Fast, comfortable and oh-so red, a Ducati Multistrada 950 from Edelweiss’ rental fleet was an ideal choice for the Morocco Tour. Behind it is the Ounila River valley and Aït-Ben-Haddou, a 17th century “ksar” (fortified village) on the old trading route between Marrakesh and the Sahara Desert. Considered an outstanding example of southern Moroccan mud-brick architecture, it has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987 and a filming location for many TV shows and movies such as “Game of Thrones,” “Gladiator” and “The Mummy.”
Morocco is one of those places that seems both familiar and unfamiliar. We’ve heard of cities like Fez and Marrakesh, and most of us can imagine their crowded, maze-like bazaars full of merchants hawking rugs and spices. Perhaps we’ve eaten couscous or tagine in a Moroccan restaurant or watched “Casablanca” a few times. But, unless we’ve been there, what we know is just bits and pieces of a rich and varied country full of hidden delights.
Located along the Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts of northwest Africa — and separated from Spain by just nine miles at the Strait of Gibraltar — Morocco has incredibly diverse topography, scenery and culture, with a mix of Berber, Arab, African and European influences. Inhabited for tens of thousands of years, Morocco has been occupied by Phoenicians, Berbers, Romans, Muslims and, during the first half of the 20th century, the French and Spanish. Independent since 1956, the Kingdom of Morocco is a constitutional monarchy with an elected parliament, Islam is its predominant religion and, by regional standards, it is politically stable and economically prosperous.
Some signs in Morocco are in three commonly spoken languages: Arabic (top), Berber (middle) and French (bottom).
The Atlas and Rif mountain ranges dominate much of Morocco, with the Atlas forming an east-west barrier that separates the temperate Mediterranean climate to the north from the arid desert climate to the south. During Edelweiss Bike Travel’s 13-day Morocco Tour, we rode along craggy coastlines, up and over rugged mountains, through deep, narrow river gorges and across desolate desert valleys. We wandered the medinas (old quarters) of Fez and Marrakesh, explored the blue-painted alleys of Chefchaouen, visited the largest mosque in Africa and rode camels across sand dunes for a night of camping in the Sahara Desert, visiting several UNESCO World Heritage Sites along the way. I’ve been on a dozen overseas motorcycle tours on five continents, and Morocco offered the best variety of roads, scenery, food and experiences of them all.
First, we had to get there.
A map of the tour route.
The tour starts and ends in Málaga, on Spain’s southern coast. After the first night’s welcome briefing, bike hand-over and dinner, we geared up and made our way southeast along the Costa Del Sol, scrubbing the sides of our tires on the winding road up to Ronda, one of Spain’s best motorcycling roads. We spent the afternoon in Gibraltar, a British Overseas Territory at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, enjoying views from its massive, 1,400-foot limestone promontory and snapping photos of its tourist-friendly population of monkeys. A ferry ride across the strait took us to Cueta, an autonomous Spanish city on the northeast tip of Morocco.
Monkeying around on the Rock of Gibraltar.
Our second day started with a hurry-up-and-wait crossing of the high-traffic border, a process handled with aplomb by our multilingual guide Angela, who has led more than 20 tours in Morocco. After several miles on a manicured boulevard lined with resorts and shopping malls, we hugged the coast on a dramatic road high above the Mediterranean. After a seafood lunch overlooking the sea, we turned inland, twisting through the Laou River canyon that forms a deep rift in the Rif Mountains.
The richness of Morocco was on full display in Chefchaouen, a 15th-century town perched on a mountainside with many of its buildings painted various shades of blue. As we explored the narrow, winding alleyways of the “souk” (marketplace) in the medina, artwork, rugs, clothing, spices and trinkets spilled onto the cobblestone walkways and steep stairs, some corridors barely wide enough for two people to pass. At dusk we heard “adhan,” the Islamic call to prayer recited five times a day by muezzins via loudspeakers atop mosque minarets. With mosques scattered throughout Chefchaouen, adhan creates a loud Arabic chorus that can be heard citywide. The next morning I was awoken by the call to prayer well before sunrise, followed by howls from dozens of dogs.
The blue buildings and alleys of Chefchaouen.
Our itinerary included two nights in Chefchaouen at two different hotels, one at the beginning of the tour and another 10 days later after making a counterclockwise loop around Morocco. From Chefchaouen we rode southwest, out of the Rif Mountains and across fertile plains to Mohammedia on the Atlantic coast. Our group was large, with 17 participants, three guides, 16 motorcycles and one support van. After each morning’s ride briefing, we split into two groups and left about 30 minutes apart, meeting up at coffee and lunch stops. From Mohammedia, one group rode into Casablanca to tour the massive Hassan II Mosque, which has a 690-foot minaret that looms over the city’s waterfront. The rest of us rode farther down the coast to El Jadida, a port city that includes the walled village of Mazagan, a fortified supply depot built by the Portuguese in the 16th century.
For our rest days in Marrakesh and Fez, Edelweiss hired a local guide who gave us a walking tour of each city’s medina. With its dark, narrow corridors full of stalls displaying produce and meat, leather goods, metalwork, ceramics, rugs, jewelry, artwork, clothing, you name it — each one with a vendor enticing you inside (“Hello my friend, you buy something?”) or haggling with a patron — the medina in Marrakesh is a high-calorie feast for the senses. Our guide Ahmed knew the complex warren like the back of his hand, leading us to a museum of carpet weaving and artisans’ workshops. We returned that night to find the medina’s wide-open plaza brightly lit and full of people, food vendors and performers.
The souk in Marrakesh. Photo by Dieter Arnoth.A snake charmer and cobra in Marrakesh. Photo by Dieter Arnoth.The medinas in Marrakesh and Fez are a sensual feast any time of day, but they’re especially vibrant at night, a true kaleidoscope of sights, sounds and smells.
The riding experience kicked into high gear as we left Marrakesh, climbing into the High Atlas, summiting a 7,415-foot pass called Tizi n’Tichka and barreling down the Ounila River valley, its corridor of green surrounded by multicolored canyon walls. We spent the night in a small village at Riad Ksar Ighnda, built in the traditional “riad” style with mud-brick walls surrounding a large inner courtyard, this one catering to tourists with lush gardens, a heated saltwater pool and a bar stocked with ice-cold Casablanca beer. Accommodations on this tour are comfortable, mid-to-high-end hotels catering to English-speaking tourists (the most common languages in Morocco are Arabic and French). Nearly all serve alcohol and have swimming pools, both welcome indulgences at the end of full riding days. The tour includes breakfast and dinner buffets at the hotels, while lunches are at local spots along the route that offer more interesting cuisine.
Throughout the 1,800-mile tour we traveled on paved roads, though in some rural or mountainous areas they were of poor quality or under construction. Outside of cities traffic was light, but sharing the road with horse-drawn carts, mopeds, tuk-tuks, dogs, donkeys or camels was common. Big motorcycles are rare in Morocco; whenever we rode through villages my left arm got tired from waving back to everyone, especially kids, who waved to us.
Our tour guide Angela delighted a group of girls with her bright red Ducati.
The most dramatic scenery was through the Dadès and Todras gorges that cut into the Atlas Mountains. After winding our way through villages along the edge of the Dadès River valley, we enjoyed a picnic lunch hosted by our guides. Then the real fun started. We burrowed deeper into the gorge, its walls closing in and looming higher until we climbed a famous set of switchbacks that took us to the upper gorge. Continuing on, the gorge squeezed down to a single-lane slot before opening up again. The best part was turning around and riding back out the way we came! After a night in a luxurious hotel perched on a hill above Boulmane Dadès, we rode farther east and into and back out of the Todras Gorge.
Our tour guides hosted two picnic lunches in scenic locations. This one was in the Dadès Gorge, and the sandstone in the background is the remnant of an ancient coral reef when the area was under the sea millions of years ago.The switchbacks that climb their way up through the Dadès Gorge is perhaps the most famous section of pavement in Morocco.
Although the area of Morocco south of the Atlas Mountains has a desert climate, only a narrow sliver of the country near the Algerian border is technically part of the Sahara. We rode into the world’s largest desert on our eighth day, with most of our group riding north to Erfoud for a rest day by the pool at the Hotel Kasbah, and eight of us going to Merzouga for a two-hour camel ride through Erg Chebbi dunes and night in a Berber-style camp.
Riding camels through the Erg Chebbi dunes on our way to a Berber camp in the Sahara.The glow from the Berber camp where we spent the night on the edge of the Erg Chebbi dunes. Photo by Dieter Arnoth.
During our late fall tour we enjoyed day after day of sunny skies and pleasantly warm temperatures. As our route turned north, we rode through the Ziz River canyon, up and over the High Atlas and across a wide plain. The cool, sunny morning turned into a cold, foggy, rainy day as we traversed the Middle Atlas, over 7,145-foot Col du Zad, through cedar forested national parks and past ski resorts.
We dried out during our final rest day in Fez, where Ahmed led us on a tour of a ceramics cooperative, the foul-smelling leather dying district and other parts of the medina. That night several of us had camel burgers for dinner! Our route back to Chefchaouen took us back into the Rif Mountains on a road that could easily be mistaken for one in the Alps, and before we knew it we were crossing the border, ferrying across the strait and putting our kickstands down back in Málaga, our hearts and minds overflowing with new experiences, memories and stories. If you’re the curious sort who’s ready for an exotic adventure, put Morocco on your list.
Edelweiss Bike Travel’s Morocco Tour normally runs March/April and October/November. Visit edelweissbike.com for details.
Jürg and Beatrice are followed by Freddy and Monika, two couples from Switzerland winding their way through the scenic Ounila River valley.Our group of three guides and 17 participants was a friendly group of folks from Germany, Spain, Switzerland and the United States.
The Intriguing Southeast Europe tour is a rider’s paradise, with exploring the region’s beautiful and lightly traveled roads taking priority over sightseeing. With an open attitude and a sense of adventure, it will be two weeks you’ll never forget. Photos by the author unless otherwise noted.
The Balkan region has had a hand in world history more often than you might think. Thanks to its geographical position, it’s always been a crossroads of culture, where farming first spread from the Middle East into Europe during the Neolithic era, and as the convergence point of Latin and Greek influence, Orthodox and Catholic Christianity, and Islam and Christianity. It’s been home to Goths, Huns, Slavs and Ottoman Turks, among many others.
For riders with an adventurous streak, the Balkans are also a fascinating place to explore, well off the beaten tourist track, where surprisingly entertaining roads with very little traffic will carry you through magical forests, along jade-colored rivers, over high mountain passes and past farm fields where workers still till the soil by hand. I first traveled to the Balkans with Adriatic Moto Tours (AMT) in 2017 (read about that here), visiting Slovenia, Bosnia and Croatia, and was smitten by the culture, history, friendly people and, most importantly, the amazing roads. So this time I opted for a longer, even more adventurous getaway that would complete my tour of the former Yugoslavia — Serbia, North Macedonia and Montenegro — as well as allow a visit to two “behind the Iron Curtain” countries, Bulgaria and Albania, and a unique opportunity to get a passport stamp from a rather controversial country, Kosovo.
The 15-day Intriguing Southeast Europe tour loops out of Belgrade, Serbia, with rest days in Sofia, Bulgaria; Ohrid, North Macedonia; and Sarande, Albania.
The Intriguing Southeast Europe tour begins and ends in Belgrade, Serbia, a bustling city that sits at the confluence of two mighty rivers, the Danube and the Sava. I arrived a day early to acclimate and explore the city on my own, which I highly recommend. Belgrade, like most European cities, is very walkable and there are several interesting museums and points of interest, including an air museum that features pieces of a U.S. F-117 stealth fighter and an F-16 that were shot down during the 1999 campaigns, a monument to the Jewish and Roma victims of a Nazi concentration camp that once sat on the riverbank (Yugoslavia was occupied by the Nazis during WWII but its people resisted valiantly and were ultimately successful in driving them out) and the Museum of Yugoslav History, burial place of dictator Josip Tito. Most of the people I interacted with spoke English, and all were friendly.
The Serbs that I met tended to be very open and matter-of-fact, and it’s clear the events of 1999 are still quite fresh in their memories. At dinner the first night, only hours after I’d arrived, two young men at the next table overheard me speaking English and they turned and introduced themselves. “I am a riverboat captain,” said one proudly. “It’s good money, more than fifty thousand per month.” He meant 50,000 Serbian dinar, which is equivalent to approximately $475. He then went on to give me his opinions on why Serbia was struggling economically and how strong Yugoslavia once was. He thought the U.S.-led NATO bombing was unethical and misguided. At the end of our conversation, he and his companion warmly bid us good night and bought us a round of drinks. If only all discussions were so civilized.
With AMT’s guides, knowing the local language isn’t a necessity, and many signs in the bigger towns and cities also included English, indicative of the region’s relatively new openness to tourism.
The second night, after a long day of walking and exploring, I met our tour group and guides at the welcome dinner. We were mostly American and Canadian, with a lone Australian, and notably there were two other single women besides myself, a first for me on an overseas tour. We’d been warned that the roads on this tour could be unpredictable — all paved, but in various states of repair — so I’d opted for a BMW F 750 GS (see sidebar here) for its light weight, easy handling and generous suspension travel. In fact, everyone had chosen BMW GS models, with the exception of one guy on his own Honda ST1300 and a couple on a BMW R 1250 RT.
Our first day of riding brought us into Bulgaria, birthplace of the Cyrillic alphabet and, up until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989, a member of the Eastern Bloc. Unlike the former Yugoslavian states, which never fully adhered to the Soviet idea of Communism and instead leaned further toward Socialism, Bulgaria went all-in with Marxism-Leninism and, as a result, has been slower to recover economically than its Yugoslav neighbors. Caution is a must when riding Bulgarian roads, as around any bend could be a horse-drawn wagon, a herd of goats, sheep or cows, an entire family clinging to a tractor or a trundling logging truck belching diesel soot. (I’m fairly certain Bulgaria does not have an Environmental Protection Agency.) As we crossed into North Macedonia, flirting briefly with the Greek border, the landscape started to look familiar to this SoCal resident: low mountains and the vineyards of the Vardar wine region — and in fact we stayed at a working winery that night. Road conditions improved (although, as would be the case for the next several days, we remained vigilant for any surprises) and, best of all, we got our first taste of some real curves. But the best was yet to come.
North Macedonia’s mountain roads are usually fairly smooth and well-paved, carrying us over low mountains and through rows of vineyards. Photo by Niko Perosa.
The best riding day of the tour, in my opinion, was from Ohrid, North Macedonia, to Gjirokaster, Albania. We crossed the dramatic Gramoz Range on pavement that ranged from smooth and fast to tight, bumpy and technical, eventually picking up a road that pretended to be two lanes wide but wasn’t. It clung resolutely to the side of steep emerald green mountains, at the bottom of which flowed a jade river. Flinging my lightweight GS through its twists and turns, often standing on the pegs due to the bumps, while simultaneously trying to take in the view was a challenge, so I hung at the back of the pack and stopped often for photos. Once nice thing about AMT is that it includes a GPS preloaded with each day’s route at no additional charge, so I wasn’t worried about losing the group.
Albania was full of surprises, including this stunning road between the Macedonian border and the town of Gjirokaster. The narrow, winding road demanded complete attention, which was difficult given the eye-popping scenery.
I’m not sure what I expected Albania to be like, but it still surprised me. Abandoned bunkers built by the paranoid former dictator Enver Hoxha dot the landscape — about 173,000 of them to be exact — including in places you’d least expect, like right in the middle of town. Roma — gypsies — prowl the roads on small garden tractors with scary-looking buzz saws bolted to the front, cutting trees that they sell for firewood. Yet the Albanian Riviera — the Adriatic coast — is beautiful, with abundant and delicious fresh seafood and luxury hotels at a fraction of the cost of more developed countries. The roads continued to delight, especially alpine Llogara Pass and a brand new, very fast and curvaceous stretch leading into Kosovo.
Tell most Americans you’re visiting Kosovo and you’ll likely get at least one raised eyebrow. It’s true there are parts in the northeast that aren’t the safest place to visit, given continued tensions with Serbia, and our tour route’s detour into Montenegro exists solely because it’s not possible to enter Kosovo from Albania and leave directly into Serbia (war and its aftermath, unfortunately, is a continuous theme in the region). But Kosovars are very friendly toward Americans (we fought for them, after all) and our night in the town of Prizren was memorable at the least for the massive platters of grilled meats presented to us at dinner.
Kosovo, like Albania, is a predominantly Muslim country. This Ottoman Mosque, built in 1615, overlooks the river in the town of Prizren.
Speaking of meat, on this tour you will eat a lot of it. The cuisine in this part of the Balkans is…shall we say, challenging…for vegetarians, and nearly impossible for vegans. You should be comfortable with pork, lamb, fish, fresh bread and/or the ubiquitous salad of cucumber, tomato, onion and goat cheese. The upside is it’s delicious and can be washed down with local wine, all of it very inexpensive. In fact, one nice thing about traveling the Balkans is that your dollar goes a lot further than the more popular tourist destinations of Western Europe. Of course, as on all AMT tours your hotels, breakfasts and dinners are all included, plus a support van to carry your luggage. But because it’s so inexpensive, two weeks here doesn’t cost too much more than nine days in Western Europe. It’s a big riding vacation bang for the buck. So if you’ve got an adventurous streak and are curious to ride a part of Europe that many Americans have missed, put this tour on your list.
The Intriguing Southeast Europe tour runs June 13-27 or September 6-20, 2020. AMT has also just released its complete 2020 and 2021 tour schedule; visit adriaticmototours.com.
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We stopped at the Rila Monastery south of Sofia, Bulgaria, to appreciate its many colorful frescos and unique architecture.This “two lane” road’s center line seemed to exist mostly as a psychological barrier to keep drivers from just going right down the middle. With the exception of a couple of stubborn bus drivers, locals in every country were respectful of motorcycles and pulled to the right to allow us plenty of space to pass.The Albanian Riviera was another surprise, with turquoise waters, white sand beaches and fresh, delicious seafood. The group enjoys a lunch of fresh seafood on the Albanian coast, mere steps from the sandy beach. Photo by Niko Perosa.Despite the seafood we were able to get on the coast, meat is a staple of Balkan cuisine, and nearly every meal included it in copious quantities, including this impressive platter of skewers, patties and steaks of beef, pork, chicken and lamb—along with french fries, fresh bread and salad.Cold War history buffs and fans of Futurist architecture may choose to ride to the Buzludzha Monument on the rest day in Sofia. This building commemorating the foundation of the Socialist movement in Bulgaria was abandoned after the fall of Communism in 1989.Llogara Pass on the central coast of Albania gave us a taste of Alpine-style switchbacks. Photo by Niko Perosa.The tour group poses among the red sandstone formations and green forested mountains of northwestern Bulgaria, where we spent the night in the sleepy town of Belgradčik. Photo by Niko Perosa.
Bear’s, or Bear Frasch’s Farm Market, holds a special place in my memory. This market north of Keremeos is where I would stop as a kid traveling with family to stock up on peaches and cherries. Photos by the author.
With many rides I have a sense of where I’m going but the details come out later. For this one I had a specific goal: I wanted to explore the roads my parents took me along as a kid in a Ford LTD, towing a tent trailer behind. We would always stop at fruit stands in the Okanagan region of British Columbia and pick up peaches, cherries, berries…whatever was in season. We’d nibble the fruit along the way or wait to eat it at a campsite. I wanted to visit these food-growing parts of my home province again and renew my connection with the roads and farms where the food I eat in Vancouver comes from.
Looking for a riding buddy, I gingerly pushed my BMW F 650 GS down a gear into third before taking the exit off Highway 3 into the parking area of Manning Park Resort, which sits among the colossal Cascade Mountains. My friend David Powell had been exploring the roads of the Similkameen Valley, just east of E.C. Manning Provincial Park, on his Honda CB500X for a week, and I was keen to join him and find out what he’d learned. After a quick bite to eat, we were back on the road.
Map of the route taken, by Bill Tipton/compartmaps.com.
Before we made our way to Princeton, where we’d sleep that night, David was already suggesting a ride off the beaten track, up the switchbacks of the paved road to the Cascade Lookout. We crossed Highway 3 and proceeded to make a serious climb, the tree-lined edges of the road without a guardrail, before reaching what must have been a new record above sea level for my BMW. What lay before us was spectacular. Dominant in our view was Frosty Mountain, at nearly 8,000 feet. Just beyond was another peak of note on the other side of the 49th parallel. Hozomeen Mountain stands at just over 8,000 feet, among the North Cascades of Washington State. David and I were quietly mesmerized by the view. It was a great start to our three-day journey.
Identifying peaks at the Cascade Lookout can be complicated; Manning Park Resort lies below.
We wound our way along Highway 3, a.k.a. the Crowsnest Highway, a large open pit copper mine to our right declaring our arrival in Princeton. Over dinner at a restaurant suitably named The Copper Pit, I suggested a theme for our ride, one that would begin with some stops at the Okanagan fruit stands I remembered well.
Next day we rode east out of Princeton on what would be one of many secondary roads we would travel, the Old Hedley Road. This windy path following the Similkameen River had us both flicking our bikes back and forth, enjoying the occasional view of morning sunlight reflecting on the water and getting into the rhythm of a road trip of several days. The occasional recreational site with a picnic table and fire pit made it tempting to stop and enjoy a night of camping by the river.
A tractor with some history bakes in the sun near Bear Frasch’s Farm Market, with the hills of the Similkameen Valley behind it.
Joining briefly with Highway 3 again, we twisted the throttles to get to highway speeds. The increasingly mountainous landscape was dotted with ponderosa pine and bluebunch wheatgrass. We rode past the town of Hedley, the steep slope above displaying the decaying wooden remnants of the famed Nickel Plate gold mine, and would soon stop on the western outskirts of Keremeos, known for its many fruit stands in this community of orchards. One of the standout purveyors of fruit is the Mariposa Fruit Stand. With a big painted sign of a coyote in a hat lounging among a bunch of produce, it coaxed David and me to pull our bikes into the lot and have a look around the shop. It was June and that meant cherry season, judging from the boxes and boxes we saw prominently displayed at the entrance.
The first of the summer cherries on display at the Mariposa Fruit Stand.
Back on the bikes, we soon stopped for lunch in the quirky historic town of Keremeos, also not surprisingly called the “fruit stand capital of Canada,” pulling in next to many other motorcycles. Many others cruised by at slow speeds. After picking up wrap sandwiches to go, we were back riding, countersteering left and onto Highway 3A for a brief stop at Bear Frasch’s Farm Market. No camping trip into British Columbia when I was a kid was complete without a stop here. The August peaches hadn’t arrived yet, but there were plenty of apples and more cherries to drool over. With a glance at the abandoned old tractors rusting away in a field, David and I were off to take a side road of his suggestion to Penticton: Green Mountain Road. After a left onto a road that clearly had some history behind it, we plunged into some twists and turns in a wooded area that had me smiling in my helmet. We banked the bikes to and fro and hardly saw a soul, except for another group of four motorcyclists coming the other way. David’s research had paid off. He had been suggesting I take this road for years, and we were finally riding it together. When we started to see the outskirts of Penticton, I wished we could go back and ride the road again, if it weren’t for my low fuel reserves.
The author and his 2010 BMW F 650 GS at the Mariposa Fruit Stand in Keremeos, B.C.
Soon we were riding alongside Okanagan Lake on Highway 97, traveling through the idyllic towns of Summerland and Peachland, soaking up the sun’s rays. Riding alongside beaches on a hot day may be the one thing that makes me want to put the sidestand down, strip off my riding gear and go jump in a lake. But I resisted, and looked forward to the next scenic route, heading downhill to the lake. In order to not get caught up in the stifling traffic of Kelowna, David and I pulled off at Westbank onto Boucherie Road, angling our bikes toward a refreshing stop to cool us down.
It may not be a cool leap in a lake, but a stop to picnic in the shade by an Okanagan winery will do just fine. The light glinted off Okanagan Lake in the distance as we nibbled on oranges, glancing out at the rows and rows of vines stretching down the hill to the water on the Quail’s Gate Winery.
The rows of vines at Quail’s Gate Winery overlooking Okanagan Lake.
There’s nothing more uncomfortable than sitting in traffic on a motorcycle on a hot day. So David told me of an alternative route he had found that not only avoided the Kelowna snarl, it also took on splendid views of Okanagan Lake (yes, it’s a big lake) and many twists and turns. Lead on, David! Westside Road took us on an odyssey of curves while we stole glances at houseboats and jet-skiing lake users as we geared up, then geared down to take on curves and accelerate out of them, over and over again as we approached the end of lake country and entered dairy farm country. Passing through the Spallumcheen Indian Reserve we crossed Highway 97 to end up on St. Anne’s Road just south of Armstrong, known for its cheddar and other milk-derived foods. David was getting warm so we stopped by a farm for a break, and listened to the tick-tick-tick of an industrial sprinkler spraying water over a burgeoning cornfield.
David Powell checks the map after a brisk ride along the Westside Road rimming Okanagan Lake.
Soon we were riding Otter Lake Road south of Armstrong along the green pastures of dairy farms, cows watching these strange two-wheeled devices speed past them as they chewed their cuds. Tucker’s Restaurant in the quaint town of Armstrong served us dinner before we rode winding Salmon River Road across one-lane, wood-planked bridges with the sun dipping down, dappling our helmets with light through the trees. We were brought to Highway 97 heading northwest, the setting sun in our eyes as we passed through historic towns like Falkland. Sprinklers in vast sunset-covered alfalfa fields threw huge arcs of spray, growing future hay for hungry milk-producing cows.
There was one more secondary road to take, Barnhartvale Road, just north of Monte Lake, which would take us through more farmland south of the Trans-Canada Highway. Rather than take the main highway, it made sense to ride a more scenic and windy passage to Kamloops. As we returned to the suburban sprawl of the city, I couldn’t help but emit a groan and wished to return to the back roads David and I had traced all day, past farms, rows of grapes and fruit and vegetable stands pitching their wares.
Getting a sense of the clientele…a Ferrari parked outside of Quail’s Gate Winery.
David and I parted the next day. He was going to continue riding (lucky guy) and I was heading back home to Vancouver. But taking David’s advice (why stop now?) I took Highway 5A, also known as the Old Kamloops Road, a much more charming and snaking passage south than the rapid, vapid Highway 5. This way I managed to pass by some lovely lakes, witness Sunday fishing parties cast lines from their boats and stop in at beautiful Nicola Lake near Merritt to observe a family with kids set out from a boat launch for a day out on the lake. It made me keen to return to my own family in Vancouver and tell them about where our milk, cheese, wine, fruits and vegetables come from and how lucky we are to live in such a diverse, plentiful and scenic part of the world.
The Parque Nacional Cumbres de Monterrey (Summits of Monterrey National Park) is just south of Monterrey, population 1.1 million, but feels worlds away. The riding can be challenging on a big bike. Photos by the author.
I’ll admit I was skeptical. A land of mountains, twisty asphalt, endless dirt tracks, cheap lodging, good food and friendly locals just a few hours south of the Texas border?
But I’ve seen this dual-sport promised land and I’m here to report it’s all true. The Sierra Madre Oriental mountain range, which begins just south of Monterrey, creates an international motorcycle wonderland that’s easily accessible for anyone living in the Midwest or Eastern United States.
You’ll need a temporary vehicle importation permit (TVIP) to bring your bike this far south into Mexico. Getting one requires a valid registration in your name, your Mexican visa (free if you are staying seven days or less) and a passport. Some riders report also needing a vehicle title, but no one asked to see mine. You also pay a refundable deposit that varies depending the age of your bike; it was $300 for my 2006 Suzuki DR650. Make sure you get insurance, too. Again, nobody asked to see proof of insurance at the border, but if you get in an accident in Mexico you can land in jail if you aren’t covered.
Map of the route taken, by Bill Tipton/compartmaps.com.
We made quick work of the McAllen/Reynosa border tangle and headed southwest on Federal Highway 40, the equivalent of a state highway in the U.S. South of the border, the posted speed limits are low, typically 60 mph or less, but few pay attention to them. The thing to remember is to stay to the right. People will pass and you are expected to pull as far to the right as you can to let them by. Even on a narrow, two-lane road, pull to the right as far as you safely can. Other drivers will do the same for you.
The fun began with a section of tight, twisty blacktop that turned south from Federal Highway 85 between Ciudad de Allende and Montemorelos. The temperature dropped and the clouds closed in as we wound over the Sierra Madre for the first of many times this trip and down into the pecan-farming town of Rayones. We were taking the “fast” way to Galeana, our base for the next few days, and that meant a 10-mile dirt road south from Rayones that might be a challenge for inexperienced riders on bigger bikes.
Take a bike that can do it all because the Sierra Madre Oriental has everything from twisty pavement to endless dirt roads to challenging trails.
Galeana is small city at the base of Cerro El Potosí, which at 12,208 feet is the tallest mountain in the Sierra Madre Oriental range. The town has plenty of restaurants, stores, banks and supplies, and makes a great base for exploring the area. We stayed at the moto-friendly Hotel Magdalena, where a double room was $36 a night with secure parking for the bikes in the back. There are probably cheaper places to stay, but the Magdalena is right on the spotless square, the heartbeat of this vibrant town.
We based in Galeana for the first few days. It’s a small city at about 5,400 feet in elevation, so it can get cold. After clearing Reynosa on the Texas border, Galeana is a three-hour ride by the fastest route.
One of our best routes took us back north to Rayones, then on a combination of sinuous asphalt and well-kept dirt roads, loosely following the Río Pilón through mountain towns too small to even have restaurants. Eventually the dirt road turned to steep, rocky, loose two-track that tested the big bikes in our group — a BMW R 1100 GS, Suzuki V-Strom 1000 and Triumph Tiger — to the limit. It all felt about right on my DR650, though.
The real apex of the trip was spending two nights in Real de Catorce, an old silver mining town three hours southwest of Galeana. Real is situated atop a plateau at almost 9,000 feet, and if it looks like a movie set of a forgotten Mexican mountain town, that’s because it is. A good portion of “The Mexican,” the 2001 film starring Brad Pitt and Angela Jolie, was shot there.
Off-road terrain in the area varies from smooth dirt to goat trails, sometimes in the space of a few miles. Be prepared to do some rocky hill climbs.
There are two ways into Real: a steep, rocky, narrow jeep trail from the west, or right through the side of a mountain via the one-lane Ogarrio Tunnel. We chose the latter, and even getting to the tunnel is an adventure: 17 miles on a cobblestone road. The trick, I learned, is to keep your speed up. Ride too slow and the cobblestones take control of where your bike is going. This stretch should probably be avoided in the rain.
Pay a small toll to get through the tunnel and 1.5 miles later you’ll emerge into Real, once one of the largest silver producing towns in the world. When the price of silver collapsed, the town’s economy went with it, and the downsized village is now largely dependent on tourism. Many travelers come to Real for the town’s reputed spiritual energy or to hunt for peyote, the cactus fruit that is sacred to the native Huichol people who originally inhabited this area.
The town of Real de Catorce is accessible either by a tunnel or a rough jeep road. Real was once a silver mining hub, and served as the backdrop for the movie “The Mexican.”
We parked the bikes and toured Real on foot, hiking up to the Pueblo Fantasma, an abandoned mining quarters for the workers who extracted precious metal from these hills. Expect warm, sunny days and cold nights in Real.
Food in Real is basic and cheap. We ate a breakfast of eggs, tortillas and beans for less than $3. Lodging ranges from basic to luxury, but even the most expensive places in town only cost the equivalent of about $70 U.S. per night.
Cobblestone streets in Real de Catorce.
After a week in the Sierra Madre Oriental I realized I had barely begun to experience the area. The mountains stretch south past Mexico City, after all. Further explorations await.
Because of the times we live in, no story about riding in Mexico would be complete without a word about safety. I’ve been to Mexico a handful of times and don’t consider myself an expert on the topic, but I will say this: not once on this trip, nor any other, did I felt threatened in any way. Quite the opposite, in fact. I have found the Mexican people to be warm, inviting and accommodating. Speaking even a few words of Spanish pays dividends.
Searching for a tiny church tucked away in the mountains, we found that maps aren’t always accurate. It’s best to consult the locals.
The Cabot Trail offers 186 miles of winding roads and exhilarating scenery. Photos by the author.
At just 360 miles, you could probably ride the entire length of Canada’s second-smallest province in a day, including Cape Breton Island on the north end. Having said that, you could also spend a good 3-4 weeks exploring the coastal roads that encompass Nova Scotia. But despite the appeal of the many lightly-traveled roads along the coast, the main allure for me and many motorcyclists all over North America are the legendary roads on Cape Breton Island.
Map of the route taken, by Bill Tipton/compartmaps.com.
My first stop in Nova Scotia was along the South Shore. From here, the ride was about 190 miles to the Canso Causeway, which joins Cape Breton Island to the mainland. As soon as you are within a couple miles of Port Hastings, the first town you enter once you cross over the causeway, you will immediately notice an increase in the bike-to-car ratio.
Winding roads overlooking an endless valley of trees north of the Cape Breton Highlands National Park.
Although the Trans Canada Highway runs up the middle of the island and is the more direct route to the Cabot Trail from Port Hastings, you would be doing yourself a disservice by cutting out Trunk 19, also known as the Ceilidh Trail. It is a 66-mile scenic road that rims the Gulf of St. Lawrence, starting at Port Hastings and ending at Margaree Forks, which is a southern point on the Cabot Trail. The paved road passes through quaint Scottish towns offering reasonably priced accommodations that are more accessible than the lodgings on the Cabot Trail.
Accommodation in Margaree Forks, which is on the southernmost part of the Cabot Trail. The Normaway Inn offered cabin rentals that were reasonably priced, and live Celtic music featuring local talent.
Up until this point in my trip, I would use my last fuel stop of the day as an opportunity to pull out my phone and assess the availability of the local motels. This strategy will not work on the Cabot Trail, especially if you are planning your trip over a weekend in the summer, because everything seemed to book up really fast. However, there is an abundance of B&Bs in the towns along Trunk 19, a perfect location since it is less than an hour’s ride to the Cabot Trail.
Trunk 19 is roughly 66 miles long and passes through quaint Scottish towns before connecting you to the Cabot Trail.
Although you could probably ride the entire trail in 5-6 hours, it took me nearly eight with frequent breaks due to the heatwave conditions in early August. On the advice of the locals, I filled my tank in Chéticamp, a small Acadian village with a main street lined with cafés and restaurants. It is a good place to fill up your tank and grab a bite to eat since both fuel and food start to become scarce after passing this village. Chéticamp was bustling with tourists when I arrived, but this is not a reflection of what your ride will be like on the trail. Because of its vastness, I oftentimes felt as if I had the road to myself, despite the fact that it was a Friday afternoon on a beautiful summer day.
Fog sits over the mountain a few miles north of Chéticamp.
The ride between Petit Étang (which is less than two miles north of Chéticamp) to Ingonish was probably my favorite part of the trail. I enjoyed everything from the spectacular view of the coast north of Petit Étang, to the long sweeping turns around the mountain, to the challenges presented by the switchbacks before descending down the coast to Pleasant Bay. There are many excellent lookout points along the trail, presenting a good opportunity to stretch your legs, snap a few pictures and take in the stunning view of the coast from the mountain.
Long, sweeping turns with a beautiful coastal view around Petit Étang.
There is a longstanding debate among the locals over the best way to ride the trail, clockwise or counterclockwise. Although riding counter will put you in the lane closer to the coast, a few of the locals have told me that riding it clockwise is more enjoyable, as you experience the steep descent down MacKenzie Mountain. This was probably the highlight of my entire ride, so I have definitely become biased toward clockwise.
The iconic Peggys Cove Lighthouse, which was built in 1914.
After reaching Cape North, the northernmost part of the trail, you will approach South Harbour. Just past this point, taking a left turn onto White Point Road will bring you down a narrow, paved road along the coast to a small fishing town. It was recommended to me by some locals, and it was a nice 7-mile venture off the trail. It’s a great place to dismount, stretch your legs and take in the beautiful scenery as you listen to the waves crashing against the rocks. The road eventually turns into New Haven Road, which will connect you back to the Cabot Trail.
Turning off the Cabot Trail onto White Point Road led me to a stunning, secluded beach area. I came here on the advice of locals who described it to me as a “less touristy Peggys Cove.”
I ended the loop by riding back to Margaree Forks just before the sun started to set. As a precaution, you may want to time your rides so that you are parked by dusk. Moose are known to frequent Cape Breton Island, and I was told they usually come out around 7:30 to 8:00 p.m. each evening. Not feeling too great about my chances of survival against a moose, I tried to limit any potential exposure to them.
Stopping to take a break and enjoy the scenery before approaching the famous switchback that brings you down into Pleasant Bay.
Despite the fact that it is a 186-mile loop, the hours you spend in the saddle on the Cabot Trail will fly by. The three mountains — MacKenzie Mountain, French Mountain and Smokey Mountain — offer different backdrops for your ride, and the tight corners and changes in elevation will present an equal combination of challenge and thrill.
The roads east of Pleasant Bay were well-paved and winding. The colors of late summer provided a vibrant backdrop for my afternoon of riding.
The author’s 2009 BMW F 650 GS parked alongside the Bridge River Road – a gravel alternative to the paved Duffey Lake Road – near the historic gold-rush town of Lillooet. Photos by the author.
If I could only make one ride in British Columbia, the Duffey Lake loop would be it. No other route boasts such diversity: a fjord walled by granite mountains, temperate rainforests and flowing glaciers, merging into a dry, semi-arid landscape of sagebrush and ponderosa pine, all on the doorstep of one of the world’s most beautiful cities, Vancouver. I am not getting paid nearly enough to tell you about this gem, but journalists are their own worst enemies when it comes to holding back on a good thing.
Duffey Lake refers to the landmark close to midpoint on a loop tour that can be completed in about 10 hours at a steady pace, but is best done over two to three days, stopping to enjoy the scenery and locals, visit a winery and perhaps camp under a clear canopy of stars. The journey begins just northwest of Vancouver on Highway 99 – the Sea to Sky Highway – at postcard-perfect Horseshoe Bay, and continues northward alongside the sparkling fjord of Howe Sound lined by the Coast Mountains.
A map of the route taken, by Bill Tipton/compartmaps.com.
The highway was significantly upgraded for the 2010 Winter Olympics, and allows motorcyclists to zip along at a comfortable clip, watchful for police radar at the village of Lions Bay. Along the way, consider stopping to gawk at Shannon Falls, hopping on the Sea To Sky Gondola with its spectacular views or watching mountain climbers on the sheer granite walls of the famous Stawamus Chief.
Just ahead is the former logging town of Squamish, now a mecca for outdoor recreation, including kiteboarding at Squamish Spit. Café racers tend to gather at Starbucks, and cruisers at Howe Sound Brewing or Backcountry Brewing, the latter known for its amazing thin-crust pizza.
The fjord of Howe Sound offers amazing scenery north of Vancouver on the Sea to Sky Highway.
Road signs warn of black bears as you continue northward to North America’s top-rated ski resort, Whistler. This perfect little village makes for a great first night’s stay, with strolls through shops in the shadow of towering snow-topped peaks, but don’t expect heavy discounts in summer.
From Whistler, Highway 99 heads to the potato-growing Pemberton Valley, and your last chance for gas for about 60 miles as you proceed eastward through the aboriginal community of Lil’wat at Mount Currie. If you arrive in May you can even catch the community’s annual rodeo.
The historic gold-rush town of Lillooet is located midway along the Duffey Lake loop tour.
As you pass Lillooet Lake, the two-lane highway begins a steep, switchback ascent into high-elevation wilderness without a hint of commercialism. The road plateaus shortly after Joffre Lakes Provincial Park, a great spot for hikes to a series of lakes, backdropped by Matier Glacier. Don’t let the alpine vistas distract you from the job ahead: lots of twists and turns, with little in the way of shoulders and the potential for patches of loose gravel.
Duffey Lake is a jewel, and makes for a good photo stop at an elevation of about 4,000 feet. It can get cold here even on summer days so be prepared for changing conditions. Continuing eastward, alongside fast-flowing Cayoosh Creek you’ll find several rustic campgrounds, the best of which is Cottonwood, which offers well-tended outhouses, chopped firewood and an on-site caretaker.
Duffey Lake is located at an elevation of more than 4,000 feet and can remain frozen well into spring.
You’ll notice some big changes continuing eastward: evergreen forests replaced by ponderosa pines, sagebrush and craggy rock bluffs, the weather becoming warmer and drier. Expect a stunning view of turquoise Seton Lake – and perhaps some mountain goats on the high cliffs – as you wind steeply downhill to Lillooet, an historic gold-rush town on the banks of British Columbia’s greatest river, the Fraser.
If you’re staying overnight, pick the newer rooms at the affordable 4 Pines Motel, just a block off Main Street. Try some wine tasting at Fort Berens Estate Winery across the river via the Bridge of the 23 Camels, a reference to some bizarre pack animals imported from Asia during the Cariboo Gold Rush of 1858. The Rugged Bean Café is your best bet in town for a soup-and-sandwich lunch.
You’ve now accomplished half of the Duffey Lake loop, and have three choices for the ride back to Vancouver. Street riders take Highway 12 along the east side of the Fraser Canyon to the Canadian hot spot of Lytton, watching carefully for hairpin turns and a landslide area where the highway is reduced to one lane.
Drop by for tastings at Fort Berens Estate Winery, just across the Fraser River from Lillooet.
One false move here and it’s a one-way trip down a steep embankment. At Lytton, take Highway 1 south to Vancouver, or divert to Highway 7 at Hope for a quieter alternative to the bustling freeway. Street riders might also consider doing the loop counterclockwise to avoid having the setting sun in their eyes for the last few hours.
Dual-sport bikes have a couple of gravel options at Lillooet. One is Texas Creek Road, on the west side of the Fraser Canyon, which passes through remote First Nation reserves perched on elevated benches of farmland that once formed the river bottom. Access Lytton via a fascinating, free “reaction ferry” that employs the power of the river to cross from one side to the other. Note that the service can be suspended during high waters of the spring freshet.
A free “reaction ferry” on the Fraser River near Lytton uses the power of the current to move from one bank to the other.
The second option for dual-sports is to head north from Lillooet via Bridge River Road, stopping in summer to watch the ancient scene of aboriginals catching migrating salmon to be hung from wooden drying racks. The gravel road boasts rugged scenery as it continues to Carpenter Lake, Bralorne and Gold Bridge before dropping down into the Pemberton Valley for the ride home on the Sea to Sky Highway.
Whichever route you choose, you won’t be disappointed. The diversity and isolation so close to a North American metropolis makes the Duffey Lake loop an unbeatable riding experience.
With its countless hairpins, riding in the Dolomites will put any rider’s skills to the test. Photo taken on Ayres Adventures’ Dramatic Dolomites Tour, by Greg Drevenstedt.
Have you ever read one of our international tour stories and thought, “Wow, I’d love to do that…but I don’t know where to start!” Well, we’ve got you covered! For our 2019 International Tour Company Guide, we’ve compiled this handy list of tour operators that will help you find your perfect two-wheeled trip abroad. All of the operators listed here offer multi-day, fully guided street and/or adventure bike tours on their own rental motorcycles, employ English-speaking guides, and include accommodations while on tour. What’s not included in this list? Single-day tours, self-guided tours, chartered group tours and tours that require you to use your own bike.
Keep in mind that prices may not be directly comparable. Some companies include things like the motorcycle rental, meals, tolls, fuel, excursions and even drinks with dinner, others don’t. There may be a surcharge for a single rider in his or her own hotel room (as opposed to sharing a room), and the charge for a passenger can vary from company to company. Also pay attention to the currency in which a tour is priced. Exchange rates can fluctuate, so your final cost can depend on when you pay for the tour.
Before you book, make sure you know how much insurance coverage you’re required to have or pay for. Some operators will put a multi-thousand dollar charge on your credit card to cover possible damage, which is refunded after the tour. Make sure your personal travel insurance covers motorcycle riding, and it’s a good idea to have supplemental insurance that covers repatriation, medical costs, trip cancellation and personal liability. Medjetassist.com, medexassist.com, travelguard.com and geobluetravelinsurance.com are great places to start.
Finally, make sure your passport has at least six months left on it–from the date of travel, not when you book! Check with the tour operator to see if you need a visa or an international driver’s license (available at your local AAA). Oh, one more thing–have fun!
Adriatic Moto Tours
Base: Slovenia
Tours Include: NEW Europe Royale, NEW Bonjour Provence, Romania to Istanbul Adventure, Greece Tour, Alps Adriatic Adventure, Czech Hungary Tour, and more
Accommodations: Comfortable hotels, usually 4-star
Length of Tours: 9-18 days
Rental Options: BMW, Ducati Multistrada, Suzuki V-Strom, Honda Africa Twin, Harley-Davidson Road King and Superlow
Adriatic Moto Tours has been in business for fifteen years in the heart of southeastern Europe, and from its base in Slovenia has tours that fan out over Europe and now Thailand and Laos, offering new experiences for even the most jaded moto-traveler.
Adriatic Moto Tours’ Adriatic Riviera Tour takes you from Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, through Bosnia and Croatia on “roads less travelled.” This village is typical of what you’ll encounter riding in the region. Photo by Primoz Brec.
Asia Bike Tours started in 1997, and has a team of locally based guides that provide plenty of local knowledge for its tours. Motorcycles available for rent vary based on location, and riding difficulty also varies with the tour.
Ayres Adventures
Base: Plano, Texas
Tours Include: NEW Cape Town to Victoria Falls, NEW Berlin to Budapest, Japan, Russia, Iceland Adventure, Dramatic Dolomites, Australia, Empire of the Incas and more
Accommodations: Comfortable middle-class hotels on Club Class tours, 4- and 5-star hotels on Premium Class tours
Length of Tours: 7-69 days
Rental Options: BMW motorcycles
Equipment: Support vehicle and trailer
Dates: Year-round
Typical Cost: 15-day Berlin to Budapest, $9,500
Age/Experience Limits: Motorcycle license & touring experience required; for off-road adventures, off-road training or experience required
Tel: (877) 275-8238 or (972) 635-5210
Web: ayresadventures.com
Ayres Adventures offers tours on every continent, with something for every budget and imagination. From a weeklong Club tour to the 69-day, transcontinental Riga to Hong Kong Epic Journey, Ayres will take you on an unforgettable trip.
Age/Experience Limits: Motorcycle license required, minimum age on Alpine tours is 18.
Tel: (716) 773-4960
Web: bmca.com
The Beach team offers European, New Zealand and South African motorcycle and sports car tours. Beach’s slogan: We don’t go everywhere, but everywhere we go we travel in style.
An impromptu cruise on Lake Lucerne revealed views of gorgeous homes, hotels and mountains during Beach’s Alpine Adventure West tour. Photo by Bill Stermer.
Compass Expeditions
Base: Victoria, Australia
Tours Include: Mongolian Magic, Wild Patagonia, Sydney to the Outback, Complete Cambodia, Tasmania and the High Country With Charley Boorman and more
Accommodations: Hotels when possible, some yurts and in-home stays in remote regions
Length of Tours: 5-108 days
Rental Options: BMW motorcycles, Suzuki DR650 (Australia)
The secret of enjoying yourself on tour, according to Compass Expeditions, is this: “A flexible attitude is required, as service may not be what you are accustomed to.” Stay flexible and have fun! Each tour is graded for degree of difficulty, from 1 to 5.
EagleRider
Base: Los Angeles, California
Tours Include: South Africa Tour, Canada to Yellowstone, Baja California, The Italian Job
Typical Cost: 13-day South Africa Tour starting at $3,850
Age/Experience Limits: Motorcycle license required, minimum age of 21.
Tel: (888) 900-9901 or (310) 536-6777
Web: eaglerider.com
EagleRider is one of the biggest names in the bike rental business, and the company expanded into tours years ago. Its international tour list is growing, with new tours in Africa and Europe.
Edelweiss Bike Travel
Base: Meiming, Austria
Tours Include: NEW Balkan Adventure, NEW Captivating Cuba, NEW Andalusia Unpaved, Mysterious Asia, Colorful Morocco and more
Accommodations: Varies by tour; usually carefully selected middle-class hotels
Length of Tours: 7-80 days
Rental Options: Varies with tour; may include BMW, Ducati, Harley-Davidson, Triumph, Vespa or Honda
Equipment: Support vehicle
Dates: Year-round
Typical Cost: 14-day Balkan Adventure, $5,300
Age/Experience Limits: Minimum of 5,000 miles of riding experience, minimum passenger age 12
Tel: 011 43 5264 5690
Web: edelweissbike.com
Thirty-eight years in business, 2,350 tours in over 180 destinations—no questioning those numbers. The most experienced motorcycle tour company on the planet offers tours all over the planet.
This was our view of Mount Etna as we emerged from the forest near the village of Cesarò on Edelweiss Bike Tours’ Around Mount Etna tour. The statue atop the rocky hill, which from a distance looks like a zombie, is actually Jesus Christ with outstretched arms. Photo by Greg Drevenstedt.
Ecuador Freedom
Base: Quito, Ecuador
Tours Include: Off-Road Ecuador, Special Women’s Tour: Andean Roads, Inca Royal Roads, Cloudforest Coast and Craters and more
Accommodations: 3-4 star hotels, B&Bs, bungalows and cabins
Length of Tours: 4-12 days
Rental Options: A variety of modern ADV motorcycles
Equipment: Support vehicle
Dates: Year-round
Typical Cost: 10-day Inca Royal Roads starting at $4,150
Age/Experience Limits: Riding experience required, varies with tour
Tel: (603) 617-2499
Web: freedombikerental.com
Ecuador Freedom would love to show you why some of the best riding is in Ecuador. From its base in Quito, at any time of year, Ecuador Freedom can show you newly paved roads, beautiful scenery and the diverse cultures and altitudes that make Ecuador a motorcyclists’ paradise.
Age/Experience Limits: Recommend experienced, “confident” riders with at 3,000 miles of riding experience.
Web: motorcycletoursitaly.com
Discover the lightly traveled roads of rural Italy or experience the rush of the racetrack, all in the company of Italian guides who know the best roads, the best places to stay and most important, the best places to eat!
Hispania Tours
Base: Málaga, Spain
Tours Include: Morocco, Andalusia Touring Center, Pyrenees, Culture and Curves, BMW Motorrad Days, Portugal: Castles and History and more
Accommodations: 3-5 star hotels
Length of Tours: 6-15 days
Rental Options: BMW motorcycles
Equipment: Support vehicle
Dates: Year-round
Typical Cost: 15-day Morocco tour on BMW F 700 GS, 4,095 Euros
Age/Experience Limits: Varies based on tour
Tel: 011 34 952 172 172
Web: Hispania-tours.com
Experience the wonderful roads, scenery and weather of Portugal, Spain and Morocco with Hispania Tours. Tour on marvelous roads, watching history unfold under your wheels.
IMTBike
Base: Madrid, Spain
Tours Include: Southern Spain & Andalucia, Central Spain, Northern Spain & the Pyrenees, Best of Portugal, Morocco, Italy, France & Alps and more
Accommodations: Hotels, converted castles and paradors
Length of Tours: 8-17 days
Rental Options: BMW motorcycles
Equipment: Support vehicle
Dates: February-December
Typical Cost: 12-Day Best of Portugal, 4,100 Euros
Age/Experience Limits: 25 years old, 2 years and 3,000 miles of experience
Tel: (412) 468-2453
Web: imtbike.com
IMTBike was established in 1997, and now has more than 100 late-model BMW motorcycles in its fleet, including R 1200 GS and GS Adventure models, in eight separate locations. IMTBike boasts an 80-percent repeat rider rate.
It’s one thing to read about the history and beauty of Spain and Portugal—such as the pueblo blanco of Arcos de la Frontera—but riding through these countries is another thing altogether, providing an intimate connection that touches your heart and lifts your soul. Photo by Ken Lee.
Leod Motorcycle Escapes
Base: San Francisco, California
Tours Include: Italian Dream to Mugello, Sachsenring & Italian Alps, Australia Curves to Phillip Island, Spanish Pyrenees to Aragon and more
Accommodations: 3-4 star hotels
Length of Tours: 9-10 days
Rental Options: BMW, Ducati and Moto-Guzzi
Equipment: Support vehicle
Dates: June-December
Typical Cost: 10-day Sachsenring & Italian Alps, $6,300
Age/Experience Limits: Tours include track time; contact Leod for experience recommendations
Tel: (866) 562-6126
Web: leodescapes.com
Leod Escapes offers getaways that combine a week of twisty road riding with track time on some of the world’s best racetracks. Not for the faint of heart, Leod’s tours will provide a unique and unforgettable experience.
MotoDiscovery offers motorcycle tours around the world, including such unexpected destinations as Cuba and Iran. Previously known as Pancho Villa Moto Tours, the company has been riding off the beaten path since 1981.
MotoGreece was founded in 2015 with one goal: to highlight Greece as a motorcycle destination and show riders what a fantastic time they’ll have while touring Greece. Come see what it’s all about!
MotoQuest
Base: Long Beach, California, and Anchorage, Alaska
Tours Include: Best of Baja, Peru Machu Picchu Adventure, Romaniacs Experience, India Touch the Sky, Japan Three Island and more
Accommodations: From rustic to elegant, depending on the tour
Length of Tours: 9-16 days
Rental Options: BMW, Suzuki, Royal Enfield, Harley-Davidson, Kawasaki
Equipment: Support vehicle
Dates: Year-round
Typical Cost: 12-day Japan Three Island, $8,450
Age/Experience Limits: Not specified, contact MotoQuest for details
Tel: (800) 756-1990 or (562) 997-7368
Web: motoquest.com
From its base in Long Beach, California, MotoQuest conducts tours around the globe, offering something for everyone on two wheels, from the bucolic roads of Wales to the top of the world in India—and many more!
A pause to admire the cherry blossoms on the last riding day of the MotoQuest Japan Three Islands tour. Photo by Mark Tuttle.
Mototouring
Base: Milan, Italy
Tours Include: Dolomites Riding Center, Sardinia, Tuscany, Italian Factories, Benelli Vintage Tour and more
Accommodations: Comfortable hotels
Length of Tours: 6-18 days
Rental Options: BMW, Honda, Ducati and Suzuki Bandits
Equipment: Support vehicle
Dates: Year-round
Typical Cost: 9-day Dolomites Riding Center, 2,950 Euros
Age/Experience Limits: Motorcycle license required, average experience
Tel: 011 39 02 2720 1556
Web: mototouring.com
Mototouring has been organizing tours since 1990, and is located in Milan, in the heart of Italy’s motorcycle production area. Hence the factories tour, which visits factories and private museums dedicated to Italian machinery.
Peru Motors
Base: Aerequipa, Peru
Tours Include: Classic Inca Peru, Maya Adventure, South Pan-American, Touch the Equator, Trans Andes and more
Accommodations: Tourist-class hotels
Length of Tours: 9-38 days
Rental Options: BMW GS models, Suzuki DR650, Honda Africa Twin
You’ll find a great diversity of roads, scenery and culture in Peru, and how better to experience it than on two wheels?
Reuthers
Base: Germany, USA and New Zealand
Tours Include: New Zealand Paradise, Europe Berlin-Moscow, Europe Ireland, South Africa Wild Garden, South America Patagonia and more
Accommodations: Midrange to top-class hotels
Length of Tours: 7-22 days
Rental Options: Harley-Davidson, limited availability on BMW, Triumph, Indian and others
Equipment: Support vehicle
Dates: Year-round
Typical Cost: 8-day Europe Ireland Tour, GBP 3,495
Age/Experience Limits: Minimum age 21, motorcycle license required
Tel: (800) 838-3162
Web: reuthers.com
Reuthers is a global entertainment, travel and leisure company, which began offering guided motorcycle tours in 1997. It partnered with Harley-Davidson in 2006, and now provides tours in North America, Africa and Europe.
RIDE Adventures
Base: Bend, Oregon
Tours Include: Patagonia Experience, Essential Colombia Adventure, Thai-Laos Experience, Top 7 Highlights of Bolivia and more
Accommodations: Hotels and cabanas
Length of Tours: 9-20 days
Rental Options: A variety of appropriate ADV models
RIDE Adventures wants to make motorcycle travel in South America as easy and accessible as possible. Tours range in difficulty from Level 1 (all paved) to Level 5 (single track, extreme terrain).
Ride High
Base: Kathmandu, Nepal; Chiang Mai, Thailand; and Vershire, Vermont
Tours Include: Nepal to Bhutan, Mustang Nepal, High Roads of the Himalaya, Thailand to Laos, Northern Thailand and more
Accommodations: Hotels, guesthouses, lodges
Length of Tours: 11-16 days
Rental Options: Modern and classic Royal Enfield models
Equipment: Support vehicle
Dates: Year-round
Typical Cost: 14-day Mustang Nepal, $4,895
Age/Experience Limits: Internationalmotorcycle license required, comfortable on 500cc and larger bikes, under age 21 requires accompanying parent or guardian
Tel: (802) 738-6500
Web: ridehigh.com
Ride High says it was the first registered touring company in the Kingdom of Nepal, and for 30 years has provided travelers the chance to experience some of the highest roads in the world on classic British motorcycles.
Rental Options: BMW F 650 GS, F 700 GS and R 1200 GS
Equipment: Support vehicle
Dates: October-March
Typical Cost: 5-day Hub & Spoke, $2,297
Age/Experience Limits: Contact Riders of the Sierra Madre for details
Tel: 011 52 1 376 766 0160
Web: ridethesierra.com
This Mexican company was built and is run by Canadian and American riders who settled in Mexico (for the warm weather of course!). It will make riding in Mexico a friendly and approachable experience.
Ridden Earth Tours
Base: Tuscany, Italy
Tours Include: NEW 6-Country Alpine Tour, Turkey Sea to Sky, Rome to Prague and more
Accommodations: High quality, family or boutique 4-5 star hotels
Length of Tours: 9-21 days
Rental Options: Suzuki V-Strom, BMW, Ducati and KTM 1190 Adventure
Equipment: Support vehicle
Dates: Year-round
Typical Cost: 9-day Rome to Prague, 4,080 Euros
Age/Experience Limits: Minimum age 21, intermediate to advanced riding skills
Tel: 011 447973 315679
Web: riddenearth.com
Two legs move the body, two wheels move the soul. Tours cover much of Europe, Eastern Europe and Turkey; guides are qualified motorcycle safety instructors.
Age/Experience Limits: “Competent motorcyclist,” minimum age 21 with motorcycle license
Tel: 011 64 3 312 0066
Web: motorbiketours.co.nz
With a fleet of government-inspected rental bikes, and some of the best roads in the world to ride, South Pacific Motorcycle Tours prides itself on excellent customer service and professionalism.
Te Waipounamu Motorcycle Tours Ltd.
Base: Christchurch, New Zealand
Tours Include: Golden Week, Tour of the Mountain Kings, Streetmasters
Accommodations: Pleasant hotels and lodges
Length of Tours: 1-2 weeks
Rental Options: Various BMW, Honda, Harley-Davidson, Suzuki and Triumph models
Equipment: Support vehicle
Dates: February-May
Typical Cost: 2-week Tour of the Mountain Kings, NZD$11,035
Age/Experience Limits: Minimum age 21, ages 21-25 restricted to 650cc or less
Tel: 011 64 3 372 3537
Web: motorcycle-hire.co.nz
Te Waipounamu Motorcycle Tours started in 1987, making them one of the most experienced companies around with many hundreds of satisfied tourists.
The French Ride
Base: Aix-les-Bains, France
Tours Include: Alps & Jura: The Lakes, Northern Alps Wonders, French Riviera & Provence and more
Accommodations: Hand-picked hotels and B&Bs
Length of Tours: 6-16 days
Rental Options: Suzuki V-Strom 650 and 1000
Equipment: None
Dates: April-October
Typical Cost: 10-day French Riviera & Provence, 2,790 Euros
Age/Experience Limits: Motorcycle license required, minimum age 23
Tel: 011 33 6 77 77 54 28
Web: thefrenchride.com
Make your dream a reality by exploring the best scenic roads of France, Switzerland, Italy or Spain, all from Aix-les-Bains, located in the heart of the French Alps.
World on Wheels
Base: New South Wales, Australia
Tours Include: Royal Rajasthan, Inspiring Iceland, Spectacular South Africa, Tacos ’n’ Tequila, Dalmatian Delights and more
Accommodations: Midrange or better, cheerful hotels
Mike and Denise Ferris have been running their motorcycle tour business out of Australia for 24 years now, and are proud to say that they still lead each and every tour themselves. In fact, they’ve never hired a guide to take their place.
What comes to mind when you imagine a European motorcycle tour? Great roads, beautiful scenery, history and amazing food? If that sounds enticing, but you’re not ready to commit to days of hair-raising Alpine passes or two weeks away from home, the Best of Europe Tour with Edelweiss Bike Travel might be right up your alley. Photos by the author.
Booking your first overseas motorcycle trip can be stressful enough, but that first day in the saddle in an unfamiliar place, on an unfamiliar bike, on unfamiliar roads marked by unfamiliar and probably unintelligible signs, can be a little overwhelming. Fortunately everyone (with the exception of yours truly) on my recent Edelweiss Best of Europe tour was in the exact same boat, something Ursula, our lead tour guide, didn’t find at all surprising.
This aptly-named weeklong tour allows you to taste a sampling of the best Europe has to offer, including plenty of castles, newly-forged friendships with other riders and of course some spectacularly beautiful roads and scenery.
According to her, the Best of Europe tour is extremely popular with first-timers, and for good reason. It’s an ideal introduction to riding in Europe: smooth, not-too-technical roads that allow you to focus on enjoying the quaint villages, spectacular scenery, delicious food and castles everywhere you turn. I recognized it for what it was immediately. This was a gateway drug, what the savvy dealer gives you to get you hooked. (Given how many hands went up at our farewell dinner when Ursula asked who would return for another tour, I’d say the hook was firmly planted.)
One of the great things about taking an overseas motorcycle tour is the new friendships you’ll forge.
As for me, the Best of Europe tour was my pick for a variety of reasons, but a large part of the decision might surprise you: genealogy. Genealogy is a hobby of mine and over the years I’ve traced back both sides of my family to some specific areas, including southwestern Germany, Alsace (now a part of France) and Switzerland–all of which we’d be visiting on the tour.
Navigating narrow, cobblestoned streets is the norm in Europe.
I’m probably preaching to the choir, but if you’re going to visit Europe, doing it on a motorcycle is the way to go–with the possible caveat that you choose the right tool for the job. European roads tend to be narrower than what we’re used to in the U.S. or Canada, especially in villages and cities where cobblestones and tight turns are common, and they’re rarely straight.
Gentle switchbacks ascend and descend the Swiss countryside as we warm up for our first Alpine pass near the mountain Säntis.
For these reasons, I opted for a BMW F 800 GS with its ready-for-anything suspension, lighter weight and nimble handling. My tour-mates also chose wisely: there were several R 1200 GS models, a couple of R 1200 RTs, and one-up riders on the Triumph Tiger 800, Honda NC700X and BMW R 1200 RS. Two couples traveling together from Pennsylvania opted for big Harley touring bikes–ideal for wide American roads, but as they learned as the week went on, a bit of a handful on our brief Alpine sections.
Carving curves on the optional ride into the Vosges Mountains on our rest day.
The Best of Europe route was thoughtfully designed to incorporate progressively more technical roads, allowing riders to get accustomed to their bikes and the foreign surroundings before hitting the serious twisties on the last few days. Our tour would loop us out of Erding, north of Munich, through undulating farmland and along river-carved valleys west and then south to the famous Black Forest, before ducking into France for a rest day. Refreshed, we’d then head back east into Germany, slip into Switzerland’s impossibly green hills studded with jagged gray peaks, then finish with a day of endless curves in Austria before returning to Erding.
The Best of Europe tour loops west out of Erding, near Munich, heading into France, then Switzerland and Austria before returning to Germany.
The gently rolling farmland we encountered on our first two days, from Erding to Rothenburg and then on to Heidelberg, reminded me why German immigrants to the U.S. felt so at home in places like Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Wisconsin.
Well, apart from the castles. They’re everywhere it seems, from 11th century ruins to gilded 18th century monuments to excess. Our first night’s stop was in Rothenburg, a beautifully preserved medieval walled city where we followed a “night watchman” on a twilight tour of the old town. Day two brought a stop at the partially ruined Hirschhorn castle and a finish in famous Heidelberg, with its mammoth palace lording over the city below.
Every village in Bavaria has a Maypole, and each one is different, with figures and decorations that represent the local characters and industry.
We usually had a couple of free hours each evening between arriving at the hotel and dinner, and by the second night in Heidelberg it was clear I’d need to devote mine to getting some exercise. German food is serious business, made even more so by the ubiquitous beer served with dinner (I opted for local wines, also very good and far less filling), and if I was going to have any hope of maintaining my girlish figure on this weeklong tour I’d need to do some walking.
German food is serious business, as this dinner (a single serving!) attests.
When I announced my intention to walk the steep path up to Heidelberg’s palace rather than take the tram, one tour-mate teased me with a quote from “The Princess Bride”: “Have fun storming the castle!” The joke stuck, and from then on storming castles became a central theme of the trip. There was the trio of ruins guarding the medieval Alsatian town of Ribeauvillé; the circular 16th-century fortress called Munot surrounded by vineyards at the center of Schaffhausen; and King Ludwig II’s ostentatious tribute to his idol Louis XVI, Castle Linderhof, a lunch stop for the group on our last riding day.
Royalty for a day at Castle Linderhof in Bavaria.
Between castles, our Edelweiss guides let us sample just about every type of road found in the heart of Europe, from the limitless autobahn to meandering country roads to the sinuous switchbacks of the Austrian Alps. They led us through and to places we’d likely never have found on our own, like the hidden Hexenlochmühle (“mill of the witch place”), a cuckoo clock workshop and café where we enjoyed slices of Black Forest cake.
We spotted this East German relic at a lunch stop in Germany.
That said, riders are always encouraged to explore on their own if they so choose–Edelweiss furnishes a detailed map with the daily route highlighted, plus a guide book–so on the rest day in Ribeauvillé several of us decided not to go on the optional group ride into the Vosges Mountains, opting instead to head off on solo adventures. After breakfast with the group, I hopped on my GS and headed back toward the Rhine River and Germany, my destination a village where my great-great-great grandfather was born.
Our rest day in Ribeauvillé allowed us to relax in the hotel, explore the countryside or wander the many shops.
But first a visit to a piece of world history: the Maginot Line. This series of fortifications and tunnels was built to deter a repeat of Germany’s rapid invasion of France during WWI, and stretched along the French border all the way to Belgium. Today several Maginot Line structures still exist, and one happened to be just a few kilometers away from Ribeauvillé.
After a sobering walk through the bunker’s chambers and a stroll over the grounds where American vehicles from the liberation force were on display, I headed for my ancestor’s German village. Ichenheim sits only a couple of kilometers from the east bank of the Rhine, surrounded by flat fields of golden-tasseled corn and lush green woods; to the east rise the dark hills of the Black Forest. Agrarian but hilly Southern Indiana must’ve felt very familiar to him.
Each hotel on our tour had its own special history and flavor; this one in Rothenberg dates from the 12th century.
After our rest day, the riding difficulty was cranked up a notch as we traversed the Black Forest again and entered Switzerland. Rolling green hills and gentle curves gave way to our first Alpine pass and a lunch break at the mountain Säntis, at 8,200 feet the highest in eastern Switzerland. From there, the curves continued nonstop as we crossed into Austria and ascended the famous Hochtannberg Pass.
Outdoor dining is a European tradition, and with beautiful weather all week we were happy to take part.
By the next morning, our last riding day, the entire group was salty and ready for anything–a far cry from the slightly nervous, curve-shy bunch that had begun the ride. We’d stormed castles, eaten our weight in spätzle, toasted our perfectly sunny riding days with liters of beer and wine each evening and scuffed the sides of our tires on roads so pretty it can be hard to keep your eyes on where you’re going. The Best of Europe tour really is a gateway drug to the joys of motorcycle travel in Europe, a dip of the toe, a sampling of the smorgasbord. Just be warned: you might get addicted.
The Edelweiss Best of Europe tour runs once a month from May to September. For more information visit edelweissbike.com.
Switchbacking up to Passo Gardena. Photos by the author.
Every organized motorcycle tour worth its salt has interesting roads, captivating scenery, tasty food and comfortable accommodations. That’s what you’re paying for, in addition to experienced and knowledgeable guides and the convenience of having a motorcycle waiting for you when you arrive. All you have to do is show up and ride.
The sign at Passo Falzarego was remarkably clean. Signs at most of the passes are covered in so many stickers that it can be hard to read them.
Every tour also has a hook, something that catches riders’ eyes and convinces them to lay down a deposit and clear their calendar for a week or two. In the case of Ayres Adventures’ Switchback Challenges, the hook is short, intense tours that promise riders more hairpins, chicanes, kinks, sweepers and high passes than they can count.
A short break at Passo Gardena, only a few kilometers from our hotel.
Covering seven days, with two travel days bookending five riding days, these tours are reasonably priced (starting at $2,975), offer mid-level accommodations and, by staying at the same hotel during the riding days, require less hassle than tours that go from hotel to hotel each night. Ayres offers four Switchback Challenges–the Pyrenees, southern Spain, central Alps and the Dolomites.
Many valleys in the Dolomites are crisscrossed with twisting roads and ski lifts.
Lofty terms such as motorcycle “heaven” or “nirvana” are often used to describe the Alps, a huge, diverse mountain range of unrivaled beauty that, because it’s located in the heart of Western Europe and has been fought over and occupied for millennia, is densely packed with narrow, steep, winding roads, some in the most unlikely of places.
Descending from Passo Falzarego after taking a cable car to the top of the mountain. Even in late summer, a snow storm dropped several inches of snow on the Dolomites days before we arrived.
Even within an area as exceptional as the Alps, the Dolomites manage to stand out. Designated a World Heritage Site, Unesco describes the Dolomites as “a mountain range in the northern Italian Alps [that] features some of the most beautiful mountain landscapes anywhere, with vertical walls, sheer cliffs and a high density of narrow, deep and long valleys.”
The Dolomites are made up of nine distinct formations that rise up from the green valleys that surround them. BMW’s R 1200 GS Adventure is a big bike for such tight roads, but it handles well and its low-end torque came in handy.
What gives peaks and ridges in the Dolomites their distinctive jagged appearance–and the mountain range its name–is sedimentary carbonate rock with a high percentage of the mineral dolomite. Spread out over more than 550 square miles, the Dolomites are made up of nine distinct, enormous formations that tower high above valleys that weave between and around them, like giant gray teeth sticking up through green shag carpet.
Fresh asphalt and stunning views on the way up to Passo Sella.
With 18 peaks at or above 10,000 feet, parts of the Dolomites are blanketed in snow and glaciers year-round, the run-off from which crashes down steep ravines and creates dramatic waterfalls. Popular among skiers in the winter and hikers, bicyclists and motorcyclists in the summer, the Dolomites region is riddled with jaw-dropping vistas, tangles of asphalt and picturesque villages.
But first we had to get there.
Our tour guide Axel carving a fast line at Passo Nigra.
For convenience, Ayres’ Dramatic Dolomites Tour begins and ends in Munich, Germany, since its airport is a major European hub (I flew there nonstop from Los Angeles). Our affable guide, Axel Papst, with 18 years of experience leading motorcycle tours all over the world, picked me up at the airport and drove me to the hotel–a courtesy extended to all tour guests. After a tour briefing and giving our motorcycles a once-over, we walked to a local restaurant for a proper Bavarian dinner.
Passo Fedaia provides exceptional views of glacier-covered Marmolada, the highest peak in the Dolomites, and the crystal blue waters of Lago Fedaia, created by an enormous dam.
Over tall glasses of German lager, our small group–just four solo riders plus Axel–got acquainted. There was Tony, a retired executive from Indiana and a veteran of several Ayres tours–one being the Alps Switchback Challenge that he completed the week before our Dolomites tour. There was Jeff, a retired business owner and professor from Indiana who’s a riding buddy of Tony’s. And there was Lou, an engineer from Massachusetts. We quickly fell into easy conversation and shared lots of laughs, which continued throughout the week.
Our crew on the first day, during a lunch stop in Innsbruck, Austria.
On our first day, after taking the autobahn around Munich, we followed Axel on back roads through villages, forests and fields, heading south through Austria, and then into Italy via Brenner Pass, a major route through the eastern Alps that’s clogged with train tracks, a freeway, a local highway and an outlet mall. Having paid our dues for the sake of efficiency, we were soon rewarded with a steep climb up and over Passo di Pènnes, our first proper alpine pass. Even though it was the last week of August, the air was cold and windy and the mountains were dusted with snow. Weather can be unpredictable in the Alps, so it’s best to be prepared with rain gear and extra layers.
Tony, always easy to spot in his bright yellow Aerostich Darien jacket, rounding one of many hairpins on the way up to Passo di Giau.
As we would be for most of the tour, we were in South Tyrol, an autonomous province in northern Italy that was once part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Since more than 60 percent of South Tyroleans speak German and most of the rest speak Italian, signs typically list cities, passes, etc. in both languages. Most houses, hotels and barns are built in the alpine chalet style, with white walls, wide roofs, carved woodwork and large balconies, the railings of which exploded with colorful flowers in full bloom.
Known as Wolkenstein in Gröden in German and Selva di Val Gardena in Italian, this scenic ski town in a lush valley was our base camp during the tour.
We spent four nights in Wolkenstein, a charming ski town tucked in one of the Dolomites’ lush green valleys. Our home away from home was the cozy, recently renovated Hotel Comploj, run by a family that all but adopts its guests. The father is a gourmet chef, and he impressed us each night with freshly made soups, pastas and local specialties.
Located in the heart of the Dolomites, Hotel Comploj provided comfortable lodging, delicious food and charming hospitality.
Three of our riding days were spent exploring the best the Dolomites has to offer on loops averaging 150 miles. It was a garden of earthly delights, with the sort of smooth, winding pavement we all dream of delivering us to high-alpine pass after high-alpine pass, an up, down and all-around rollercoaster with a stunning backdrop everywhere you look. The list of passes we summited is long and glorious–Gardena, Valparola, Falzarego, Giau, Cibiana, Duran, Campolongo, Rolle, Valles, Cereda, Costalunga, Fedaia, Nigra, Pinei, Pordoj, Sella, Staulanza, Mendola and Erbe–each one unique, as are the roads that slither up and over them, and we lucked out with blue skies and cool temperatures.
With its countless hairpins, riding in the Dolomites will put any rider’s skills to the test.
Our daily mileage may seem modest, but when measured in terms of quality rather than quantity, our cup overfloweth. At the end of each day, as we hoisted celebratory beers back at the hotel, exhausted and exhilarated with sore shoulders from so many tight turns, no one complained of not riding enough. A Switchback Challenge, indeed.
Ayres Adventures’ Switchback Challenge tours run from August-October 2019. For more information and the full calendar of tours, visit ayresadventures.com.
Cathedral Mountain and Mount Stephen are twin 10,500-foot peaks viewed from Kicking Horse Pass on the edge of Banff National Park. Photos by the author.
“So, what’s in Yellowknife?” asked my doctor while he examined me after I informed him about my upcoming plans.
“Well,” I responded, “it’s an isolated city on the Canadian Shield in the Northwest Territories overlooking the Great Slave Lake. It’s also far enough north for excellent viewing of the aurora borealis.”
“But what else is there?” he emphatically demanded.
Fearing that he was missing the point I responded, “As a touring motorcyclist I look forward to the trek to a distant place at the end of the road,” and let it go at that.
And so I set forth to discover what, indeed, there was of note in Yellowknife. My numerous rides west from Albany, New York, follow a familiar itinerary: Albany to Conneaut, Ohio, the first day for 466 miles. Thereafter, I turn north out of Toledo, Ohio, to Bay City, Michigan; then Bemidji, Minnesota; Williston, North Dakota; and Shelby, Montana. From there I head north into the Canadian Rockies.
Sunwapta Pass on the Icefields Parkway marks the boundary between Banff and Jasper national parks.
In Mackinaw City, though, I picked up a riding partner during a lunch stop at a hot dog stand that seemed a convergence for motorcyclists. Gene is from Windsor, Ontario, aboard a Suzuki Bandit bound for Edmonton, Alberta, to visit family. He was content to follow my pace and schedule as we followed U.S. Route 2 west. I’ve always been a lone wolf during my 53 years of touring, because seldom do I encounter a more compatible riding companion. It certainly made the long slog westward more tolerable.
In Williston, North Dakota, we met two Honda ST1300 riders returning to their homes in Edmonton after a visit to the Black Hills. We were invited to tag along entering Montana, but their pace left us a diminishing view in their rearview mirrors. “Albertans seem always in a hurry,” Gene would later inform me. He and I separated outside Calgary. He directed me to Alberta Highway 22 through the picturesque Turner Valley. Many motorcyclists were enjoying the route, and each waved, including the high-riser Harleyists.
Bow Valley Parkway marks the beginning of the Banff to Jasper route through the Canadian Rockies.
Riding the Banff-Jasper route on the way to Canada’s Northern Territories is an imperative. During my last tour through here on my way to Alaska three years ago it was rainy and 48 degrees. This time around the Canadian Rockies unwound like a Technicolor film reel. Kicking Horse Pass led me into the heart of them, and a hanging waterfall plunging 1,250 feet.The Icefields Parkway glided by ragged peaks lapped by glacial tongues.
Takakkaw Falls is a two-stage plummet of 1,250 feet, reached via a steep, dead-end, 12-mile climb up Yoho Valley Road near Kicking Horse Pass, in British Columbia’s Yoho National Park.
Alberta Highway 40 out of Hinton is billed as the scenic route to Alaska. It plows through a large watershed for a lonely 325 kilometers to Grande Prairie. Signs warn of potentially dangerous encounters with caribou. Grande Prairie itself is a crossroads where one splits northwest to Alaska, east toward Edmonton, or due north for the Territories, as I do. The colorfully striking suspension bridge over the Peace River suddenly looms against a backdrop of calendar art. Within an hour I arrive at ground zero in Grimshaw.
Indigenous wildlife to watch for in these northern Canadian wilds.
The granite mile-zero marker of the Mackenzie Highway in Grimshaw may not be as famous as Mile 0 of the Alaskan Highway 125 miles due west of here, but the town makes the most of it by providing an extensive park with a lot of informative signage. The highway is named after Alexander Mackenzie, a Scottish fur trader who explored the Northwest Territories and traveled the full course of his namesake river, approximately 2,550 miles. I only have 600 miles now to Yellowknife, according to the marker.
Reaching the 60th parallel on the border with the Northwest Territories now means I am halfway to Yellowknife along the Mackenzie Highway. There’s a very nice visitor center here with a campground. But it’s raining, and I wouldn’t camp anyway because it appears the Northwest Territories is prime bug-breeding ground. They swarm me at every stop, a phalanx of horseflies, blackflies, dragonflies, yellowjackets, mosquitoes and midges. Occasionally at speed a fat one would ricochet off my helmet like a pistol shot. Flagmen at road construction sites wear mesh hoods. Alaska was never this bad.
This section of the Mackenzie passes through an extensive Bison Management Zone, and they are given free range, which means they occasionally amble onto the road. At one point I encounter an entire herd alongside the highway. They display their indifference at my passing. I test the antilock brakes on the BMW when I see a baby bison leaping across the road ahead like a deer. Remain alert, I remind myself.
Hay River Gorge below the torrent of Alexandra Falls (below) near Enterprise, NWT.Alexandra Falls above the Hay River Gorge.
Near Enterprise, Alexandra Falls thunders into the Hay River Gorge, and kayakers have risked their lives plunging into its raging torrent, so says my whitewater-running eldest son, who assures me he has no notions himself of attempting the feat. Another low octane fill up at Enterprise, all that’s available up here. But I learn to top off where I can because fuel may not be obtainable at the next stop.
Completed in 2012, after four years of construction, the Deh Cho Bridge crosses the mighty Mackenzie River at Fort Providence.
The Deh Cho Bridge frames the horizon on my approach to the mighty Mackenzie River, Canada’s largest watercourse and the second largest river system in North America. Considered an engineering marvel that took four years to construct because of extreme weather, the Deh Cho (indigenous term for the Mackenzie River) was completed in 2012. Previously, ferry service was provided and an ice road was maintained during the winter. I thread its intimidating isosceles pylons over the Mackenzie and into Fort Providence, where I fill up for the next 200 miles into Yellowknife.
Pylons of the Deh Cho Bridge pierce the sky on my approach to its highest arc above the wide Mackenzie River.
The last 60 miles of road into Yellowknife are the worst I encounter. I’m carefully negotiating numerous gravel sections, bouncing over buckled pavement and dipping into whoop-de-dos. Seeing the “Welcome to Yellowknife” sign is a relief, but it’s elevated on a hillside, making getting the bike into the picture a precarious undertaking.
I locate my B&B, the Bayside, in Old Town. This is where Yellowknife was originally settled when gold was discovered in the 1930s. Diamond mining is the new gold standard for this city of 20,000 and capital of the Northwest Territories. To gain a perspective of the city I climb the steep, zigzag staircase to the top of Pilot Hill, otherwise known as “The Rock,” an escarpment of bedrock forming the Canadian Shield.
This view from Pilot Hill in Yellowknife’s Old Town shows an inlet of the Great Slave Lake and the exposed bedrock of the Canadian Shield in the foreground.
An obelisk monument here pays tribute to the bush pilots who mapped the area and brought supplies to the fledgling settlement. Colorful houseboats cluster in the bay, while seaplanes skim the water like dragonflies, leaving broad wakes as they take off and land. Great Slave Lake sparkles in cyan radiance to the horizon, perhaps because it’s the deepest lake in North America.
Located in a restored heritage building, Yellowknife’s oldest restaurant is noted for serving bison burgers and bison poutine.
My B&B provides a delicious breakfast, and has its own restaurant called the Dancing Moose that serves gourmet fare. But to experience an Old Town tradition I am directed to the Wildcat Café, Yellowknife’s oldest restaurant located in a log heritage building. Bison burgers are on the menu, and so is a variation of a Canadian standard, bison poutine. Just up the road is quirky Bullock’s Bistro, offering wild game and the “freshest fish in the Territory.” But you’ll pay handsomely for it. I have my best repast on my final day at the Woodyard Brewhouse–a decadent charcuterie and cheese board washed down with a flight of NWT suds.
The quirky Bullocks Bistro in Yellowknife has a reputation for the best and freshest seafood in the Territories.
Riding out of Old Town toward downtown I squirm over Ragged Ass Road. This lane is so-named by the gold-rush era prospectors who had gone stone broke (ragged ass), and so built their ramshackle cabins here. The road is in no better shape now, as noted. Nearby is a rock face carved and painted with cultural symbols representing the indigenous Inuit, Métis and Inuvialuit.
This nameplate appropriately describes both the road and the Yellowknife neighborhood of former gold-rush prospectors.
In downtown Yellowknife I locate a mural that depicts Northwest Territories themes, including a colorful aurora borealis. Given the nearly 24-hour daylight I was not going to actually see them on this trip. I had learned the best time to view the northern lights was before the spring equinox, or in the dead of winter. Hmm, the first time period was too early to risk a motorcycle ride, and forget the latter option. Regardless, there are many variables that affect the viewing of northern lights. The aurora is a magnetic storm caused by the capricious solar winds, so predicting and timing their ephemeral nature is a veritable crapshoot.
Regardless of the disappointment, I was content to ride this deep into the Territories, especially feeling smug having learned there is not a single road between here and the Arctic Ocean yet to challenge. I had seen few touring motorcyclists, and perhaps only two local riders. I got to thinking, the Mackenzie and Alaska highways both have deep territorial reach, but the Mackenzie is half the length of the Alaska. Why aren’t there more brethren exploring its terminus? Organizers of the Iron Butt Rally should take note.
Maybe I found nothing too exceptional in Yellowknife, and the northern lights didn’t display themselves, but I return home with the satisfaction of achieving yet another distant horizon, which should be the goal of any adventurous touring motorcyclist.
A map of the route taken, by Bill Tipton/compartmaps.com.
