Nov/Dec '15 Premium Content Jefferson, Texas Shamrock Tour®: Bayou Chiefs It is 1901. Dirt roads are evolving from indian trails and wagon routes to connect a country in the midst of a technological revolution. George M. Hendee and Carl Hedstrom have just completed their first 1.75-horsepower prototype of the Indian Motorcycle in Springfield, MA. More than 114 years later,
Sep/Oct '15 City Escape: Tucson, Arizona > This southern Arizona loop ride includes varied road types, picturesque scenery, and well-placed historic towns. Riders will get a taste of the Old West, peruse eclectic art, and enjoy rich desert flora and fauna. It’s a fall, winter, and spring ride since the summer temperatures in the southwest
Sep/Oct '15 Premium Content The Oklahoma Adventure Trail: Mission Impossible “We’re taking the bypass,” a wise James Pratt belts out from aboard his faded yellow Suzuki DR-Z400. “I’m out of gas and there is no way these guys will get those pigs through the woods in this muck.” The “woods” we are about to enter are a segment
Classic Roads Premium Content Route 66 West: Riding the Mother Road Today, when people think about Route 66, they see visions of dramatic expanses of southwestern desert and the adventure of exploring the wide-open country. At its peak, the stretch of 66 through New Mexico, Arizona, and California was a bustling highway as Americans moved west to seek their fortunes. Then
Jul/Aug '15 Premium Content Trans-America Trail, Colorado to Oregon: Detours, Broken Bones, and New Friendships As if on cue, my new riding partner, Luke Swab, rolls into Fairplay, CO, on a Yamaha WR250R, where I am waiting to meet him by the side of the road. I’m relieved, yet I’m apprehensive to have a riding partner. The first half of the journey had
Classic Roads Premium Content Route 66 East: America’s Main Street More than any other stretch of pavement, Route 66 imprinted the open road into the American psyche and helped shape the cultural fabric of the nation as the automobile came of age. The historic route can trace its origins back to 1857 when the Army Corps of Engineers began work
Jul/Aug '15 City Escape: Austin, Texas > More sweepers than tight curves—explore the countryside southwest of Austin, which will appeal to every type of motorcyclist. From President LBJ’s ranch to German culinary delights, this route has it all. To include all stops along the way, plan ahead and hit the road early in the
May/Jun '15 Premium Content Sedona, Arizona Shamrock Tour®: Mountains High and Valleys Low I wake to a beautiful fall morning, and standing on the terrace of my room at the Matterhorn Inn, I am afforded a spectacular panoramic view of the red rock formations that characterize this city. I wanted to explore Sedona and the surrounding area by motorbike since I first passed
May/Jun '15 Premium Content Trans-America Trail, Tennessee to Southern Colorado: Banjos, Tears, & Corn Nubbins I have arrived in Tellico Plains, TN, and the official starting point of the Trans-America Trail (TAT). It took thousands of miles just to get here, but as I prepare to make my first turn onto the trail, I feel a weight and a reality of what I am about
May/Jun '15 City Escape: Oklahoma City > This mixed terrain ride takes you by The Round Barn, through an old ghost town, and returns via Route 66, where a restored WPA-era armory and the Seaba Station Motorcycle Museum make history of your rowdy scramble down Oklahoma's backroads. Spring and fall are the best riding
Jan/Feb '15 Premium Content Arizona and New Mexico: Southwestern Diversity “To those devoid of imagination a blank place on the map is a useless waste; to others, the most valuable part.” Author, Aldo Leopold As motorcyclists, we are by nature attracted to the lines and dots on a map. However, those blank places that Leopold referenced are what make a
Nov/Dec '14 City Escape: Albuquerque, New Mexico > This loop ride north of Albuquerque, with its rugged natural beauty, pre-historic Native American ruins, and the “Atomic City,” will not disappoint. It features curvy ribbons of asphalt, expansive vistas, and numerous reasons to drop the kickstand. The moderate southwestern climate makes this route ride-able virtually year-round with the
May/Jun '14 Premium Content Arizona Backcountry Discovery Route: American Walkabout What am I doing with my life? Where am I headed? We all reach a point when we question ourselves and the meaning of life. Maybe you’re stuck in a dead-end job, maybe you’re not getting along with your spouse, or maybe the ever-increasing demand for your attention
Mar/Apr '14 Premium Content Big Bend, Texas: Into the Great Wide Open We wake to sunny skies, a forecast in the mid-70s, and our bikes are ready to go. As I pull on my boots, my pulse quickens. I sense that this is going to be a great day for riding. Stepping outside, I find it hard to believe that it’s
Nov/Dec '13 City Escape: Austin, Texas > A romp through the eastern edge of Texas Hill Country. Tall, rugged hills with thin layers of soil on top of limestone or granite rock make for a scenic backroad excursion through a western movie-set landscape. Length Approximately 226 miles Meet-up spot Starbucks, 12400 SR 71, Austin, TX. Lunch
Sep/Oct '13 City Escape: Phoenix, Arizona > You’ll experience a diverse loop that includes a high desert lake and historic mining towns. This route is rideable virtually all year. Length Approximately 225 miles Meet-up Spot Cindy’s Arizona Café, 124 E Mckellips Rd, Mesa, AZ, (480) 655-1349. Lunch Stop Libby’s El Rey Café, 999
Jul/Aug '13 Premium Content Arkansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma: Chasing Dragons It’s a long ride from my home in Oklahoma to Deals Gap, the twisty, 11-mile section of Highway 129 bordering Tennessee and North Carolina also known as the “Tail of the Dragon.” But rumor has it that eastern Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Missouri are infested with elusive serpents just waiting
Mar/Apr '13 Premium Content Texas: Hill Country Few would deny that digging into the ground of the 28th state would yield anything less than red, white, and blue dirt, so rolling into this part of the country on anything other than a Harley can feel a little like going to a cross-stitch party without any needles. That
Jan/Feb '13 Premium Content Arizona, California, Nevada, and Utah–Grand Canyon: A Solo Gal Lives a Dream Being a single mother means that I need to pull some pretty big strings to be able to get away for a solitary week-long ride. Moving Heaven and Earth is worth it, though, to free me from those squeezing daily demands. It is a quest for reinvention that sends me
Nov/Dec '12 Premium Content Reader Ride – Texas: Palo Duro Loop, The “Other” Grand Canyon You can ride the rim of the Grand Canyon, but you can’t take your motorcycle down to the bottom. Want to get the “feel” of a canyon without taking a donkey ride? Visit Palo Duro Canyon in Texas, America’s “other” Grand Canyon! At 120 miles long, 600 to
Sep/Oct '12 Premium Content Colorado and New Mexico: Down the Rio Grande It happened in the winter of 1874. Five prospectors hired a man to guide them across the San Juan Mountains. Weather was severe that year; the men fought huge snowdrifts and extreme low temperatures. Progress was very slow. No game for hunting was to be found, and the party ran
Sep/Oct '12 Premium Content Reader Ride - Oklahoma: Ghost Hollow Road Steam rises from the blacktop like smoke signals as we approach the bridge girders over Skeleton Creek. I slow the big BMW R 1200 GS and keep Susan’s bright yellow F 650 in my mirrors as we duck under a canopy of trees. Our early morning ride brings us
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 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
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.
