What’s Your Favorite Motorcycle Road?
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 [...]
Death Valley Motorcycle Camping
VERY BIG NATIONAL PARK
This weekend kicked off my 2009 touring season with an annual trek to Death Valley National Park, and back to the Pacific Ocean.
This trip was only an 800 mile adventure, and, as usual, included a lot of great roads (in and out of the park). It’s also the first motorbike camping [...]
Motorbike Maps, GPS and Columbus
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS AND OLD-FASHIONED MAPS
Maps for motorcycle adventurers have come a long way since I was a kid back in the days of that famous Italian, Christopher Columbus. There certainly wasn’t any GPS for motorbikes back then, heck, there wasn’t even widespread consent that the earth was round. (At least the maps were flat).
In [...]
Motorcycle Desert Enchantment: Death Valley National Park
There are lots of motorcycles in Death Valley National Park. Including every type of bike. And for good reason: There are all kinds of great motorcycle roads for whatever your riding pleasure may be. Sport-Tourers, Cruisers, Sport Bikes and any other street legal machines will enjoy slaloming up and down mountains, easing [...]
Camping/Riding Joshua Tree National Park
When contemplating California, if you think only of Hollywood and beaches, be forewarned: Joshua Tree National Park (JT to the locals) is anything but that! The Pacific Ocean and Hollywood are only about 150 miles away, but JT seems like another planet.
JT is a desert enchantment located in southeastern California and seemingly created specifically [...]
California Route 33: Ongoing Motorbike Marriage
The Ventura-Maricopa Highway (California Route 33), and the section known as Jacinto Reyes Scenic Byway (in honor of the first Hispanic National Forest Ranger), must have been specifically created for motorcyclists. Either that, or motorbikes were created in anticipation of this roadway: Motorcycles and Route 33 are a marriage made in scenic-riding, motorbike heaven.
In [...]
Big Sur + California Highway 1 = Motorcycle Nirvana
It’s a pretty simple equation: No matter where you live, if you are a motorcycle rider in pursuit of the best roads, you have either already ridden Highway 1 through the Big Sur region in Central Coastal California, or it is part of your future.
Officially designated as an All American Road, and featuring views [...]
Big Sur Adventure Riding and Motorcycle Camping
For Big Sur riders inclined towards sleeping in the great outdoors, there are several campgrounds on the coast, including Pfeiffer State Park, Kirk Creek, and Plaskett Creek that are situated right off California Highway 1. They are popular and tend to be filled through much of the summer. I’m especially fond of Plaskett.
Some [...]
Motorcycle Paradise: CA Route 150
40 miles? That’s all!? Oh, but these are not regular miles. These are 40 miles of heavenly motorcycle bliss for any rider venturing through Ventura County, California. Some of the highlights include excellent pavement, mountains, hills, canyons, mountains, lakes, rivers, valleys, mountains, very few traffic lights or stop signs, excellent food, [...]
Highway 166 and Runaway Throttle Syndrome
Do you have a problem with RTS (Runaway Throttle Syndrome)? You know, the tendency of that little right-hand grip to accelerate “all on its own” leaving you smiling past the scenery at triple digit speeds. I hate that! (I particularly hate it when it’s called to my attention by well-meaning peace officers).
If [...]
G16: Pavement Slaloming to the Pacific
Quiet. Wonderfully peaceful. A soft, late morning breeze rustles through the tall, brown grass. With motorcycle resting on the shoulder on a crest of G16 in Central California, I stretch my legs for a walk about 100 yards down the deserted road for a better photo vantage of this sunny Monterey County [...]
CA Routes 178 & 155, Bovines and Motorcycle Space Aliens (Part I)
Interested in a little bovine accompaniment on your mountainous road trip? I, for one, prefer to view cows that are corralled away from roads. Nevertheless, on this motorcycle excursion, plenty consider the road as theirs. (Moreover, I don’t like to argue with critters that weigh more than my bike, gear and self [...]
CA Routes 178 & 155, Bovines and Motorcycle Space Aliens (Part II)
What about bovines in the road?
I assure you, they’re waiting ahead!
Although I didn’t observe any cattle on Lake Isabella water-skiing, jet-skiing or windsurfing, plenty of non-bovines do. The infamous cows of this ride seem to prefer hiking and camping as their form of recreation and there’s plenty of that higher up in the mountains.
Lake [...]
CA Routes 178 & 155, Bovines and Motorcycle Space Aliens (Part III)
I observed plenty of cattle on the shoulders of Rt. 155, including a few that were completely blocking the pavement. However, coming around one blind turn I encountered parts of a herd on both sides of the asphalt with one fine bovine dead center in my lane. Had I been riding a little [...]
Motorbikes Beware: Pinnacles National Monument
Like your roads wide and telling? Then you won’t like Route 146 in Central Coastal California, leading wayward motorcycle riders to Pinnacles National Monument. Replete with enough narrow roadways, blind corners, and secret twists that you may want to trade in your motorbike for a unicycle to better navigate your way back home.
Starting [...]
Twisted Grip Personality Test
