Motorcycle

Two wheels and a motor ... or mobile life

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Category: Motorcycle
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For more than 25 years, together with a few friends and family members, I hosted a motorcycle weekend in the Paso Robles California area. These started as a weekend event under the auspices of the Motorcycle Sport Touring Association (MSTA) in California but in the later years became a personal event not associated with the MSTA. Finally in 2016 I hosted my last event. One result of hosting all these events is a collection of attractive ride routes around the Paso area.

I have collected GPS tracks from many of these weekend ride events and created map pages. Each link below is one of these routes. I've attempted to summarize each with the motorcycle related highlights. GPX files for each view is available to download on the map page menu located in the upper right corner. That same menu can display a track elevation profile.

Hopefully you find these routes useful to plan your own ride in the area. Come enjoy Paso and do some riding on the best collection of roads in California.

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Category: Motorcycle
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Once again off to Mexico on our Triumph Tiger 800 XC. This time we combined attending the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, a ride through northern mainland Mexico, a train through the Copper Canyon (or Barrancas del Cobre) with a lengthy two month stay in La Paz Baja California Sur. La Paz felt like home after such a long stay!

Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta

glamping tents and balloons

First up was Albuquerque and the Balloon Fiesta. We've been here before in late 1980's and again in 2014. But, this trip was different in that we went on a motorcycle and stayed in "Glamping Tents" within the park where all the action takes place. It was a great way to participate. Walking over to the launch field was rather easy so we could head over early in the morning for launch and back late at night for the balloon glow. We saved on high parking fees and avoided long waits getting the car into the area each day.

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I have often wondered if there was any fact-based evidence that light colors and/or high visibility clothing on motorcyclists had any impact on safety. Well now I found some evidence. A 2004 study1 (data collected between Feb 1993 and Feb 1996) conducted in Auckland New Zealand by researchers from the University of Auckland and funded by Health Research Council of New Zealand and the Accident Rehabilitation and Compensation Insurance Corporation produced some meaningful results.

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Peggy's Point Lighthouse
Peggy's Cove NS

In August 2022, we completed a motorcycle ride around the perimeter of the USA and Canada. The trip included many roads, museums and destinations that have been on my “motorcycle must do” list for many years. In particular,

  1. I’ve always wanted to ride to Key West (so we did),
  2. Three states had been missing from my "ridden there" list—Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana (not any more),
  3. Debbie has never been to the Americade motorcycle rally (been there, done that),
  4. and I wanted to return to the Canadian Maritime since visiting on my Suzuki 750 in the mid-1980s (did, better than ever).

The trip statistics:

  • 17,656 miles / 28,414 kilometers (16,982 route miles excluding local travel)
  • 130 nights on the road, mostly in hotels
  • 23 US States and 9 Canadian Provinces visited

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Category: Motorcycle
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Hotel Seven Crown Centro in La Paz

Another moto trip to Baja. This time the focus was on La Paz, where we spent five days enjoying the city and exploring.

We traveled on the Kawasaki Versys 1000 LT as a last second selection. Our Triumph Tiger 800 XC was carefully prepared and packed in the week leading up to the trip only to find, much to our surprise, the counter-shaft sprocket nut gone when we climbed on to leave. No idea how this happened. But, no time to fix. About 30 minutes later we re-packed onto the Versys and were off. One of the benefits of multiple bikes in the garage!