Tours

Mar/Apr '04 Premium Content

Northeast Oregon

During my saunter around Northeast Oregon, I realize John Day is a big deal in these parts. There's John Day River, the John Day Fossil Beds and John Day City. Not bad for an ordinary member of John Jacob Astor's 1810 fur trading expedition on its

Mar/Apr '04 Premium Content

Shamrock Tour® - Chattanooga, Tennessee

Three days, three states, a Triumph Thunderbird Sport and Moto Guzzi Café Sport sound like a recipe for adventure to me. So, when the phone call came through to ask if I wanted to come along, it certainly didn't take much more than a split second to sign

Mar/Apr '04 Premium Content

Western Massachusetts

Adventure is going into the unknown. Even on familiar roads, I can never anticipate what will be seen or experienced. Nor can I predict how it will all end. As my bike dove into an impossibly green canyon, these thoughts arose superimposed on beautiful images of the landscape and analysis

Mar/Apr '04 Premium Content

Mexico: Copper Canyon, A Ride Back in Time

Most people visit Copper Canyon by rail, a spectacular ride on the Chihuahua Pacifico Railroad, crossing 39 bridges and 86 tunnels along a rift bigger than the Grand Canyon! Quite an adventure if you're partial to traveling in boxes, but the rugged scenery and cultural gems of the

Mar/Apr '04 Premium Content

Northern Pennsylvania

Gliding silently around the sweeping curves of Route 287 on our second day, we venture deeper into the north woods of Pennsylvania. Riding in the cold half-light of an overcast fall morning, we suddenly throttle back for road construction up ahead. The flagman, surprised to see three apparently lost souls

Mar/Apr '04 Premium Content

Hot Springs California

The hot springs of Paraiso, Esalen, and Tassajara are known as the 'Ah Spas.' Line them up for an afternoon ride, and you're in for some serious Central California soaking. Pick the right day and you may meet actor Branscombe Richmond and his wife Lei. As

Jan/Feb '04 Premium Content

Northern Colorado

Riding northern Colorado means climbing through the Rockies and cruising past wide-open cattle country. The roaming up and down near the Wyoming border encompasses some of the most thrilling areas for motorcycling we've experienced. It's a perfect day for motorcycling. Fresh pine-scented air blows by and

Jan/Feb '04 Premium Content

Italy: Sella Ronda - Demonic Curves in the Dolomites

After two years absence from good old Europe, Christa and I are back to refresh our memories of the twisties in Austria and Italy. Great weather and an unusual heat wave welcome us when we arrive at the Munich Airport. Daniel, my brother, picks us up, and immediately he starts

Jan/Feb '04 Premium Content

Western Louisiana/East Texas

Late in March RoadRUNNER sent me south to the Sabine River Delta around Lake Charles, Louisiana, and on into East Texas to explore four National Forests and the Gulf Coast. That sounded like a top-notch trip. But from studying the map, it appeared the trip might include too many entrance-ramp

Jan/Feb '04 Premium Content

Central California

Back in the States after escaping the heat wave in Europe, the Neuhauser family  -  Christa, Manuel, Florian, and I  -  are still on the run. This time it isn't the heat; it's some unbearable NC humidity. Thankfully, our next big adventure calls us to Central

Jan/Feb '04 Premium Content

Shamrock Tour® - Marietta, Ohio

Of all the towns named in honor of Marie Antoinette after the American Revolution, the one in Georgia probably springs to mind first to most of us. But on this tour, we've traveled north and west not south to visit another royal namesake on the banks of the

Nov/Dec '03 Premium Content

Shamrock Tour® - West Virginia Shamrock

Arriving in the most northern of "southern" cities  -  Charleston, the capital of West Virginia  -  we feel right at home. It's just the right size (the population is only 58,000) with more than enough entertainments to satisfy the aimless weekend visitor: great bars and

Nov/Dec '03 Premium Content

From New Orleans to Lake Charles: Bikin' in the Bayou

"Bienvenue!" the festive signs proclaim from the town limits. Only when one rolls closer does the translation "Welcome" appear in its tiny font. A preference for French isn't the only thing unique about this road connection. Traveling from New Orleans to Lake Charles on

Nov/Dec '03 Premium Content

Oregon

A rite of passage for aspiring long-distance hikers, the Pacific Crest Trail is a pristine wilderness path skimming the ridges of the Sierra Nevada and Cascade Ranges from Mexico to Canada. Its 2,638 miles overlook some of the continent's most spectacular scenery, from the purple deserts of

Nov/Dec '03 Premium Content

Up North Michigan

The dark, narrow pavement defined by nothing more than white stripes at the edges winds through the deep shade of the forest canopy. Occasionally I catch glimpses of water far below. Impossibly blue, it stretches to the horizon and sparkles in the late afternoon sun. Homes are tucked away, nestled

Nov/Dec '03 Premium Content

New Mexico Carlsbad Caverns

It's early. The sun begins to peek over the horizon of a cloudless sky. Although it looks as though it will be a bright, beautiful day, it doesn't matter much whether it rains or shines because I'm going to descend nearly 1,000 feet

Nov/Dec '03 Premium Content

England: Dales, Peaks, and Moors

The grunginess of West Yorkshire's Victorian mill towns stands in stark contrast to the idyllic Derbyshire villages we've passed during the day. Lynn, Nigel, and I left our B&B in Ashbourne at the southern end of the Derbyshire dales and zigzagged north toward our

Sep/Oct '03 Premium Content

Shamrock Tour® - Port Jervis, New York

Only a few hours west of the frenetic streetscapes of New York City lonely passages twist through three sets of mountains  -  the Catskills, the Poconos, and the Kittatinny Ridge. We blew into Jersey's portion of the Big Apple's sprawl, hopped on two Ducatis, and fled

Sep/Oct '03 Premium Content

Idaho

Standing in Idaho City's dirt-lined, deserted Main Street, it's tough to imagine how it was 140 years ago. With more people than Portland and over 250 thriving businesses, it was a bawdy, lusty town where whisky was cheaper than water  -  and life cheaper still. Why

Sep/Oct '03 Premium Content

Southern Arizona

Few places on earth offer more diversity. One moment I'm sweating bullets and then, less than an hour later at times, I've pulled over, teeth chattering, to hurriedly button the jacket liner into my shell so I can stuff my fingertips back in my gloves before

Sep/Oct '03 Premium Content

Coastal Maine

Frosted with whitecaps, the cold sea reflects a slate-gray sky streaked with silver. The horizon has been lost. Looking east across the North Atlantic, my eyes gaze into infinity as the wind whips the tang of salted air into my nostrils. I turn up the thermostat on my Aerostich jacket

Sep/Oct '03 Premium Content

Canada: Alcan 5000

Routine city riding is not the recommended training regimen for motorcyclists planning to take on the Great White North in the Alcan 5000. Huddled with fellow rally participants in the doorway of the "World Famous" Rancheria rest stop somewhere along the Alaska Highway, we sip from our Camelbaks,

Sep/Oct '03 Premium Content

France, Limousin: Saints and Sinners

Empty country roads, cultural treasures, deep green forests and waving meadows were some of the highlights of my tour through Limousin. But on a trip like this, you also have to be prepared for encounters with knights and nobility, saints, and quite a few sinners. The crowd moves back when

Jul/Aug '03 Premium Content

Italy: Lago di Garda

Whether you live on the north or the south side of the Alps makes a tremendous difference. Storms come mostly from the west or north. Unfortunately, we live on the north side. It's August and cold rains pour down. The forecast isn't helping matters much, calling

Jul/Aug '03 Premium Content

Eastern Oklahoma

There is an odd sensation creeping through me in eastern Oklahoma as we ride. It's not very subtle, either. The Kiamichi Mountains look different, like a space created specifically for man and his gods to commune. They appear old but alive, as if they murmur ancient secrets to