Motorcycle Rides, Roads and Self-Guided Travel
This section focuses on local and international motorcycle rides, roads and self-guided travel experiences from the editors of Rider magazine. Some of the articles you will recognize from print, and others are web exclusive. Click on any of the images to see the sites in a larger format. Planning a trip of your own? Check out RiderDiaries.com to see over 100 tour articles from the editors of Rider complete with large-scale ride maps, and dealership, accommodation and biker-friendly locators.
Colorado Chasms: Riding the other Canyonlands
Kathleen Kemsley
June 4, 2012
(This Favorite Ride was published in the June 2012 issue of Rider Magazine.) Story and photos by Kathleen Kemsley Colorado is best known for its lofty peaks, and rightly so. Those reaching at least 14,000 feet in elevation, known as Fourteeners, number 53 in this not-flat state. A lesser-known side of... Read more »
Great Motorcycle Riding and Camaraderie in Québec, Canada
Scott A. Williams
June 1, 2012
(This article was published in the June 2012 issue of Rider Magazine.) Story and photos by Scott A. Williams Heading north from the U.S. into the Canadian province of Québec requires crossing an international border. It also involves crossing a cultural border. Experiencing some of that culture firsthand... Read more »
Waiting for the Volcano: Motorcycle Travel in Ecuador
Dexter Ford
May 2, 2012
I felt stupid. Not a new experience, to be sure. But this time, even more than usual. I’d been invited to ride a motorcycle through Ecuador. Which sounded like a great idea. It did, however, raise some basic questions. Like what—and where—is Ecuador? I feel just a little smarter now. It took 10... Read more »
A Tale of Two Lakes: Riding the Circle Tour
Stacy V. Bearse
May 1, 2012
I’m a careful planner, but the key to this journey was decided by the flip of a coin. Heads, clockwise, tails, counterclockwise. It was tails, so my journey would take me up the eastern shore of Lake Michigan, across the top of Lake Superior, and back home along Lake Michigan’s western shore. My... Read more »
The Olympic Peninsula: Travel in Northwest Washington
Rider Magazine
April 30, 2012
Story and photos by Phil Buonpastore When I wake up in the morning, the first thing I do is look out the window. It’s a habit I’ve acquired since moving to the Seattle area. Given the sometimes long periods of cold and rainy weather from October to April, any clear day warrants an immediate change... Read more »
The Haul Road: A Motorcycle Tour of Alaska’s Dalton Highway
Frederick Tressler
April 4, 2012
My first ride to Alaska in 2008 was a 15-day, 7,600-mile affair and the fulfillment of a long delayed dream. Yet I still had the nagging feeling of unfinished business. In many ways it merely stoked my appetite for northern travel. This time getting to Alaska involved a 21-day, 8,400-mile round trip... Read more »
Newfoundland Adventure: Motorcycle Travel Feature
Jeff McQueen
April 3, 2012
I had ridden 1,000 miles to catch the 11:30 a.m. ferry to Newfoundland. But I was late and lost and boarding closed in 10 minutes. I had made the classic GPS mistake—punched in a destination without checking a map. I was in Sydney, Nova Scotia, but the ferry was boarding in North Sydney, 12 miles away.... Read more »
Pennsylvania Motorcycle Tour on a Kawasaki Versys
Lance Oliver
March 2, 2012
There is a perfectly serviceable bridge on Interstate 84 that carries me across the Delaware River from New York into Pennsylvania in seconds. I know. I’ve crossed it many times over the past 28 years. But not today. Today is the sort of morning that gives June its good reputation. At the beginning... Read more »
High Adventure in Colorado and Utah
Steve Larsen
February 1, 2012
[This High Adventure in Colorado and Utah was originally published in the September 2011 issue of Rider magazine] Few regions in the United States have more low-traffic miles of wonderful twisty roads and stunning natural beauty than western Colorado and southern Utah. The goal this time is to link great... Read more »
Riding Among Giants, A 2011 Kawasaki Concours 14 ABS Tour Test
Greg Drevenstedt
January 26, 2012
Our motivations differed, but our destination was the same. Having fallen under the spell of majestic redwoods several years ago at Muir Woods National Monument, north of San Francisco, she wanted to see big trees. Having fallen under the spell of the Kawasaki Concours 14, winner of our last sport-touring... Read more »
