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West U.S.

“It’s the Joshua tree’s struggle that gives it its beauty,” writes Jeannette Walls in her 2005 memoir The Glass Castle. She further contends that...

Border to Border on the Oregon Backcountry Discovery Route

This story is about a ride that took place in 2013 on the original Oregon Backcountry Discovery Route, which was developed by the Oregon...

Arizona Route 66 Motorcycle Ride

Route 66, or the Mother Road, is indelibly stitched into the fabric of the American psyche. The iconic road once traced its way for...

Alaska Motorcycle Ride: Discovering America’s Last Frontier

It wasn’t that she was a princess. She had lived and taught on a reservation in northern Ontario where she gutted geese, chopped down...

A Scenic Casa Grande, Arizona Motorcycle Ride

Arizona is known for its five Cs – copper, cattle, cotton, citrus, and climate – all of which are represented on the state’s great...

Sonoma Motorcycle Rides, On My Own and With Family | Favorite Ride

This is a tale of two amazing rides. One threads its way through some of Northern California’s beautiful wine, lake, and hill country. The...

Riding From Gunnison, Colorado, to Hovenweep National Monument

C. Jane Taylor’s moto memoir Spirit Traffic was published in 2022. That summer, she and her husband embarked on a 97‑day cross‑country book tour...

Motoring from Denver to Moab | Favorite Ride

Moab, Utah, is an ideal destination for a motorcycle trip. Where else can you find sandstone arches, red‑walled canyons, snow‑capped mountains, scenic byways, two...

A Flagstaff to Albuquerque Motorcycle Ride on a Less Obvious Route

If you blindly follow your GPS, a Flagstaff to Albuquerque motorcycle ride is a 320‑mile drone on Interstate 40. That’s fine if Point A...

Riding in Beautiful Circles: A Southern Oregon Motorcycle Ride

There is just something about southern Oregon. It can be difficult to choose between the area’s rolling grasslands, towering evergreens, high mountain lakes, quaint...

National Parks, Alpine Passes, and The Bard: A Southern Utah Motorcycle Ride

While I waited for my steaming calzone to cool in the pizza restaurant in the tiny town of Orderville, Utah, and contemplated my impending...

Backcountry Discovery Routes Releases Steens Mountain and Alvord Desert, OR BDR-X

Earlier this year, Backcountry Discovery Routes (BDR) released the Oregon BDR, its 12th full route, and each one can be completed in about a week....

Seeing Three Utah National Parks on a Motorcycle | Favorite Ride

Utah’s national parks – Arches, Bryce Canyon, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, and Zion – are known as the Mighty 5. All feature impressive red rock...

Backcountry Discovery Routes: BMW and BDR Collaborate on New Oregon Route

Following the success of the first partnership between BMW Motorrad USA and Backcountry Discovery Routes in 2022 with the Wyoming BDR, the two groups...

Backcountry Discovery Routes: Two Buddies on Yamaha Ténéré 700s in Utah and Arizona

During the long, dark winter in Minnesota, when the ground is covered in snow and ice and our motorcycles are mothballed for months, dreaming...

Valley of Fire and Lake Mead in Nevada | Favorite Ride

Johnny Cash sang about fire, murder, heartbreak, and sin, and I think he would have appreciated the symbolism of this ride, given its route....

Western Colorado Motorcycle Ride: Rolling Through the Rockies

As I sat in the grassy courtyard of the Retro Motel in Cortez, Colorado, the quaint motel’s name struck a chord. It dawned on...

Motorcycle Camping on a Honda CB500X and Husqvarna Norden 901

The following motorcycle camping trip story was part of Rider's adventure-themed November 2022 issue, which also included stories on the TransAmerica Trail, Trans Canada...

White Rim Trail on KTM 690 Enduros | Favorite Ride

White Rim Trail – or White Rim Road in national park parlance – is a 100-mile unpaved route that loops around the Island in...

Beartooth and Beyond | Favorite Ride

Hell yes! That is the only plausible answer when friends invite you to join them on an eight-day motorcycle ride through the mountains of...

Favorite Ride: Colorado Front Range Figure-8

As we sat in the crimson hue of the Colorado Front Range sunset, the stone walls of the iconic Red Rocks Amphitheatre echoed with...

Spring Trifecta: A Return to Riding, Concerts, and Baseball

I am not one to repeat most motorcycle rides, and I am certainly not one to revisit my old articles. However, there is a...

Backcountry Discovery Routes Releases Wyoming BDR

Since 2010, the adventure motorcycling non-profit Backcountry Discovery Routes (BDR) has created 10 trans-state routes for dual-sport and adventure motorcycle travel. Now, BDR announces its eleventh...

Tracing the Cascades on a Yamaha Tracer 900 GT

Winding through a dark canopy of evergreens, the road played hide-and-seek with the Clackamas River, offering a glimpse here and there of clear water...

Favorite Ride: Jerome to Oatman, Arizona

Historic towns are a lot like vintage motorcycles. Both are more beautiful wearing the rich patina of years and experience. Yes, towns can be...

Fort Bragg to Sonoma Raceway: IMS Outdoors Northern California Ride

Taking in the view from Duncans Point on a cold, foggy summer day. (Photo by Kevin Wing) For 2021, the Progressive International Motorcycle Shows tour has...

Two Buddies Tour the Rocky Mountains

“You’ve got to enter this!” said my touring mate, Marco, when he called me about Moto Guzzi’s Spirit of the Eagle Rideaway competition. Describe your...

Favorite Ride: Rim of the World Scenic Byway

There are rides we’ve ridden only once and they became favorites, and then there are favorite rides we’ve ridden over and over again. This...

Favorite Ride: Rockies to Mount Rushmore

I see mountains! It’s Thursday, somewhere west of Anton, Colorado, and after four-and-a-half days and 1,600 miles, the snowcapped Rockies appear on the horizon....

Mojave National Preserve: From Neon to Nirvana

Covering three states and several desert ecosystems, this ride was a survey of contrasts, from arid sand dunes to thriving wetlands, whimsical Joshua trees...

West U.S.

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