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Valley of Fire and Lake Mead in Nevada | Favorite Ride

Valley of Fire State Park Nevada
The roads in Nevada’s Valley of Fire State Park cut through some of the world’s most stunning red rock formations.

Johnny Cash sang about fire, murder, heartbreak, and sin, and I think he would have appreciated the symbolism of this ride, given its route. Northeast of Las Vegas is one of the most visually stunning state parks in the Southwest. The added bonus for motorcyclists is that the park’s roads trace through the crimson landscape like slithering black mambas. A ride through Valley of Fire State Park and Lake Mead National Recreation Area makes for a fantastic motorized respite from the neon bustle of Vegas. 

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The Las Vegas Strip, with its massive themed casinos, sidewalk solicitations, and congestion, is not my cup of tea. That’s why my staging point for this ride was Fremont Street. While still over-the-top, this area has the feel of an older, more genuine version of Vegas.

The night before my ride, I watched a cover band play classic rock tunes under the lights and video canopy that spans Fremont and enjoyed a variety of street performers. The next day, I put a couple bottles of water and lunch in the saddlebags of my BMW R 1200 GS and mounted up. 

Read all of Rider’s BMW coverage here

Fremont Street is well north of the traffic and congestion of the Strip, so getting out of the city was much more convenient than it would have been if I had opted for lodging at one of the mega-casinos. On my way out of town, I rode past the Mob Museum and the Neon Museum – Vegas-themed tributes that were added to my post-ride entertainment schedule. 

Lake Mead National Recreation Area Nevada
The Las Vegas Wash runs as a tributary to Lake Mead, adding yet another unique visual element to this great ride.

The cruise northeast on the Las Vegas Freeway (Interstate 15) was a nice warm-up to this loop ride. The muted hues and desert views were expansive as I climbed out of the neon valley. There were a few floating cotton balls in the otherwise intense blue of the mid-morning Nevada sky. The line where the horizon meets the sky was as crisp and sharp as I have ever seen. 

After 30 miles of motoring on the freeway, I diverted the GS eastward onto the Valley of Fire Highway. The two-lane tarmac starts as a gently curving and undulating climb into the gray stone mountains that were part of the striking delineation I enjoyed just miles before. However, the monochromatic gray soon gives way to vibrant blotches of crimson. Contemplating the name of the Valley of Fire State Park, I couldn’t help but imagine those red spots as flare-ups caused by the wind-carried embers of an approaching wildfire. 

Valley of Fire State Park Nevada
The various hues of the desert landscape in the Valley of Fire make for a ride with an almost cinematic feel.

My first stop in the park was at the aptly named Beehives. There is little doubt what all the buzz is about. Cringe-worthy puns aside, the Beehives are a spectacular object lesson on the artistic creativity of erosion. The hives are stratified tributes to the power of wind, water, and time.

Valley of Fire State Park Nevada Beehives
The Beehives are whimsical sentinels that add to the region’s other-worldly feel.

By the time I got to the turnoff for the park’s visitor center, I was fully engulfed in the figurative flames of the Valley of Fire. I live near Sedona, Arizona, and I have ridden extensively through the red rocks of southern Utah, so I have a solid base of reference for the hue of red sandstone. Valley of Fire is something different. The terrain carries a deeper, more blood-like patina in this region. It is stunning. 

Valley of Fire State Park Nevada
The smooth and well-maintained winding roads through the Valley of Fire are tailor-made for motorcycling.

I bought a $10 park pass at a self-serve kiosk and rode up Mouse’s Tank Road. The endgame of this beautiful ride was a short hike on The White Domes Trail, where I enjoyed a drink of water and a snack and took in the majesty.

I am not usually a fan of out-and-back routes; however, this ride, carving through the curvaceous rock formations of the park, is fantastic in both directions. It’s only about 6 miles from the visitor center to the end of Mouse’s Tank Road, so the ride through the heart of the park is short but very scenic.  

See all of Rider‘s touring stories by region/state here

Valley of Fire State Park Nevada
The mix of elevation changes and a smorgasbord of turns makes the ride through the Valley of Fire very entertaining.

Back on the Valley of Fire Highway, I was awed at the beauty around me. The road follows the undulations and sinews of the red rocks. I made a final stop at Elephant Rock and meandered up the trail in my Sidi boots. It was well worth the wear on the soles of those expensive kicks. Elephant Rock is yet another of the park’s formations that is stunningly indicative of nature’s wonders. 

If this were a full daytrip rather than a through-ride, I would have stopped and hiked several more of the park’s features, like Arch Rock and Atlatl Rock with its Native American petroglyphs. The park is deserving of more exploration than I was able to give it. 

Lake Mead National Recreation Area Nevada
A fellow biker gives the universal salute as he rolls through Lake Mead National Recreation Area.

Back on the BMW, I made my way to the end of the park’s highway at its intersection with North Shore Road (State Route 167). The referenced shore is the bank of Lake Mead. The “shore road” moniker is a bit of a misnomer. The Southwest’s unprecedented drought has drawn the reservoir down to a record low, so I was quite some distance from the lake. While not a waterside trek, the ride in the Lake Mead National Recreation Area is entertaining and beautiful. I was back in that fringe environment where red outcroppings dot the gray landscape. The fire was to my back this time. 

Lake Mead National Recreation Area Nevada
The terrain within Lake Mead National Recreation Area is stark, barren, and beautiful.

Farther west on my return toward Vegas, the flatter, muted desert landscape returned. Cactus, desert brush, and the occasional dwarf palm dotted the horizon, and the final leg was relaxing as I traveled back from the Valley of Fire to the valley of neon. With proper gear choices, this is a ride that can be made virtually year-round, and I will certainly be back. From the City of Sin to the Valley of Fire, it’s a heavenly ride indeed. The Man in Black would approve.

The post Valley of Fire and Lake Mead in Nevada | Favorite Ride first appeared on Rider Magazine.
Source: RiderMagazine.com

Veteran Takes a 15,000-mile ‘Ride for Light’

Ride for Light
Former Army paratrooper Perry Steed with his 2013 BMW R 1200 GS on the Ride for Light. Steed departed Wilmington, North Carolina, on May 20 and returned home August 14.

In his intro video on the Ride for Light Facebook page, former Army paratrooper Perry Steed says there has been something he has been unable to do for the last 10 years – an obstacle he hasn’t overcome.

“That obstacle has been going to collect one of my very best friend’s ashes,” he says with solemnity in his voice.

On April 24, 2012, Sgt. Kristopher Cool took his own life. Steed says he has known several people who died by suicide both before and since Cool, but his friend’s death has been “the worst one for so many reasons.”

I can relate to Steed’s struggles. I’ve never been any good with death, whether it was from old age, a tragic accident, or suicide. But it’s a little harder in the case of suicide because of the conflicting feelings for those left behind. In 2014, a good friend of mine who was a veteran took his own life, and I still get choked up thinking about the pain he must’ve been feeling and the times we haven’t been able to share since.

Ride for Light
Steed with Sgt. Kristopher Cool’s father, Mike Cool (left), and uncle Paul Cool (right).

According to the website for Steed’s nonprofit, Operation: Purpose, veterans are 50% more likely to die from suicide than those who haven’t served, and what started as a mission to retrieve his friend’s ashes in Minnesota and take them to Fort Bragg to spread on Sicily Drop Zone became a “rally cry for support.” On May 20, Steed departed Wilmington, North Carolina, on a 2013 BMW R 1200 GS for a 48-state trip covering more than 15,000 miles. He returned home August 14.

Related Story: 2014 BMW R 1200 GS Adventure Review

“This ride is meant to provide Kristopher a final resting place,” the Operation: Purpose website states, “while also illuminating the issue of veterans’ mental health.”

When I first contacted Steed in June, he had made it to my neck of the woods in the southeastern corner of Utah.

“None of us can save the 22 that died yesterday,” he told me, referring to the Veterans Affairs statistic that 22 veterans take their own lives each day. “But if we can save one today, maybe they can help save two tomorrow. And then we can get this thing under control.”

More Than a Promise

Steed served as a forward observer in the Bravo 1st Battalion, 319th Field Artillery Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division from 1994 to 1997. He met Cool at the 82nd replacement. Steed was coming from jump school, and Cool was working the change of quarters desk. “We got to chitchatting about music, and we had similar tastes.”

The two men served together in the 82nd Airborne Division. Cool left the service a year before Steed, but the two stayed in contact over the years, including a stint when they lived in the same town.

“For a long time, he and I were pretty much inseparable.” Steed paused, and his next words were heavier. “Those were good times.”

In April 2012, Steed got a call he said he was expecting. “But I couldn’t hear it. My friend had died by suicide.”

The news hit him hard, and he formulated the plan to gather the ashes.

Ride for Light
Seneca, Missouri, on the Oklahoma border.

“But every time it came around for me to do it, I just couldn’t seem to make it happen.”

Steed said he struggled with his own instabilities for several years, and when he heard the news about Cool, he was trying to focus on his family.

“In fact, when I got the call, I was waiting for my wife to come home so we could go to childbirth class for our middle child,” he said. “So I focused on trying to be there for them. But I haven’t been there for myself.”

But the tragedies kept “building and building,” he said, including the deaths of more than two dozen family members and friends from various causes.

“They’re not all old people that had lived a full life. A lot of these people were cut down in their prime, and there have been a few suicides.”

He tried to keep motoring on, but everything came crashing down when his father-in-law died of cancer in 2019.

“He was the glue keeping me together,” Steed said, “because I had been focusing on getting him to his treatments, to his doctor’s appointments – just being there and doing things.”

Earlier in our interview, Steed said he had left from Fruita, Colorado, that morning, taking U.S. Route 191 and visiting Arches National Park, one of five national parks in Utah, and was talking to me from one of his father-in-law’s favorite spots in Mexican Hat, Utah, on U.S. Route 163.

“I’m actually sitting in the motel that he talked about for years and years, and wanting to come back,” he said. “I’m here to spread some of his ashes tonight. I carry him with me everywhere. I was raised by a good family, but when I met this man and asked if I could marry his daughter, he turned into my dad.”

Ride for Light
Steed’s wife, Liz, and oldest child, Ella, greet him at the welcome home event, which included a police escort, 60-70 other bikes, and two news crews.

Once his father-in-law died, “everything spiraled out of control for my family and me. And then Covid hit.”

He said the pandemic felt like a reset for a lot of people, himself included. He started using VA grief counseling tools and “put in a whole lot of work to get myself to where I could honor the promise I made when Kris passed away to go get his ashes.”

Before Christmas 2021, Steed spoke with his wife, who encouraged him to do it. The idea of the trip got him thinking about a friend in Oklahoma he had served with and who had been difficult to reach for quite a while.

“People don’t pop into my head for no reason,” he said. “So if someone pops into my head, there’s a higher calling for me to reach out to that person. I’m going to find them and I’m going to call them and I’m going to check on them.”

At that point, the purpose of the trip evolved.

“It’s me checking on battle buddies, guys I served with, friends of guys I served with, complete strangers.”

Over the course of reaching out to people, Steed reestablished a connection with a friend he served with who lives in San Luis Obispo, California.

“I told him, ‘Hey man, I’m getting ready to do this crazy thing. Hell, I might even come to California.’”

When Steed explained the impetus for his trip, the friend asked if Steed would also retrieve the ashes of his brother, Specialist David J. Howard.

“I haven’t physically seen this guy in California in over 20 years, and he still thinks enough of me to trust me with some of his brother’s remains knowing that I’m going to do exactly what I told him I would do and spread those ashes on Fort Bragg.”

Ride for Light
The Pacific Coast Highway, near Big Sur, California.

The Pros and Cons of 15,000 Miles of Helmet Time

Steed has been riding motorcycles for about 13 years. While the 1200 GS is his chosen mount for this mission – a bike he said was a holdout for him, even with the rave reviews – it’s not the only bike in his stable. His first motorcycle was an ’84 BMW R 80 RT.

“I spent a ton of money getting that thing right,” he said. “I still have it.”

He also owns an ’81 Yamaha XS 650, an ’84 BMW R 100 RT, a ’74 Moto Guzzi Eldorado, and a 2015 Suzuki V-Strom 650XT. A full stable indeed.

After more than a decade in the saddle, he’s no stranger to helmet time, but the Ride for Light provided more of a challenge. For one, it was longer than any rides he had previously taken.

“I did a mini trip last summer,” he said. “I rode 2,500 miles, just around North Carolina and Virginia and those areas, to see if I could even handle being in my head that long.”

Ride for Light
On U.S. Route 26 in Oregon approaching Mount Hood, which Steed said was huge. “I rode for a long time, and it didn’t look like it got any closer.”

Steed originally planned on doing the trip solo, but he was joined along the way by various friends and family. When he set out from North Carolina, he had a friend who is also a veteran ride along with him for the first five days and then split off in Georgia, at which point Steed was joined by a cousin who rode with him about 1,100 miles to the Oklahoma state line.

“He’s been riding for a long time,” Steed said of the cousin, “but as far as long stretches in the saddle, that’s the longest he’s ever done.”

In addition to the distance, his cousin had also never ridden with anyone else, which provided Steed some opportunities for coaching and helped break up the monotony. But more than that, Steed was glad for the cousin to come along because he is a veteran as well.

Ride for Light
New River State Park in North Carolina. Steed camped for about 80% of the trip, which allowed him to be alone, regroup from each day, and do a mental check-in. He said the camping setup and takedown routines were comforting.

“He downplays his military service, but he still signed a blank check. He’s a good dude.”

And Steed ultimately connected with that friend in Tulsa, Oklahoma. They rode together to Fort Sill, where Steed had completed basic and advanced individual training. The two rode about 700 miles together.

Besides the camaraderie, the other advantage to having someone else along is in case of a mishap. After riding the Tail of the Dragon in Tennessee with the friend who had been with him from the start, Steed separated a rib doing some off-roading on a forestry road. At that point in the trip, he had become used to having someone tag along. He felt like he could push himself, take a few more chances, and do a little more off-roading. When his friend split off, that changed.

Ride for Light
Another 20 yards down this trail, just off the Tail of the Dragon in Tennessee, is where Steed had the accident that separated his rib.

“All that stuff was gone,” he said. “I had to come to grips with no guarantees of anybody doing it with me.”

When you get used to someone being around – even if just for a short time – it makes it harder when they’re gone, like when a good friend comes to visit and you feel a little bit lonely when they leave.

Or when a friend you’ve known for many years takes his own life.

In the late 1970s, psychiatrist Dr. Bessel Van Der Kolk started working with Vietnam veterans. Interestingly, his first patient would ride his Harley to bring himself down from moments of rage brought on by his trauma.

“The vibrations, speed, and danger of that ride helped him pull himself back together,” Van Der Kolk wrote in his 2014 book The Body Keeps the Score.

Van Der Kolk’s original work took place before post-traumatic stress disorder was an official diagnosis. These days, his contributions are considered pivotal in the field of trauma. He says one area of difficulty shared by those dealing with trauma is the inability to live in the moment. This capacity is the foundation of meditation and the somewhat recently coined term of “mindfulness.”

Ride for Light
The scenic Mount Washington Auto Road off New Hampshire Route 16.

Personally, I appreciate the fact that when I’m on my bike, I’m only on my bike. Preoccupied with operating the machine, there isn’t much room to think about a troubling situation at work or home. The past and the future don’t matter nearly as much as the present moment.

For Steed, that wasn’t always the case on this trip.

“I’m stuck in my head and in my helmet all day,” he told me in June. “It’s like when you’ve got two kids who don’t get along, you lock them in a room together and say, ‘You guys are going to be getting along before you walk out of this room.’ That’s me, man. Some days my biggest fights are with myself.”

But this was a battle he was determined to win.

“Just today, I got in my head this morning,” he said. “I didn’t want to ride. I didn’t want to go anywhere. I was fumbling around getting ready, and I was awake almost all night for no reason.”

Steed said that as men, we try to find out the rationale, to get to the “why” for everything.

“But it’s just me,” he said. “It’s how I am. It’s how I’m wired. A success for me is going to be if I can get out of this trip being able to live in my head better.”

Steed said he could’ve chosen to fly to all these places to retrieve the ashes, maybe checked in on friends that way, “but I have things I also need to work out.”

“I need to be a better person for myself. I need to be a better husband for my wife, a better father for my children. I need to be a better friend, a better brother, a better son. With all these demons lurking over me, I’m out here trying to just pay all the kindness forward that I can, check on these folks, talk some stuff out with people I haven’t seen in a long time, and try to have some fun of my own.”

And there have been good times.

Ride for Light
The temps were so high near Badlands National Park that Steed’s GPS on his phone stopped working. When it cooled off, he snapped this photo.

When you hit 48 states on a bike, you can’t list all the spots, but there are some eye-poppers worthy of mention. Although Utah is definitely beautiful, it was hot when he came through my home state, with temps in the triple digits. People in the Southwest like to say, “but it’s a dry heat,” to which Steed replied, “The only difference between a wet heat and dry heat is that with a dry heat, you don’t know you’re dying. Even though this GS is a waterhead, it was still not liking it.”

I can’t imagine Amarillo, Texas, was much cooler, but he has some great pics and videos of his stop at the Cadillac Ranch on his Facebook page. He rode in some “hellacious storms” along the way, and he stuck his feet in the Gulf of Mexico – “with my riding boots on.” There was a spark in his voice when he spoke of riding the Tail of the Dragon. After a couple days’ rest following his off-road crash and waiting out the rain, he rode it again. 

Ride for Light
Itasca State Park, the headwaters of the Mississippi River.

Then there are the people, of course. Beyond visiting friends and family, he’s met a slew of strangers.

After a mishap with his bike in Oklahoma, Steed stayed an extra day and got to meet some friends of his buddy who were also veterans, some of whom had pulled “some pretty serious duty.”

He also mentioned a 20-year military veteran who was particularly inspiring. Steed said the man, who had been hospitalized twice for mental issues, had been rudderless until he started volunteering in a VA nursing home after retiring from the service. 

Ride for Light
On the shore of Iona’s Beach at Lake Superior.

After seeing the lack of attention paid to a couple of soldiers who had died under VA care, the man went to school to become a mortician and a funeral director, Steed said, with the mission of giving veterans the best burial they deserve.

“That is a fantastic thing to do for someone,” he said. “That really touched me. Because it’s not just Iraq and Afghanistan veterans I’m trying to help. A huge segment of our population that never received any kind of help were Vietnam vets.”

He said that, 50 years later, Vietnam veterans are still trying to figure out their place in this world.

“They were spit on or ridiculed when they got home. A lot of the veterans that end up committing suicide are from that theater of conflict and age demographic. Veterans often feel like they can’t help anybody and all they’re doing is hurting other people, so that’s why they do it.”

Ride for Light
Steed’s GS on July 2 in Madison, Minnesota.

Steed said the people he’s met kept him going.

“Every positive reaction I get from telling people about what I’m doing makes me want to talk to somebody else,” he said. “This has been an exercise in me stretching my capabilities as far as reaching out to folks.”

Then there were the people waiting back home, namely his wife and three kids.

“If it wasn’t for my wife and children, there’s no way I could do this,” he said. “My wife has been the biggest cheerleader I’ve had.”

He said when he was having a difficult day, one that started with depression or anxiety, his wife was his support.

“It puts a lot of pressure on her, and I feel terrible about it sometimes, but if I’m having a rough day, I have to call her. She’s the one who has kept my head right for so long.”

Finally, he said he believes he’s getting help from those he’s lost over the last 10 years.

“Somebody’s watching out for me,” he said. “Of all the people I’ve buried that meant so much to me, I think they’re all having a huddle upstairs and saying, ‘Dude, we gotta get this guy straight.’”

Ride for Light
Steed and Staff Sgt. Paul Tower at New Hampshire State Veterans Cemetery.

The Road Keeps Rolling

In the 1994 movie Shawshank Redemption, two of the main characters reference a choice: Get busy living or get busy dying.

Steed’s mission will be over at some point. As of this writing, he has ridden 48 states and rolled back home to his family, and plans are in the works to spread the ashes of Cool and Howard at the Sicily Drop Point. But he’s determined not to make that the end of the road. This wasn’t just a trip about death; it’s about life.

Steed said that while he has been helped by the VA in many ways, he also recognizes its deficits. He has been researching various organizations that help veterans and is working on his 501(c)(3) status for Operation: Purpose, as well as accepting donations on his website.

Ride for Light
Battlefield Cross sculpture at Veterans Monument Park, Andover, Connecticut.

“The real disconnect is placement for veterans in crisis and their families,” he said. “Who do you call? What do you do? Everyone knows the suicide hotline, but what happens after that? The goal is to create an education program for families and veterans.”

Steed knows some therapists willing to donate their time, and he is working with someone to apply for grants for Mental Health First Aid training, which helps someone who encounters another in a mental health crisis.

“You have skills available to talk them down, calm them down, and get them somewhere where they can think more rationally, or you can get them help without them harming themselves.”

Steed wants veterans to feel like they have another option besides ending their lives.

Ride for Light
Sgt. Kristopher Cool’s headstone at Fort Snelling Veterans Cemetery, Minnesota.

His long-term goal is to ultimately create a multiuse space similar to those seen on military installations, but in the immediate future, his first step is to create a database of key people in his area. He compared it to the military term “interlocking fields of fire.”

“I’ve got guys who are spread out in the greater Wilmington area, and it’s a network of people who know the veterans,” he said, adding that there are a lot of retired or ex-military in Wilmington, as well as several military bases in North Carolina in general. “We know a lot of people. We can be there for each other. We can be the ear and the shoulder and can offer redirection if that’s feasible.”

This support is what Operation: Purpose is all about.

“We may wake up tomorrow morning and the VA won’t be there anymore, but we still need to help each other. We didn’t have the VA when we were in [the service], but we had each other, and I need to reestablish that line of thinking, to bring the camaraderie and the unity and help each other get our dignity back and a hope for a better day.”

Ride for Light
The New Hampshire State Veterans Cemetery in Boscawen, New Hampshire. The week after Steed’s visit, he learned that the state is creating a monument recognizing the issue of veteran suicide.

For more information, to make a donation, or to buy Operation: Purpose merchandise that supports veterans in crisis, visit OperationPurpose.net.

This article first appeared in the October issue of Rider. All photos courtesy of Perry Steed. Paul Dail joined the Rider staff as Associate Editor in June. This is his first story for the magazine. He also wrote the Exhaust Note for the October issue.

The post Veteran Takes a 15,000-mile ‘Ride for Light’ first appeared on Rider Magazine.
Source: RiderMagazine.com

Great Lakes Getaway: Touring Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan

Great Lakes Getaway
The number of double-track dirt roads in the Great Lakes area is countless, tempting travelers off the snaky paved highways with their promise of adventure. (Photos by the author)

I arrive in Duluth, Minnesota, in the middle of the night, welcomed by a cleansing wind blowing off Lake Superior, the largest of the Great Lakes. The West had been ablaze for weeks when I’d departed California two days before, and smoke from those massive fires had gathered, unasked, across the Plains to form a thick, murky blanket. My eyes and throat are still burning as I hobble, ass whipped, from my BMW R 1200 GS to my waiting hotel room.

Great Lakes Getaway

Scan QR code to view route on REVER, or click here

I’ve just started on a 6-week ride and my first official stop is a visit to the Aerostich factory to catch up with my old friend, Andy Goldfine. Andy and I go back to the mid-80s when we were starting in the motorcycle industry, him as the founder of Aerostich and me as an associate editor at Rider. I zipped up my first Roadcrafter the day we met and have since appreciated no gear – or friendship in the business – more.

Listen to our interview with Andy Goldfine on the Rider Magazine Insider Podcast

Great Lakes Getaway
A meet-up with Aerostich founder Andy Goldfine and his riding buddy, John Grinsel.

Duluth has always charmed me with its terraced streets and historic port town vibe. Spending a day off the bike here is a joy. I’m able to hang out at Aerostich and watch as suits are cut and stitched. Some would call this a factory, but it’s much more like a workshop where skilled technicians craft riding apparel.

After enjoying a classic biker breakfast the next morning at the Duluth Grill with Andy and his “most curmudgeonly riding friend” John Grinsel, an 80-something-year-old character who rides up to 20,000 miles each year with a pipe in his mouth and a tiny pup named Moose poking out of his top box, I’m back in the saddle of the GS heading north around the edge of the world’s largest freshwater lake.

Great Lakes Getaway
We’ve all seen the occasional pup as co-pilot, but none as adorable as John Grinsel’s 3-lb dog, Moose, who pops his head out of a modified Givi top case when he wants to check out the view.

The Greatest Lake

Behaving more like an inland sea than a lake, Superior is massive, holding 10% of the world’s fresh surface water. It and the other Great Lakes to the east are so dynamic they create their own weather patterns. Today, I’m riding through a Scotch mist I’m not sure I can blame on the lake, and it’s giving my finger squeegee a workout.

I’m riding a loaner R 1200 GS Rallye edition I’ve had for seven months. I’ll never get enough of the GS bikes, and over three decades I’ve used them to explore five continents. Having been one of BMW’s flagship models for four decades, the “big” GS was legitimately the first travel bike to be truly versatile, but what I find most endearing is the way the chatty boxer Twin feels like an old friend every time I fire one up. It’s a pleasant bike to ride anywhere, including roads like Minnesota’s super scenic State Route 61 along the North Shore.

Great Lakes Getaway
If there’s one thing that’s undeniable about these Midwestern states, especially their more rural areas, it’s how genuinely nice the people are. Everywhere you go.

By the time I reach Grand Marais, it’s clearly storming hard to the north, and I retreat back down the highway, ducking into the famous Betty’s Pies for a slice and a coffee. I love this place, and if I weren’t on a bike, in the rain, I’d take an entire 5 Layer Chocolate Cream Pie to go.

Great Lakes Getaway
I ate my slice of 5 Layer Chocolate Cream Pie so fast Betty’s Pies had to send me a photo.

Early the next morning, the sun is out and I’m in Wisconsin exploring the bottom edge of Superior. While I’d traveled to the top of the lake a few years back, the southern section was a mystery. I throttle the GS up Wisconsin’s Lake Superior Scenic Byway, State Route 13, connecting fishing villages to waterfalls to sandy beaches and orchards.

Great Lakes Getaway
Exploring Northern Michigan on the venerable R 1200 GS was a delight. The people, the scenery, the roads, but also the intriguing history of spots like the town of Ironwood and the famous Leg’s Inn, which waits at the top of M-119, aka the Tunnel of Trees.

The Road to Pictured Rocks

I want to shoot up Michigan’s Keweenaw Peninsula to Copper Harbor on U.S. Route 41, and not just because the road looks amazing on the map. I’ve heard there are monks who bake delicious treats and sell preserves they make from local fruit at The Jampot bakery. But I’m short on time and even shorter on tires. The Continental TKC80s I opted for seven months back now have more than 6,500 miles on them and my replacements are waiting at a dealership 700 miles away, which means limiting side trips.

Great Lakes Getaway
The pristine beaches near Michigan’s Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore were empty and an ideal rest stop.

So, I head from Ashland, Wisconsin, straight for Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore on the recommendation to ride County Road H-58. And wow, what a sweet road. I hear it was even more fun to ride before it was fully paved in 2010, but today the 69 miles of smooth shaded corners and flowing undulations ride like a song. And for the other senses? The beautiful lake up here is edged by colorful sandstone cliffs and unspoiled sandy coves.

When you’re on an adventure bike, another thing to love about Michigan is its more than 3,100 miles of off-road vehicle trails, proudly documented and promoted on the state government’s website, and on Pure Michigan, a site sponsored by Michigan’s lead economic development agency. How civilized for these Midwestern states to celebrate their off-roading opportunities instead of quashing them.

Great Lakes Getaway

But you hardly need a map to find a tempting two-track here, which is the reason I’m not making good time on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, but finally I’m at the famous Mackinac Bridge, gearing up to ride its five swaying miles to the Lower Peninsula. Yup, Big Mac is one of the longest suspension bridges in the world and it’s built to swing (apparently, up to 35 feet at its center span), and on a windy day, you can feel it, as I did when I crossed it years back on a Harley Ultra Glide Classic.

Great Lakes Getaway
The Old Post Office Museum encapsulates the history of Grand Marais, Michigan, which visitors can explore free of charge.

Especially in Michigan

But today it’s only breezy, and purring across the impressive bridge on the GS is a joy. I don’t have time to stop in touristy Mackinaw City because I want to ride some small roads I’d missed on my last trip, starting with M-119 from Cross Village to Harbor Springs, aka the Tunnel of Trees.

Great Lakes Getaway
Though not a fast road, Michigan’s famous Tunnel of Trees and its 137 snaky corners were high on my list of must-rides.

I approach from the north, stopping at the historic Polish-themed Legs Inn in Cross Village where you can spend hours taking in all the details of wood and stonework, or if you’re hungry, enjoy some kielbasa and pierogi. The famous 20-mile section of M-119 that kicks off from here is narrow, curvy, and truly a tunnel of foliage, and I’m sure its beauty is staggering in the fall, but it loses points as a premium motorcycle road for its 35-mph speed limit and profusion of deer and driveways. Still, those 137 corners are a lovely way to spend time.

Great Lakes Getaway
The GS I was riding was capable and comfortable, not to mention photogenic, even when encumbered by my ugly orange tent.

After an overnight in Petoskey, I head for Traverse City and M-22. If there’s one thing that’s undeniable about these Midwestern states, especially their more rural areas, it’s how genuinely nice the people are. Everywhere you go. The M-22 is recommended to me by a new friend, and I take my time exploring Suttons Bay, Northport, and the Leelanau Peninsula’s pretty lakes, all miniatures next to a hulking Lake Michigan.

Great Lakes Getaway
Leg’s Inn in Cross Village, Michigan

In Glen Arbor, I indulge in house-made cherry ice cream at the original Cherry Republic and slip a jar of cherry salsa in a saddlebag for later. I do not partake in the pit spitting at the establishment’s Olympic-size cherry spitting pit (the world record is 93 feet, 6.5 inches).

In addition to gorgeous views of the lake and rolling farmland, this part of Michigan has local wines to taste, dunes to explore, and apples to pick. The longer I spend on M-22, the more I realize it’s not just a road to the people in this area, M-22 represents a lifestyle. In fact, the M-22 highway signs have been stolen so often – 90 signs in three years – the Michigan DOT dropped the M on some replacements so they show only the number 22. If you missed your chance to nab a sign, there are plenty of places along the highway where you can buy a fake, as well as upscale M-22 apparel and souvenir tchotchkes.

Great Lakes Getaway
“M-22” has come to represent a lifestyle, not just an awesome highway.

And I get it. There’s something about this area (the people? the chill vibe? the scenery?) that just makes you want to stick around and explore every corner. Sadly, I don’t have time or tread for further exploration, and chug east from Manistee to Bay City, overnighting in some basic chain motel and wishing I was back in my tent on the lakeshore. In the morning, I scoot down I-75 to get the GS serviced and shod at BMW Motorcycles of Southeast Michigan. Again, the nicest people.

Great Lakes Getaway
Fields of sunflowers and historic landmarks dot the Great Lakes region.

Over the next five weeks I’ll ride through another 13 states, many of them bucket-list destinations for motorcyclists. And yet I’ll keep thinking about this Great Lakes area and its empty roads, slow pace, and big-hearted locals. If you’ve ridden there, you know. If you haven’t, go. I’ll be right behind you.

Great Lakes Getaway
The highways in this region of the Great Lakes aren’t meant to be traveled fast. A slower pace rewards riders with sweeping scenery and new treasures in every small town.

The post Great Lakes Getaway: Touring Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan first appeared on Rider Magazine.
Source: RiderMagazine.com

Roland Sands Has Sweet Gear Following R 1200 GS Build

Holy Marlboro, batman!

I’m the biggest Formula 1 nerd I have ever met. Say what you will about tobacco advertising in motorsport, it still produced some of the greatest and most-legendary racing liveries the world has ever seen. There is no comparison. Tobacco advertising made cars, motorcycles, racing jackets, pitlane teams look cooler than ever. I said it, kill me.

Who was the king of tobacco-based advertising in motorsport? You already know the answer to this question, because it’s been unanimously decided already: MARLBORO. How could a brand speak such volume with such simple liveries? I have no idea, but I like to pretend the amazing looking cars gave famous racer, Ayrton Sena, a competitive edge.

Roland Sands took a 2008 BMW R 1200 GS and completely transformed it into this beautifully vintage-styled off-road masterpiece. Sands took the front end off an R NineT and retrofitted it with forks from an Africa Twin with Ohlins cartridges to maximize the motorcycles off-road abilities.

The gas tank was borrowed from an R80, and set up to run the robust fuel injection system found in the 1200 GS’s engine. A skid plate, fork guards, crash bars, LED lamps, and an Akrapovic exhaust was also added to complete the look and provide more functionality to the bike, making it a dangerous off-road weapon.

Now that you’re more informed on the bike itself, It’s time to discuss the amazing merchandise collection RSD brought us to celebrate the build. The merch kit comes with an ash trey, shirt, string bag, hat, lighter, and photo of the RSD Dakar GS for a price of $160 (only 150 packages are available – don’t miss out). None of these items are sold separately, so you’re stuck buying the entire package. That’s not a huge deal though, these trinkets and apparel items are wicked cool and feature a confident nod to the Marlboro Dakar racing heritage through its design. I’ll be buying one; race you there.

Source: MotorbikeWriter.com

Why are adventure bikes getting bigger?

When Charley Boorman and Ewan McGregor rode around the world in 2004 on BMW R 1150 GS Adventure bikes we saw how difficult the bigger bikes were in tough terrain.

Since then, BMW has gone to an R 1200 GS and now an even bigger R 1250 GS.

BMW boxer R models all get Shiftcam technology
BMW R 1250 GS Adventure HP

Meanwhile, Ducati from a Multistrada 1200 to 1260 and KTM Super Adventure from 1190 to 1290.

Now Harley-Davidson is promising a 1250cc Pan America adventure bike in the next couple of years.

Do we really need bigger and more powerful adventure bikes?

Sure, the new bikes come with a host of electronics that make them easier to ride in tough terrain.

But even a Harley-Davidson cruiser in the right hands can do some adventure work.

Just check out this video where a BMW R 1200 GS has a hard time keeping up with the female rider!

How embarrassing!

But does that mean we should be buying bigger bikes to go adventure riding?

Is bigger better?

No doubt Charley and Ewan played a big part in the popularity of BMW’s 1200cc GS models and the advent of similar-sized models from Ducati, KTM, Yamaha, Triumph and Moto Guzzi.

Charley Boorman big adventurer
Charley in the Flinders Ranges

Most are a tour de force of electronic wizardry that allow riders to adventure further and further off piste.

But if there is one thing any off-road rider will tell you is that they expect to crash.

That’s fine on a small bike, but on a tall and heavy behemoth like this new crop of adventure bikes, even a small crash can have big consequences.

Even if your bike survive the crash, you may not. And there may still be a 230kg+ bike to wrestle back to its vertical position.Bigger adventure bikes

But in recent years, adventure riders and adventure bikes are downsizing.

The slightly smaller 998cc Honda Africa Twin quickly became a top-selling adventure bike in Australia. Honda is also rumoured to be making a smaller version.

And Moto Guzzi is replacing its 1150cc Stelvio next year with an 853cc V85 TT.

Moto Guzzi V85 TT arrives mid-2019 season
V85 TT

The new generation of scramblers are now adding more off-road oriented versions to appeal to those wishing to downsize from behemoth adventurers.

There is also now a baby adventure sector for novice adventurers. The include the Kawasaki Versys-X 300, BMW G 310 GS, 400cc Royal Enfield Himalayan, Honda CB500X, Honda 190cc Night Hawk and Suzuki “Baby-Strom” DL250.

Kawasaki Versys-X 300 available light bulb
Kawasaki Versys-X 300

While we don’t expect riders to head off into the single trails on their Harleys, we should be seeing more smaller adventure bikes in the outback.

Source: MotorbikeWriter.com