Fat tire fans will enjoy this quick video from Great Outdoors.com TV
featuring some hard core, top riders cruisinng around some beautiful terrain in places as varied as Hawaii, the
Northwest and Utah.
Shot in 16mm film, the scenes, stunts and landscapes are excellent, even if the video is a bit choppy given the high
end format. Worth a peak.
I just discovered this. Pretty cool. You can watch the Watch the World Mountain Bike Championships online at
this link. It’s not (sadly) free, but an all-access pass will set you
back about $8. The championships are being held in Livingo, Italy in the isolated Stelvio and Swiss National Parks area
of Northern Italy.
Am I the only one looking forward to fall or what? I keep finding myself browsing for hotel stays
where one can see the seasons change or get a real feel for the brisk fall breeze settling
over the land cooling the not so long ago summer temperatures. I suppose that’s why I’m writing about this lovely
country inn found in Wisconsin now. The Oak Park Inn has nine different
suites each uniquely decorated with very at home decor. The rooms look fairly simple and extremely clean from the
site. Located in Whitehall, an area full of winding roads and wooden hills in western
Wisconsin puts the lodging in a convenient location perfect for long bike rides and watching
the seasons change.
The charming and haunting once private estate of Johns “Harley” Hopkins intrigues visitors most at
the grave site of Ida Mae, located in the rear gardens. The Innkeepers, Steven and Linda are delighted to indulge in
conversation regarding the spirit of Ida Mae which has been said to appear from time to time. Other past times while
relaxing at Oak Park Inn include nearby harvest festivals, craft fairs and art tours.
Let’s keep the motorcycle madness going this week and drill down
deeper into the world of “hog” travel. There are some
excellent motorcycle camping guides and
checklists out there, as well as articles claiming that
cars are overrated when it comes to
camping. I would agree with that, but you’ve got to be a good biker and a well-prepared camper to do it right.
This exhaustive list scares the heck out of me, but for
experienced riders/campers, it’s a perfect pre-trip checklist to review prior to heading out. Gear, parts, tools and
riding apparel are all essential, as well as camping equipment, clothes and the usual travel items. It even reminds us
to bring the motorcycle – very thorough indeed!
MicaPeak features several checklist generating tools, including motorcycle camping lists with
150-items, and a shorter
40-item list for what bikers call “credit-card camping”.
For these trips, they pack enough to fit in the tank bag, so lugging extra gear is replaced by hotel lodging. For those
who do rough-it at night, there are campgrounds that cater to bikers, like these in
Virginia, North
Carolina, or British Columbia.
Yesterday, fellow Gadling writer Adrienne wrote about a fantastic
Motorcycle Adventure Tour. I thought I’d follow that up by
sharing these two travel writing related sites I came across today that bike lovers might want to know about as
well.
First up is Road Trip: The Magazine of Motorcycle Travel, a new publication
for bikers created by Gary Dolgoff and Kate Jackson. The table of contents for the September/October premiere issue is
online, but there are no links to full articles. The tagline “Because There’s More to the Ride than the Road”
sums up their angle: not only are they motorcycle enthusiasts, but they’re travel lovers as well, and hope to reach an
audience of other travel loving bikers with their publication.
Road Trip Magazine features emerging touring and sport touring trends for motorcycle travel, as well as advice on
gear, destinations and travel tips. Articles in the first issue include pieces on motorcycle history, high-altitude
sickness, the Sonoran Desert and the San Juan Skyway. I’ll see if I can get my hands on a copy of the first issue and
give a review later this month. [via
TravelPost]
Another site worth mentioning is the personal website of Bruno
Valeri, who has compiled an impressive collection of travel stories about his cycle rides. His site includes
travelogues of road trips to Newfoundland and Georgia (including detailed reviews of all his lodging locations), as
well as articles on hot and
cold weather riding and
product reviews. Looks to me like Bruno might be a
prime candidate to do some freelance writing for Road Trip Magazine! Be sure to check out both these sites, while I go
find myself some friends who own bikes — I want to travel like this!