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North Central U.S.

Favorite Ride: Minnesota’s Otter Trail Scenic Byway

Thinking of Minnesota roadways, superlatives do not normally come to mind. Riding Minnesota’s Otter Trail Scenic Byway can change that. The route includes many...

Back Home Again In Indiana: Motorcycle Touring in the Hoosier State

I was born in Indiana, so I am, by definition, a Hoosier. I didn’t learn to ride there, but I spent 10 years in...

Michigandering: Riding Western Michigan on the Cheap

My friend, Rick, lives near Chicago, and I live in Ohio. When we decided to squeeze in one last motorcycle excursion last fall and meet...

Solitude and Scenery: Riding West Kansas

Kansas is sometimes thought of as part of the “fly-over zone,” a place that doesn’t matter much in the bigger scheme of things. I...

A Tour Unlike Any Other: The Motorcycle Relief Project

Update: The Moto Relief Project is dedicated to helping our veterans heal after the traumas of war and the toll it takes on their...

Indian Summer: A Meandering Ride in Minnesota and Wisconsin

During my college years, rather than waste time studying nonsense such as biochemistry or the comparative structure and function of vertebrates, I instead spent...

Double Take | A Midwest Motorcycle Ride

Quick! List your top 10 places to ride in North America. Did Kansas make the cut? How about Nebraska? Iowa? My thoughts exactly. So whenever...

From Canada to Mexico on U.S. Route 281

Riders brag about their coast-to-coast exploits—how many times, how many days, how many hours. I’ve been across the country 21 times myself. Seeking a...

Riding Minnesota’s Historic Bluff Country Scenic Byway

Ah, autumn, mid-October. Cool mornings, mild midday temperatures, low winds—perfect. We set our sights on a new-to-us scenic byway in Minnesota. The route is not...

Historic and Scenic Routes in Western Nebraska

The first transcontinental railroad, first transcontinental automobile highway (the Lincoln Highway), the Oregon Trail, the California and Mormon Trails and the Pony Express riders...

Sea to Shining Sea: Coast-to-Coast for the Heck of it

I love these long hauls, love looking at the beauty, and occasional ugliness, of this great nation, love stopping at all the historical markers...

Motorcycle Riding in Wisconsin's Door County

The first slice of this three-day tour began in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where five intrepid motojournalists landed on a Thursday afternoon at the city’s General...

Eastern Kansas: Time Traveling in the Sunflower State

I was about an hour outside of Kansas City heading south on U.S. Route 169, a lightly traveled four-laner, and it was great to...

The Ride to Red Wing: Meandering Through the Midwest

The planning session for the ride had been laughable. We were three old farts, card-carrying AARP members, edging into retirement. Gary had suggested a...

Riding the Tail of the Newt in Kansas

Kansas City straddles the border of two states, so if you are from the area, starting in one state and finishing in another is...

Exploring Wisconsin State Route 67

My Dad told me, “Always go home a different way than you went, or you’ll never learn your way around.” I’ve always tried to...

Motorcycle Ride in Door County, Wisconsin

Door County, Wisconsin, covers the tip of a narrow peninsula, with Lake Michigan lapping at its eastern beaches and Green Bay gracing its western...

Following Hemingway: Motorcycle Adventure on Michigan’s Lower Peninsula

Iconic author Ernest Hemingway followed his own path in a distinctively adventurous manner. I’ve compared his approach to life to that of motorcyclists, pursuing...

Pigeon River Country: Sport Touring in Michigan

Michigan riders looking for sporting back roads with minimal traffic and serious curves in the northern portion of the Lower Peninsula need only follow...

Sidehacking into History

Many motorcyclists consider freeway speed limits to be a barrier. On a Ural, they’re more like an accomplishment. But the thrill one feels at...

Great Roads: Motorcycle Riding in Missouri

The crack of the bat and the smell of yeast are never far away in St. Louis, a vibrant city—kingdom of baseball and beer....

Iowa’s Unique Scenic Byway

What landform is found only in a small part of Iowa and in China? If you answered, “Huh?” you need to ride the Loess...

Great Roads: South Dakota

The following is an excerpt from the article Connecting the Dakotas: The Long Way Around North and South, originally printed in the August 2009...

Riding The Santa Fe Trail: A Journey Back in Time From Missouri to New Mexico

In 1821, everything south of the Arkansas River was Mexico. Newly free from Spain, the Mexican government took new resources north to the provincial...

South Dakota Escape

As a young boy, my stamp collection included a green 1952 three-cent commemorative of Mt. Rushmore. The four presidential faces gazing wisely across America...

Touring the Forgotten Iron Range in Wisconsin and Michigan

Late in the 19th century, in Wisconsin’s far north and on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, above ground thousands of men hacked out a living logging...

Motorcycle Travel in Iowa: Taking The Old Lincoln Highway Across The Hawkeye State

Story and Photos By Clement Salvadori I was a little concerned about riding through Iowa in June of 2011. Nothing to do with bandits, earthquakes...

The Long Road to Indy: A Motorcycle Ride Thru Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana

Imagine a multi-state Main Street for Motorcycling, a cross-country route made just for riding. Miles of sinuous asphalt draped over rolling hills, winding past...

A Tale of Two Lakes: Riding the Great Lakes Circle Tour

I’m a careful planner, but the key to this journey was decided by the flip of a coin. Heads, clockwise, tails, counterclockwise. It was...

A Western Montana Motorcycle Ride to Wisdom, Opportunity and Treasure

story and photography by Kathleen Kemsley Three wishes I made, three places I sought on a warm and breezy summer day in western Montana. Riding...

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