ROADS ARE THE INTERNATIONAL PLAYGROUND FOR MOTORCYCLE RIDERS. Curvy roads, scenic roads, mountain roads, river roads, ocean roads, desert roads, canyon roads, fast roads, slow roads, paved roads, dirt roads, gravel roads, sand roads, bad roads, high roads, low roads…they’re all places for motorcycle adventure, amusement, camaraderie, solitude, contemplation, exhilaration, relaxation, and the freedom that is the heart of riding.
Some of the simplest pleasures in life include the sublime enjoyment of riding along scenic, rural roads with the engine pulsing a relaxing note of harmony with the surrounding world and a rider’s soul.
My favorite roads include ribbons of asphalt and/or dirt through National Parks in the United States and Canada, as well as byways that head through U.S. National Forests all over this great land, and plenty of lesser known roads that were merely squiggly little lines on various maps throughout North America that summoned my acquaintance.
Of course all the roads that comprise the National Scenic Byway system are at the top of my favorite riding experiences.
It’s very difficult, at least for me, to isolate any one favorite road, but since I tend to visit local roads more regularly than those on the other side of the continent, I’m quite fond to re-visit again and again Pacific coastal roads, including Pacific Coast Highway 1 through the Big Sur region of California, as well as the various California central-coastal region roads that wander through mountains, forests, lakes, rivers, all in addition to the ocean. Having said that, the road that I get to enjoy the most, because it is so close to where I live, is California Route 33: Ongoing Motorbike Marriage, and the network of roads that cross it.
However, I’m more interested in YOUR favorite roads! Add your favorite roads below. (And if I haven’t ridden your favorite one yet, I’m going to contemplate it for my future, and I bet others who read this will, too).
The Manali to Leh/Ladakh Highway in India crossing some of the highest mountain passes in the world, including Rohtang Pass, Baralacha Pass, Lachulung Pass and Taglang Pass has always been the pilgrimage for all Motorcyclists, not just in India but throughout the World.
Not to mention the adventure experience while riding this road / or THESE roads for there isn’t a single ashphalt way always; mud, loose rocks, snow, black ice, icy stream crossing, broken down make-shift bridges, high-altitude sickness & desolate chilling mountains; it still has those STUNNINGLY BEAUTIFUL LANDSCAPES to fill your memory or your photo album whichever you prefer, with snaps of a lifetime.
Diehards like us take this road every year on an annual pilgrimage ending at K’Top (Khardungla) & each year come back with new experiences.
We in India call it GETTING LEY’D !!
This road is open only between start-June and mid-September when the snow is cleared from the road by the Border Roads Organisation. The Highway was designed, built, constructed and maintained in its entirety by the Indian Army.