Category: Tourism & Travel

1. Not very Biker Friendly...

   Posted on 10:00am Saturday 18th Oct 2014

    

   Fear not, we have lots of Biker Friendly Places

2. 11 of Britain's Best Motorcycle Routes - with maps

   Posted on 1:00pm Tuesday 23rd Sep 2014

   J & S Accessories is one of the UK's leading motorcycle accessory retailers and so they understand that your motorbike is more than just about being able to get from A to B.

   There is nothing quite like getting out on the open road and just enjoying a great ride - but finding an awesome route can be easier said than done. This is why they have put together a list of their 11 favourite motorcycle routes in the UK so you can take them on... either on your own or with friends!

    

   
   From Wickham to Ullapool, Dunster to Dersingham, this selection of excellent motorcycle routes takes in sights from around the whole of the UK.

   All you need to do is select one of the routes from the drop down menu to view it on the map, and because it has been built using Google Maps, you can even switch to Street View to get a first person preview of the route itself.

   Please note this list has now been removed (2016) 

3. Biking around the world... The best road trip destinations

   Posted on 11:22am Monday 1st Sep 2014

   As the warm weather draws to a close, chances of giving our favourite ponies one final ride are dwindling day by day. If you haven't had the chance to hit the road this summer, there's still time to get your motorbiking fix if you're willing to travel for it and ride on the other side of the road.

   The great Route 66 is a path that's been favoured by American bikers for years, but there are also a number of other roads you can take across the land of the free, each with their own exciting stop off points. Here are a just a few stops that you can't afford to miss on the trip of a lifetime.

   The Grand Canyon

   Thelma and Louise may have put this on the map by driving off it, but you don't have to total your motorcycle to enjoy the views of the Grand Canyon! Situated by the Colorado River in Arizona, this 277-mile long canyon offers outstanding views like no other. There's ample parking on all four sides for your wheels of choice, offering the opportunity to walk, hike, or even fly into and around the Canyon.

   Las Vegas

   Situated 200 miles from the Grand Canyon, one of Nevada's best gems, Las Vegas, offers the perfect stop off point for bikers. If you head over there quick, you can catch the Las Vegas Bike Fest, which lasts from 2nd-5th October. However, for something a little different, you can't miss any one of the strip's famed casinos, offering more games than you could ever imagine. If the party scene's too much for you, you can always play River Belle's Canadian online casino games in your hotel room, or visit any one of the strip's theatre performances.

   
   Pacific Highway

   Perfect for the petrol head driver, the Pacific Highway offers a blend of accommodating stopover spots plus an unforgettable motorbike ride. Over on the west coast, the highway bypasses some of California's most beautiful destinations, including San Francisco, San Diego and Los Angeles. If you're a bit of a tourist at heart, you can't miss an opportunity to walk amongst the stars in Hollywood, where you can find the names of your favourite stars on the Walk of Fame. Wherever you go, just make sure you take the route from north to south – it's a common warning amongst locals that driving the wrong way down the highway will make you miss out on the best views of the sea!

4. Chiles charms running hot and blowing cold‏

   Posted on 9:58am Wednesday 27th Aug 2014

   Two Wheeled Nomad

   Upon registering Pearl’s mileage clock 10,000 miles, without conscious volition I stopped seeing our trip as an extended holiday.

   This had now become a way of life for us. The honeymoon period wasn’t altogether over, it was simply the start of a new chapter having learnt the basic ropes of two wheeled travel. Namely journeying into the unknown and coping with all its capricious twists and turns – coming out the other end all the richer for it. South America so far was adorned by many pleasurable experiences mingled with the odd misadventure thrown in for good measure. We were able to carry all we needed on the back of two motorcycles, which wonderfully, excluded all those unnecessary societal burdens. I’m done with those. My new mantra naturally emerged: to wring out as much fun from life in the most gutsy, earthy, rollicking, lip-licking way. Philosopher Alan Watts said exactly that – let go and be hung up on nothing and I would add, by nobody. We felt free.

   The 50 mile ride from San Pedro de Atacama took us north longitudinally in ascent to the Antofagasta region. The sky was an animated arrangement of clouds straight from an episode opening of The Simpsons. En route to El Tatio, we were ungrudgingly slowed by a herd of goats consuming the width of the road. Watching the mature ones amble and kids toddling along bum-to-bum, my heart went out to commuters back home in murderous bumper-to-bumper traffic. Straggling behind a frisky band of bearded goats was my kind of traffic jam. In eventually skirting around the herd we blasted through our first ford of water; my lower half got drenched. The splash I’d zealously made soaked my legs trickling into the top my boots. Wet feet forgotten, we were favoured with clusters of vicuña dotted on the mountainous plains – a wild relative of the llama, supposedly valued for its fine silky wool. Like the llama, vicuña were a lot less skittish than the similar looking but larger guanaco. It gave us a moment to marvel at them in the altiplano high Andean pastures against a brilliant blue sky backdrop.    

    

   Read more here

    

5. Sun, sand and Salta!‏

   Posted on 10:09am Wednesday 6th Aug 2014

   Two Wheeled Nomad   

   Santa Cruz, Copacabana, San Jose and Londres, translated to London – what do they all have in common? They’re all the names given to friendly little towns of dusty dwellings, doing their individual Argentinian ‘thing’, a world apart from their counterparts elsewhere on earth. Most boasted tree lined central plazas bearing ripe oranges and one had a collection of trees whose trunks were patriotically painted in Argentinian flag colours – blue and white. Heat shimmers rose off the road as we rode through all the aforementioned towns en route to Santa Maria, giving a dreamlike quality to our surroundings ahead.

   

    

   Passing through Tinogasta was perhaps more memorable: it was akin to a waste disposal bin overflowing with litter; piles of plastic, used tyres and unwanted household items strewn about everywhere. Pretty this place was not. Around a corner, a snarling Alsatian flung itself towards Pearl and me. The pair of us was a split second away from being grappled by a voracious dog suffering clear anger management issues and sporting a love for wrestling moving motorcycles. I opened Pearl up and off we shot, just out of reach from the mongrel’s gaping maw. Phew. Yards down the street saw a bunch of ragtag lads charging on their mopeds, some being lairy wolf-whistling louts, others paying no one else any mind. A rowdy duo ‘two up’ in particular made me chuckle as the rider beamed a dashing smile my way and waved wildly, while the pillion gave me the finger. At least the motorcyclist was a decent chap!

   Read more here