its tarmac, their drivers reputedly addled by sleep deprivation and amphetamines. Aussie bikers call it the "Gloom and Doom," and avoid it like warm beer.Then, there's

Jan/Feb '05 Premium Content

Egypt: Eventually, All Roads Lead to Egypt

Our ridiculous predicament in Ras Ajdir, the small border post between Tunisia and Libya, began three days ago. The slow emigration procedures on the Tunisian side of the border had taken ages and we arrived dead-tired late at night, obviously not the best of times to cross a frontier. Despite

Jan/Feb '05 Premium Content

Southwestern Wisconsin

As the miles roll on across the Southern Wisconsin countryside, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that agriculture is big around here. This fact is certainly not lost on my wife Kathy, occupying pillion. Each time the large fields of stock change, she announces it