WILD
COLORADO RUN
Durango to Mesa Verde National
Park via the San Juan Skyway
Via: Silverton, Million Dollar Highway, Ouray, Telluride
Ride Highlights: A short, but challenging ride up and
over 11,000 feet, high enough to witness the San Juan Mountains,
waterfalls, alpine meadows and spectacular vistas and valleys.
Ride Overview: This ride won't take very long, but it
will last forever. Every Colorado beer commercial image is here;
as are a proliferation of waterfalls, switchbacks with sheer
drops, frontier towns in no hurry to leave the 19th century and
a circa 1300 AD village frozen in time. You'll ride across mountain
passes at 11,000 feet and have the option of renting a jeep to
ride past 13,000... if you don't mind a collapsed lung. |
LAND
OF ENCHANTMENT RUN
Taos to Santa Fe, New Mexico
Via: Enchanted Circle, Red River, Eagle Nest, High Road,
Peñasco, Madrid
Ride Highlights: In the midst of Southwest Art, Indian
pueblos, great mountain roads and small New Mexican towns.
Ride Overview: A short ride along the High Road to Santa
Fe, as well as a loop around the Enchanted Circle. It's a ride
marked by the creativity of Southwest Art and the poverty of
New Mexican villages. If you believe in the power of energy fields,
this may give you boost. |
 RED ROCKS RUN
Sedona, Arizona to Zion National Park, Utah
Via: Tusayan, Grand Canyon, Page, Lake Powell, Bryce Canyon
Ride Highlights: Everything that couldn't be made by man.
Geological formations, overpowering natural beauty, water sports,
and friendly people in every town.
Ride Overview: Just as the Calistoga-Sausalito-Carmel
run is a perfect showcase for California towns and roads, the
Sedona-Grand Canyon-Zion is the right blend for Arizona and Utah.
With the exception Sedona, the roads are not challenging but
the vast openness of the country is as intriguing in its own
way. |
 LAS
VEGAS-YOSEMITE RUN
Las Vegas, Nevada to Yosemite National Park, California
Via: Death Valley, Lone Pine, Bishop, Yosemite, Lee Vining
Ride Highlights: Everything America has to offer is here.
From the all-day, all-night trappings of materialism in Las Vegas
to the natural pleasures to the magnificent desolation of Death
Valley and the bounty of wildlife and nature at America's premier
national park.
Ride Overview: Of all the runs, this is the most exciting,
frightening, grueling, exhilarating, fascinating, inspiring,
and humbling. From the materialistic and surreal city of Las
Vegas, the mood descends to the stark landscape of Death Valley.
What follows is arguably the grandest vistas in America at Yosemite
and, if you desire, the clear and clean waters of Lake Tahoe.
This ride will test your mettle and reward your efforts. |
 WASHINGTON STATE RUN
LeConner to Port Townsend, Washington
Via: Snoqualmie, Fall City, Carnation, Duvall, Monroe,
Arlington, Darrington, Whidbey Island
Ride Highlights: A circuitous route to whip through the
best of the Pacific Northwest. Into great mountain runs, beside
still waters, and via ferry past islands and into the Olympic
Peninsula.
Ride Overview: Washington is a big state with more than
its share of natural beauty. Even if you've never been here you
can already imagine the Washington countryside. The mountains
are snow-capped in summer and the glacier lakes, bays and islands
are more striking than any postcard you've seen. |
 PACIFIC
COAST RUN
Calistoga to Carmel, California
(with featured sidetrip south on Pacific Coast Highway to Hearst
Castle)
Via: Sausalito, Monterey, Carmel, Big Sur and the Pacific
Coast Highway.
Ride Highlights: The best California has to offer. Small
towns within a stone's throw of a major city. The peacefulness
of vineyards, spas, artists colonies and bayside villages with
the backdrop of the mighty roads and the grand Pacific Ocean.
Ride Overview: As demonstrated by the ride through Death
Valley, Lone Pine and Yosemite, Eastern California was designed
by God specifically for motorcyclists. He did a pretty good job
on the west coast as well. Napa Valley is the closest you'll
come to riding along Mediterranean roads unless you ship your
bike to Pireaus. The region is marked by affluence, although
you don't have to be rich since roads are free. From the luxurious
indulgences of the spas of Calistoga, the pure beauty of the
San Francisco skyline, and the fantasy architecture of Carmel,
the rides are short, the roads are right, and the journey from
valley to hill to coastal highway creates a satisfying blend
of environments. |