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.
Gorgeous Columbia: Seattle to the Columbia River Gorge and Back
Phil Buonpastore
December 4, 2012
When it comes to unspoiled natural beauty, the Columbia River Gorge ranks as one of the most stunning places on earth. While that may sound like an overly hyped statement in an overly hyped world, in this case it happens to be true. Few places combine as many elements of beautiful geography and topography—mountains,... Read more »
Scouting the Cumberland Highlands in Tennessee
Clement Salvadori
November 9, 2012
I was sitting at a picnic table under a large tree in front of the Cyclemos Motorcycle Museum savoring one of Vinnie T’s burgers with all the trimmings, and a fellow on the other side of the table said, “You’re not from around here.” “Nope,” I agreed, as I looked over the map of Tennessee... Read more »
Catskills Escape: Curves and Coolness in New York’s Reservoir Valleys
Mike Koplen
November 7, 2012
Say “New York” and people think of Manhattan with its skyscrapers. But most of New York State is rural, with excellent motorcycle roads throughout. From my home in the lower Hudson Valley, I can ride 25 minutes south across the George Washington Bridge into the Big Apple, or head north and cruise... Read more »
The Long Way to Monterey and Morro Bay, California
Tom Culbertson
October 9, 2012
It’s 6 a.m. on a Wednesday as I head out of Port Hueneme, California, north to Monterey—the long way! There are so many fantastic back roads through this remote and pristine Central-Coast countryside that every trip is a unique and rewarding adventure. Today, riding my BMW R 1100 R, I catch Highway... Read more »
Motorcycle Travel Through the Rocky Mountains
Don Metz
October 8, 2012
The high mountain passes of the Rocky Mountains are an incomparable motorcycle touring experience, ringing with the legacy of tens of thousands of gold prospectors who fearlessly blazed trails across them in search of riches. Sunsets over the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains are often a spectacular... Read more »
Cloverleaf Around Yakima, Washington
Alan Paulsen
September 11, 2012
When I last visited my friends Brian and Pam Rafferty in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, to develop an article (Connecting the Dakotas, Rider, August 2009), they weren’t of a mind to leave one of America’s most livable cities. Well, the economic travails of the times dictated that they pull up stakes... Read more »
Touring the Forgotten Iron Range in Wisconsin and Michigan
Gary Ilminen
September 6, 2012
Late in the 19th century, in Wisconsin’s far north and on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, above ground thousands of men hacked out a living logging the state’s vast hardwood forests. At the same time, thousands of feet below the surface, hard rock miners blasted and hammered out millions of tons of... Read more »
Motorcycle Travel in Hope, Whistler and the Sea to Sky Highway
Ken Bingenheimer
August 8, 2012
It was noon when my wife, Judy, and I left the rental shop in Vancouver where we had picked up the 2011 Harley-Davidson we would be riding the next few days. The GPS on the Electra Glide Ultra Limited had been set to guide us out of town to Hope along British Columbia 7. From there we planned to double... Read more »
A Scootour of Puerto Rico
Lance Oliver
August 7, 2012
Sometimes you just need to take a ride. Even if circumstances aren’t optimal. Even if there are obstacles to overcome. Even if those around you react with, “You want to do what?” That’s how I came to find myself on Puerto Rico Route 191, a narrow road of tight switchbacks that climbs 2,000 feet... Read more »
Motorcycle Travel in Iowa: Taking The Old Lincoln Highway Across The Hawkeye State
Clement Salvadori
July 24, 2012
Story and Photos By Clement Salvadori I was a little concerned about riding through Iowa in June of 2011. Nothing to do with bandits, earthquakes or extra-terrestrial beings, just two big rivers. That spring, middle America was in full flood, with huge amounts of snow melting and heavy rains, and I was... Read more »
