Mark Fincher offers V-8 trike tours in New Zealand for a one-of-a-kind experience of the beautiful Bay of Islands. Photos by the author.
What do novelist Zane Grey, a Chevy V-8-powered trike, and the South Pacific nation of New Zealand have to do with each other? More than you might expect.
Zane Grey, author of Riders of the Purple Sage and other American westerns, was also an avid angler. In 1925, he was invited by the New Zealand government to visit, in the hope that he would enjoy and promote the country’s fishing industry. The following year, Grey arrived with his entourage to the Bay of Islands, off the northeastern coast of New Zealand’s North Island.
Author Zane Grey had a major impact on tourism in New Zealand.
Grey was blown away by the natural beauty and culture of New Zealand and chose Urupukapuka Island as a base, which put New Zealand’s game fishing on the global map, an influence that still resonates in the region’s tourist industry today.
In Grey’s novels, the horse or the horse-drawn carriage was the main means of transport, but fast forward to the present, and the spirit of adventure that Grey epitomized finds a modern expression in Thunder Trike Tours, which provides a distinctive – and exhilarating – way for visitors to explore the scenic beauty and historical richness of the Bay of Islands.
The company, based in the North Island port town of Paihia, offers tours in massive three-wheelers powered by 260-hp V-8 engines. The trikes were built by James D, a small (and now defunct) manufacturer of three-seater and five-seater trikes, formerly based in Rangiora, New Zealand.
The Edelbrock-Chevy 5.7-liter V-8 engines in these trikes are a nod to American automotive culture. These engines, popular in muscle cars and classic restorations, serve as a bridge between American innovation and Kiwi tourism. The trikes themselves are a testament to craftsmanship and the enduring appeal of classic engine design, something that enthusiasts and casual tourists alike can appreciate.
Thunder Trike Tours also serves as a contemporary link to the past adventures of figures like Zane Grey. While Grey explored the natural world through his fishing and brought the beauty of New Zealand to readers across the globe, Thunder Trike Tours offers a visceral experience of the landscape. It’s a celebration of cultural and mechanical engineering, bringing together elements from different times and places.
Mark Fincher, owner of Thunder Trike Tours, has been into motorcycles and V-8s as long as he can remember. He and his wife, Denise, spotted their first V-8-powered James D trike during a visit to Fiji. When they returned to New Zealand, Fincher found out that the trikes were made in the South Island’s township of Rangiora. Two days later, he bought his first one. Now he owns three of them.
Mark Fincher (right) is the owner of Thunder Trike Tours.
When Fincher reached semi-retirement, he wanted something else to do and started Thunder Trike Tours. The company has been running eight years now and offers excursions ranging from 30 minutes to 2.5 hours. Their tours are popular with folks ranging in age from small children to an adventurous 100-year-old gentleman, including cruise ship passengers spending the day in the Bay area.
“These trikes definitely give everyone the thrills during our ride outs, and we enjoy it,” said Fincher. “You don’t need to wear a helmet, because the trikes are registered as a convertible car, right down to having been fitted with a hand brake, and are fully safety equipped, with bucket seats and seat belts. These trikes handle unbelievably well and make us look good.”
Whether you’re a thrill-seeker, a nature lover, or a history enthusiast, a ride with Thunder Trike Tours promises an unforgettable adventure in one of New Zealand’s most breath-taking regions.
This connection underscores a broader narrative about cultural exchange and the evolution of tourist experiences in the Bay of Islands. From the quiet solitude of fishing in the early morning to the exhilarating roar of a V-8 engine, the region continues to offer a diverse array of attractions. These experiences not only honour the legacy of adventurers and storytellers like Grey but also highlight the innovative spirit that continues to draw people to this enchanting part of New Zealand.
Motorbike enthusiasts wishing to conquer the challenging but scenic tracks of Myanmar, also known as Burma, are being offered a discount on a once-in-a-lifetime journey in 2019 and 2020.
Burma Motorbike Tours is offering 20% off their 10 Day Best Trails of Myanmar tour, saving up to $519.
The promotion applies for bookings 30 days prior to these departure dates:
(2019) September 30, October 28, November 25, December 15;
(2020) January 5 and 25, March 10, April 10, September 30, October 28, November 25, December 15.
Participants will ride many hidden tracks amid spectacular landscapes, historical architecture while experiencing the authentic local culture. Riders will pick up their bikes in the Royal Capital of Mandalay and set off for an adventure through the countryside and the lesser-known parts of Burma.
Watch their tempting video.
The total distance is 1332km passing through Pakokku, Mindat, Kanpetlet, Bagan, Kalaw, Inle Lake and Pindaya with a mix of paved roads, winding tracks and trails. The riding is most challenging and scenic in the mountainous areas of Chin State through to Mindat and Kanpetlet with altitudes over 1000 metres. The magnificent scenery includes jungle-covered roads and pristine mountain forests. A highlight is the 135km ride on day 7 from Kalaw to Inle Lake along twisty paths with chilling panoramic views of the gorgeous Shan Hills.
In addition to the awesome riding, customers will get up close and personal with the massive temple plain of Bagan which is home to more than 3000 red brick Buddhist constructions, meet the unique tribe of the tattooed face women and enjoy a wonderful boat ride on Inle Lake, the second largest body of water of Myanmar.
Riders have a choice of the bullet-proof Kawasaki KLX 150cc, or the more Honda CRF 250cc and Kawasaki KLX 250cc at an additional cost.
Helmets, gloves and knee guards are included in the price, but you can bring your own gear if you like. Due to the hot climate, light and airy clothes are recommended for the journey. See all inclusions below.
The Best Trails of Myanmar Tour discount price is $US2080 for a rider (previously $US2599) and $US1483 for a pillion.
The tour can only run with a minimum of two riders.
Other inclusions are:
9 nights accommodation at selected quality hotels and resorts
9 breakfasts, 10 lunches, 9 dinners
Mineral water, soft drinks, coffee or tea served with meals
Myanmar driving permits
Motorcycle rental with unlimited mileage (Kawasaki KLX150cc)
Fuel
Third-party liability insurance for motorcycles
Mandalay airport pick-up and drop-off
English-speaking professional licensed Road Captain
All entrance fees and sightseeing fees
Riding gear (Helmet, Gloves, Knee Guards)
Burma Motorbike Tours souvenir T-Shirt.
The tour price excludes:
Airfares
Myanmar visa fee
Alcoholic beverages
Single supplement (upon request)
US$160/bike surcharge for using Honda CRF250cc or Kawasaki KLX250cc
Room service, laundry, phone charges
Damage to the motorcycle caused by the user (excluding reasonable wear and tear)
Travel insurance (cover against cancellation costs, medical expenses, including repatriation, in the event of accident or illness)
Tips & Gratuities to guide
All other services not mentioned
What are you waiting for? Contact Burma Motorbike Tours now to experience riding on the routes of the lost paradise – Myanmar.
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.
In the Alps, a motorcycle is the best means by which to explore the rugged terrain, twisty roads, cafés and summer snow fields. And a tour company, such as Beach’s Motorcycle Adventures, makes it all possible. (Photo by Gretchen Beach.)
A motorcycle trip in Europe’s Alps is likely on your bucket list, but such a trip is daunting. You’ll have to arrange for a bike, book hotels and, possibly, convince others to share the experience with you. Finally, if anything goes wrong during your trip, who would you call? Well, traveling with a motorcycle tour company solves all those problems at once.
Last July, I took a Beach’s Motorcycle Adventures tour of the western Alps that attracted 20 participants, 18 of whom were veterans of previous Beach tours; this percentage of repeat riders speaks volumes about these tours and the support that tour leaders Rob and Gretchen Beach provide for their customers. Most members of our tour group had flown into Zurich, Switzerland, and converged upon nearby Baden. All were from the United States except for a delightful couple from New Zealand.
An impromptu cruise on Lake Lucerne revealed views of gorgeous homes, hotels and mountains.
When our bikes arrived, we were introduced to the BMW motorcycles we had reserved from Beach’s rental fleet. Besides saddlebags, each was equipped with a GPS unit programmed so that we could ride one of several recommended daily routes or explore on our own. Rob instructed us on how to use the GPS units, and we were on our way.
Our 12-day tour through Switzerland, France and Italy began with a Tuesday ride from Baden southwest to Ornans, France. We first passed through an industrialized area with a good deal of traffic, but the Europeans often utilize roundabouts rather than stop lights so we kept moving regardless. The tour book we were given was filled with all sorts of historical and practical information about our two or three daily suggested routes, along with a map, all loaded into the GPS. They were often on small, local roads we would not likely have found on our own.
In Gruyères, Switzerland, we were treated to a dinner of its famous cheese fondue in an outdoor setting.
For weeks prior to the tour we had been receiving correspondence from the Beaches enlightening us to such considerations as foreign currencies, tipping, overseas phone calls, use of ATMs, credit cards, dress codes, packing tips and more. Then a month prior, here came a beautiful luggage bag for each participant, embroidered with the Beach’s logo and our names! The strong suggestion was to pack no more (other than riding gear) than what could fit in this bag. On traveling days we would set this packed bag in the hotel lobby, then van driver Henri would transport it to our next hotel and the bag would be waiting in our rooms when we arrived.
Soon our trip settled into a pleasant rhythm. European hotel breakfasts usually consist of sliced meats and cheeses, with croissants and breads, plus tea or coffee. Breakfasts and our varied, delicious dinners were included with the tour price, except for two dinners when we stayed a second night at the same hotel. This allowed us to explore the local restaurants.
Dinners, such as this salmon plate in Moustiers-Saint-Marie, France, were universally impressive and delicious.
On our first Wednesday we rode to Talloires, France, where our hotel overlooked Lake Annecy and a distant castle across the water. This was followed by a free day on which most of the riders went off to explore the countryside, while our passengers stayed in town to explore the local shops.
As we gathered for breakfast Friday morning, we found Rob at a table surrounded by a stack of GPS units. We learned that the Tour de France bicycle race was passing near our intended route, roads were closed, and we would have to re-route if we hoped to reach our next hotel at a reasonable hour. Now Rob was hard at work programming a new route for our convenience.
The old bridge in Lucerne, Switzerland, lured us to take a stroll.
Our route took us to Rencurel, France, passing through several tunnels and a stunning gorge in which the road actually undercut the mountain. When riding in the States, I spend most of my travel time in fifth and sixth gear. In the Alps, however, I spent most of my time in second and third gear. As a result, a 150-mile ride in the U.S. that takes three hours may take twice that long on the tight, twisty roads and first-gear hairpins of the Alps. Most of our riding days here were four to six hours, plus stops. Also, summers can be hot in the Alps and most hotels here–though delightful–do not have air conditioning.
Did someone say something about tight roads? At times I could swear I saw my own taillight in front of me!
The Alps involve very tight, technical roads that will test your slow-speed riding ability on multiple series of hairpin turns. Some were so tight that, on several occasions, I swear I could see my own taillight in front of me! For these tight mountain roads you don’t need a big bike, but something more agile. I had requested a BMW R 1200 RT for my passenger Frances’ comfort, but had I been solo would have preferred perhaps an F 700 GS.
Our hotel in Moustiers-Saint-Marie, France, offered a charming view of the mountains.
That Sunday we came within sight of Moustiers-Saint-Marie, France, a town set high against the backdrop of a massive gray wall of rocks, the buildings painted a complementary shade. This was to be our stop for the next two nights, and we found our hotel situated next to a beautiful arched bridge, below which flowed a steep, narrow, powerful waterfall. Its pleasant whoosh would be the backdrop for our sleep those nights.
The Grand St. Bernard Pass offers food, lodging and spectacular views.
Our next travel day, Tuesday, we headed for Auron, France, and were soon immersed in the sweet fragrance of lavender fields and the sight of acres of sunflowers shaking their yellow heads in the light breeze. Now we began to enjoy the ultimate mountain experience as we rode over some of the Alps’ highest passes. All the way up Cime de la Bonette, the highest at 2,802 meters (9,193 feet), were cars, motorcycles and bicycles, then a plaque at the top. I was feeling quite a sense of accomplishment for having ridden here…until I met a bicyclist from Chicago who had pedaled his way to the top.
Rob and Gretchen Beach were our amiable and informed guides.
On the next Thursday, from Sauze d’Oulx to Courmayeur, my co-pilot Frances and I encountered Rob and Gretchen who asked, “Do you want to have a picnic?” When we enthusiastically agreed they led us to a small specialty shop where we bought bread, sliced meats and cheeses. Then at an ancient bridge on the Col de l’Iseran (9,088 feet) we hiked past an old block building where, on a rocky, flower-strewn hilltop, Gretchen produced our repast as the far-off mountains shone with a necklace of glacial snow.
Narrow roads and tight turns indicate that a smaller bike may be preferable to a larger one in the Alps.
In Italy we were also fully immersed in the Alps experience, riding through small villages with streets barely wide enough for a car…or a wagon when they were constructed centuries ago. We encountered people strolling, flower boxes on windows from which emanated the fragrance of cooking or pipe tobacco. There is usually a war monument or two, sad reminders of those lost. Permanent glacial snow fields slump in the mountains, sending waterfalls rushing beside the road, sun so brilliant it can make you cry, rain so hard the pavement looks like a shag rug.
The interior of the Atrium Hotel Blume in Baden, Switzerland, was inviting indeed.
These tours allow one to interact with the locals on pre-selected routes. Rob led us to a restaurant in Courmayeur, where over dinner the friendly owner sang and mingled with our group like the uncle I used to have.
I want to stress that the Alps with their narrow roads, hairpin turns and changeable weather can be daunting, but Rob, Gretchen and van driver Henri went out of their way to care for their tour participants. When one rider had a mishap four hours from the hotel, Rob and Henri drove out to retrieve him and his bike. When some had trouble understanding the GPS, Rob conducted a mini seminar in addition to the group seminar. When Frances needed a backrest, Henri rigged one up for her from a step stool and rear seat from the spare bike. Not confident finding your way around? You’re invited to follow Rob and Gretchen to the next hotel.
Our tour members quickly coalesced into a group of riding friends.
In short, during our Alps experience with Beach’s Motorcycle Adventures we were well informed and cared for, our bikes pre-arranged and we gained many new friends with whom to share the experience. With nearly 200 tours under his belt, Rob Beach has the details dialed in. And when we returned home, we found that Gretchen had posted a 23-minute video of our tour that we could show our friends via the Internet. In all, a thoroughly enjoyable time.
The Beach’s Alpine Adventure West will run August 25-September 8, 2019; for more info visit bmca.com.
Map of the tour route, by Bill Tipton/compartmaps.com.
Laing gazes across a salt field on the ancient bed of the Great Salt Lake, Utah.
Hamilton Mack Laing’s way was rutted.
Clay mud lined with the tracks made by car and wagon wheels had dried, hindering the passage of his Harley-Davidson. “We rode the combs till we fell into the ruts,” he wrote, “and when we got wedged there we heaved out and started again.” He had found his nemesis on Nebraska roads. The mud he encountered either consisted of dried ruts where “the machine stuck fast on the combs and the engine raced helplessly” which meant pushing out by hand, or of a “soupy liquid” where “the wheels would not grip; each wheel insisted on picking its own route.”
Canadian writer and naturalist Hamilton Mack Laing was not an average two-wheeled traveler. Although George Wyman had become the first to cross the U.S. on a motorcycle back in 1903, Laing was an early adopter of the motorcycle as the ideal way to connect with the places he traveled through, and he specifically enjoyed how it could immerse him in the natural world he loved so much. He was midway across the United States on his new 1915 Harley-Davidson 11F when he encountered those poor road conditions. He had begun his adventure at St. James Place, Brooklyn, and pointed his handlebar at the World’s Fair in San Francisco.
A travel companion, Smith Johnson, negotiating the dry landscape of Utah.
Negotiating dried mud would be a low point in the road conditions during Laing’s 1915 adventure, which he described in his written account as “a six-weeks perambulation on two wheels.” His motorcycle was an air-cooled, four-stroke, 11-horsepower, 988cc V-twin-engined steed with a top speed of about 65 mph. He named her Barking Betsy, and he would test her to the full.
Laing’s journey west took him through 12 states. He insisted on giving cities a wide berth, for which he apologized: “It is not that I love them less but rather that I love the country more.” What Laing called “the joy of the road” he believed was not found in the major centers, but on secondary roads, small towns and in nature. Laing called himself a “motorcycle-naturalist.” When he switched off his engine after crossing into Pennsylvania, “there were meadowlarks in the field piping jubilantly and two or three vesper sparrows that even now at noontide were singing as though in competition.” Laing was a gypsy gentleman.
But he was also a pioneer of motorcycle travel, choosing to camp whenever possible. “The first meal in camp,” he quipped, “or the first on a gipsying (sic) expedition is doubly pleasing.” He believed getting out into nature on two wheels was good for the constitution: “It is a good thing for a man’s soul to feel that way once in a year at least.”
Laing in 1917, riding east from Princeton, British Columbia, on his third Harley.
In the suburbs of Cleveland he was overtaken by two other motorcyclists riding Harley-Davidsons. They offered their help thinking he might have lost his way. It was the first bit of camaraderie of the road he experienced with other motorcycle travelers. “Fraternalism of the right sort truly,” he wrote, indicating that the connection between two-wheeled travelers was alive even in those early days of “transcontinentaling.” They guided him on the right road to Elyria.
Later on he slept in the hayloft of an obliging farmer and once again noted the bird life around him. “Bob-white was calling from a grain-field and a meadowlark was in tune.”
Today’s motorcycle traveler might be surprised to discover what Laing put in his panniers. Somehow, packed away in the heavy canvas satchels, was “an eating kit, a sleeping kit, a tarpaulin and ground sheet.” He also had to shoehorn in “a mending kit and shaving kit as well as the necessities in the way of extras for the machine and a big Kodak and its accessories.” He wore a cap, an army shirt and “riding trousers and leggings,” stressing that the “shirt and trousers ought to be made of wool.”
Even with all his preparedness, many tried to discourage Laing before departure, saying, “that if I traveled alone and slept out of doors ‘just anywhere’ rattle-snakes (sic) would bite me and I would be held up and robbed, also that I would lose my way.” As well intentioned as these harbingers of doom might have been, Laing was having none of it. “As to losing my way,” Laing quipped, “I had a road map, also a tongue in my head that was at least half Scotch.”
Crane hunting in Ebor, Saskatchewan, in 1914, Laing stands on his first Harley-Davidson motorcycle, a 10F.
In the hills of Pennsylvania, Laing encountered a rattlesnake, but not in the way he anticipated. He found a dead rattler on the road, one that had been recently run over and, always the naturalist, was curious about it. He decided to dissect it and see what it had eaten recently. What he found inside impressed him to no end as “the wretch had swallowed a full grown grey squirrel!”
Any other fears he might have had about pressing on in search of adventure and glory he tempered with philosophy. “How similar to a road is our entire spin through life,” Laing waxed. “We may see the path clearly enough to the turn, but beyond it, the future must reveal.”
“But the lure of the unending road,” he emphasized, “is a call that will not be denied.” So he and Betsy pushed on. As an early moto-traveler Laing was quick to discover the advantages of riding a motorcycle over driving a car. “We take to the Road for experiences and we get them,” he wrote. “Riders on two wheels get more of them I think, and get them in shorter compass than drivers of four wheels do.”
Laing and Smith Johnson enjoy a shave, shampoo and personal maintenance by a puddle at Sulphur Hot Springs, Nevada.
Laing had many other new experiences along his route. He used wooden planks to cross rails in Ohio, rode over mud “as untrustworthy as a greased pig” and, in Iowa, Barking Betsy sputtered to a standstill on a hillside. Laing then set to work pretending to know something of motorcycle mechanics. “I tried to look as wise as 40 long-eared owls,” he confessed. Luckily for Laing the foreman of a nearby construction site was more mechanically inclined than he and not only gave Laing sound advice (he had taken in bad fuel) and assistance, Laing also got a bed and breakfast out of the bargain. To this Laing professed of the benevolence to be found while traveling. “Blessed indeed is the man who shows genuine kindness to a stranger, to one he has never seen nor will ever seen again.”
In Nebraska he met up and rode with his brother Jim, who had ridden south from his home province of Manitoba. “Frat,” as Laing called him, traveled with him into California. He also met other Harley riders, found a brotherhood amongst them when he needed company and rode with them for some of his journey.
In Omaha he ate at a lunch counter and marveled at the simple pleasures of chatting with locals where he found “life is considerably simplified; there is a fraternity of Dirt…a better democracy.”
Laing and his brother Jim ride a dry lake bed in Nevada with throttles wide open.
He doffed his cap at many an impressive vista, from the slow power of the Mississippi to the heights of Berthoud Pass. But all through it, the highs of meeting people, rumbling along pleasant country roads and stopping to witness beautiful landscapes, and the lows of mud roads and waiting out a rainstorm under a tarp, there was the love and respect for nature and the open road. Even in Nebraska, when a meal consisted of some bread begged from a farmhouse, Laing chose to see things on the bright side. “The most pleasant thing I can recall of that meal and the place,” he wrote, “was that an Arkansas kingbird had a nest in the upper frame of the wind-mill.”
From Colorado on, the roads would dry and battling road conditions would fade into the distance. As Laing put it, “to sit up loose and easy and open the throttle a little meant quite a new joy of the road.”
Laing in 1914 beside his first Harley-Davidson motorcycle.
On August 8th, 1915, Laing rumbled into San Francisco after riding 3,842 miles, but not before having to fight through alkali poisoning picked up from drinking well water and a seemingly endless series of tire punctures. In retrospect he would term his transcontinental journey as “a mighty film, a four-thousand mile reel of wonderland, the like of which may never be seen within four walls.”
Trevor Marc Hughes is a writer and motorcyclist in Vancouver, Canada. He is currently working on publishing Hamilton Mack Laing’s account of his 1915 transcontinental journey on a Harley-Davidson. He anticipates a release of the book in the spring of 2019.
Riding high above the Gorges de la Nesque in Provence on one of its many “balcony” roads carved into the rock canyon walls. Photos by the author and Genie Tuttle.
Would you travel halfway around the world for an 11-day motorcycle touring vacation that promises fantastic roads and scenery, delicious food and drink, interesting foreign culture, fun and camaraderie every day? Of course you would.
What if each day’s route was a secret, and you had no idea where the tour is going other than the arrival airport, not even the hotel names? Signing up seem a little nuts?
Well, it probably is, but that hasn’t stopped Edelweiss Bike Travel’s Mystery Tour from selling out both times it has run, partly because of the company’s solid reputation for delivering everything in the first sentence above and partly because of repeat customers, from both the original Mystery Tour (now called the Life is Beautiful—Alpine Wonderland tour) and other Edelweiss motorcycle tours.
The tiny village of Moustiers-Sainte-Marie, with its narrow streets and vaulted passageways, is considered to be one of the most beautiful in France.
When my wife Genie and I committed to the “MT” starting and ending in Nice, France, in June 2018, it felt like agreeing to do a trust fall with a stranger—you know he or she is probably going to catch you, but there’s always that tiny bit of doubt. We knew we’d be in good hands though, if not on good roads, since the MT is the one EBT tour led by Managing Director Rainer Buck and his wife Gaby, who may not know exactly where we’re going but have lots of company credit cards.
Rainer was assisted by guides Michael Goebel and Pablo Piferrer, who between them have nearly 20 years of experience guiding EBT tours around the world and made the 17 of us riders and co-pilots from the USA, Austria, Mexico and Switzerland feel like family.
Limestone cliffs form the walls of the Ardèche Gorges; their most famous feature is this 197-foot stone arch called the Pont d’Arc.
Canyons, Napoleon and Beautiful Villages
Once rescued from the row upon row of private jets and wall-to-wall resort high-rises surrounding Nice airport on the French Riviera, that afternoon we sipped prosecco in celebration of a rider’s birthday while “rookie” guide Rainer, or RR, gave the first tour briefing on the veranda of a lovely hotel in Vence, in the foothills of the Maritime Alps above Nice.
The Mystery Tour is different from other EBT tours in that—since only RR and the guides know each day’s route—the group stays together the entire time, with no riding off on your own. It’s also one of EBT’s Royal Tours, so all of the meals are included, even lunch on all but the rest day. Each of us also received a crossword puzzle, the six clues for which were printed on RR’s fresh T-shirt each day. Complete the puzzle correctly and you might go with RR on a special bonus ride on the penultimate day—more on this later.
With no clue from RR where we were headed except his daily dubious cry of “North!” we left Vence in the morning and instead headed west, over the 3,159-foot Col de Vence (Vence Pass) in the Maritime Alps. The endlessly winding road rising up through a green forest and imposing dolomite-type rocky mountains set the stage for the rest of the tour (rated a 4 out of 5 for difficulty among EBT tours), since we spent very little time on the center of our tires, or even in fifth or sixth gears.
The Sénanque Abbey was founded in 1148, and monks have always lived there since except for a few decades, growing lavender and tending honeybees.
Quite happy I had chosen an agile BMW R 1200 RT for Genie and me, as we explored an 11th-century church at the first of many coffee stops, I was also thankful for the mesh riding apparel we had brought for the warm temps in Southern France.
Picking up the Route Napoléon, which the emperor took on his return from exile in Elba in 1815, we zoomed around its smooth cambered corners through the diverse landscapes of Provence at a fun, brisk pace set by RR and most of the group riding BMW RTs, R 1200 and 800 GS models and Ducati Mutltistradas, with a guide in back sweeping up the slower riders.
Wildflowers were everywhere on the June tour.
Detouring onto snaky roads far above gorgeous valleys and down alongside turquoise-green rivers, lunch was at a 9th-century chateau perched high above the verdant scrubland. Our first of many deep gorges and the tunnels and arches along amazing “balcony roads” carved into the canyon walls high above were on the dessert menu as we rode along the spectacular Gorge du Verdon in the afternoon—at 15.5 miles long and up to 3,000 feet deep it’s aptly nicknamed the Grand Canyon of Europe.
Clinging to the cliffside in the Ardèche Gorges.
This part of France is also famous for its endless “blue gold” lavender fields, and the afternoon coffee-stop village of Moustiers, voted the prettiest in France—which is really saying something!
Briefly rejoining the Route Napoléon, it took us into Château-Arnoux-Saint-Auban for the evening, the end of a 162-mile riding day that was about par for each riding day of the tour. The chase van driven by one of the guides and carrying our luggage and a spare bike was rarely more than an hour away from the group, yet somehow always managed to beat us to each night’s hotel.
Many of Europe’s highest passes are in the French Alps.
Hotels on the 2018 MT ranged from, as RR put it tongue firmly in cheek, “zero to five stars,” which really meant that the one lovely auberge or inn on a bucolic farm in the Côtes du Rhône (the famous wine region in the Rhône Valley), my favorite, simply didn’t have a Michelin rating. The rest of the accommodations were equally or more wonderful, whether it was a castle, modern hotel with a river view, in a historic city or the base hotel in Vence.
Sustenance on the Mystery Tour was delicious, varied and frequent, and the vin superb.
We dined like kings as well, sometimes on French specialties like pâté and veal but more often on meat entrees with truffle-infused sauces and farm-to-table vegetables and salads, sumptuous fresh baked bread and a wide variety of cheeses. RR is passionate about wine, too, so he made sure that a nice selection of local vin rouge and vin blanc was available each evening and treated us to a special tasting one night as well.
Southern France is also home to the Carthusian monks who create the intoxicating neon green liqueur Chartreuse, which some of us enjoyed one night with Cuban cigars to the smooth sounds of Michael’s folk guitar and vocals. One really can’t say enough about guides Pablo and Michael—their efforts and camaraderie helped make the tour magnifique.
The River Tarn formed 33 miles of spectacular Gorges du Tarn flanked by limestone cliffs as much as 1,640 feet high.
Gorgeous Gorges, Endless Passes
The food, hotels and culture stops, such as the Caverne du Pont-d’Arc in the Ardèche Valley with its 36,000-year-old cave paintings, sprawling 12-acre Bamboo Park in the Rhône Valley and historic villages and towns with their lovely old French architecture and genuinely friendly people all made for a deliciously rich experience during our regular stops, lunches and evenings. It’s truly amazing I didn’t gain more weight, or run out of camera memory cards. But the raison d’être of the Mystery Tour is the roads and riding, made all the more fun by not knowing exactly what was in store each day.
No wider than a walking path through its arches and tunnels in places, the magnificent Combe Laval is virtually suspended from the side of the canyon.
Southeastern France is laced with deep gorges carved over the centuries by impressive rivers like the Verdon, Nesque and Tarn, and the ride connected the many gorges with the beautiful valleys, mountains, plateaus and national parks of Provence, the Languedoc region and French Alps. We crossed one of the most extraordinary areas in France, the Cévennes, on the Corniche de Cévennes, a wide sweeping road originally built in the 1700s by the Huguenot army that this day was nearly deserted and like a racetrack through the forest flora.
The 2018 Mystery Tour group enjoys a “boot” beer (we’re done riding but still in our boots) in a hotel parking lot in the Côtes du Rhône.
Our rest day—yet another riding day for many in the group—was among the spires and massifs of the Gorges du Tarn on the Tarn River, where some of us hiked, swam and kayaked before ascending and circling the Causse Noir and Causse Méjean on the bikes, giant limestone plateaus of rich farmland surrounded by gorges and strung with more exciting balcony roads and tunnels. If there was a problem with the roads and scenery on this tour, it was not being able to look away from either….
Looking down from 8,688-foot Col du Galibier.
From the Parc des Grands Causses we made a giant U-turn back toward Nice and the Côte d’Azur, but some of the best riding was yet to come—the French Alps. Over the next several days we conquered a dozen passes lined with snow in places, including the 2nd- through 5th-highest in France, and briefly crossed into Italy over the 9,003-foot Col Agnel to have a refreshingly different lunch of pizza and pasta while the three crossword puzzle winners enjoyed a helicopter tour with RR of Mont Blanc, at 15,777 feet the highest in Europe.
Descending from yet another pass in the French Alps.
After returning to France, the finale was a twisting ascent up to La Madone d’Utelle for a tasty picnic lunch skillfully prepared by Pablo at this hilltop sanctuary with a 360-degree view over the French Riviera. How he got the big van up—and down—that crazy road I’ll never know. Just one of the wonderful mysteries of the Mystery Tour.
Picnic time at the sanctuary of La Madone d’Utelle, high atop a mountain with a view of the French Riviera.
The 2018 Edelweiss Bike Travel Mystery Tour is now called the Life is Beautiful—Magical France tour and will run next June 6-26, 2019. The arrival airport for the next Mystery Tour is Athens, Greece, May 3, 2020…but shhhh, it’s a secret! For more info visit edelweissbike.com.
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