In the days of cheap gas and less alarm about global warming, there were not many more enjoyable things than to go for a tour of the beautiful countryside in a fine four-wheeled motor vehicle. I still enjoy cruising backcountry roads, but do so less frequently, and often with some other purpose in mind. As my environmental consciousness rises, more of these tours will be done by motorcycle or bicycle.
“Since ‘The Kank’ has no gas stations, stores, or hamburger clowns on its 34-mile stretch to Conway,” wrote Gary McKechnie in his book, Great American Motorcycle Tours, “the town of Lincoln has thoughtfully added a flood of ugly stores and smelly things. Race past these and into some of the most mind-boggling alpine scenery and rideable roads you’ll encounter. Goose it to 60 and get into the rhythm of the road, but be prepared to brake when you reach some 20 mph hairpin turns that deliver you to scenic viewing areas such as the Hancock Overlook.”
These words came to mind as I followed a Suzuki GSX-R rider, not nearly able to match his speed or corner-carving prowess and bemoaning the fact that my rental car had an automatic slushbox instead of a proper stick. But that was the only complaint I had, and it was a minor one. After all, here I was in the White Mountains in a Ford Mustang convertible — much better than, say, a Ford Focus I thought I was going to get from the rental car agency — and the weather was gorgeous enough to have to top down all day. And the alpine scenery was, well, mind-boggling all right. Continue reading »
One could probably say that my northeastern U.S. trip started sub-optimally. After sleeping only one hour, I was blasted out of bed by my 100-decibel alarm clock at 3:30am and due to my grogginess, driving down towards the Denver International Airport was quite a chore. (Should’ve taken the Shamrock shuttle instead.) Then, on my Southwest flight to Manchester, NH, I was completely enveloped by the Texan Congregation of Fatsos which made sitting (much less sleeping) quite uncomfortable.
The woes of the morning were suddenly erased when I arrived at the Manchester airport, with just one sentence from the girl at the rental car agency (Budget) that I had a reservation with. Continue reading »
Today being Tax Day, I celebrated being done with my taxes months ago by doing a little exploring of the Red Feather Lakes and Poudre Canyon regions just to the west of Fort Collins. Since it was a glorious 75 degrees out, I donned my motorcycle pants and took the Buell for a spin. Continue reading »
Peter Egan — Editor-At-Large of both Road & Track and Cycle World magazines for the last few decades — not only is one of my all-time favorite writers but is most responsible for developing my automotive tastes even before I could drive. In addition, he has engaged in numerous adventures around the globe in a variety of motorized (and non-motorized) vehicles and I consider him something of an expert on the best places in the world to do a driving tour.
So when I received the March 2007 edition of Road & Track and saw that Peter had written an article entitled “Drive the High Country,” my eyes lit up. The article, it turns out, was about driving in Colorado and about a motoring event for pre-1961 cars called the Colorado Grand. Continue reading »
I had enjoyed my brief time thoroughly in the Black Hills of South Dakota, and in the spirit of seeking out winding roads I had not yet driven, I took a different way out of Deadwood then I came in. Driving west out of the Black Hills into Wyoming was a delight, with few other vehicles present, sweeping corners galore, and oh the lush scenery! It was wonderful to see these sacred lands, and I took pleasure in thinking that it is only about a five hours drive north of my hometown of Fort Collins. One day I’ll be back, maybe for the annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. Check out more photos of Highway 85 here.
Eastern Utah, south of Arches National Monument, was another wonderful surprise to me. Through this entire expanse the scenery resembled a cross between Arches and Sedona, Arizona. A town that might be worth stopping through is Blanding, which has a Dinosaur Museum. More photos are here.
