Ronda Loop to Malaga Finish | October 31 | 163 Miles | Today began with more choices, options to make a loop ride though the country back again to Ronda over famous Andalusian roadways or to stay in town and poke around until the rest of the group returns. It’s only about 90 miles between Ronda and …
Tag: tourism
Tic-Toc Maroc: Shipless in Cueta
Chefchaouen to Ronda Spain | October 30 | 198 Miles | Thanks for a little dinner conversation, or perhaps NO thanks to it, we realize there will be a time change (somewhere: border or ferry?) to deal with tomorrow, and that we should leave really early in order to make the mid-day ferry. But we already have …
Tic-Toc Maroc: A Muslim Roman Holiday
Meknes to Chefchaouen | October 29 | 110 Miles | With only one more night in Morocco ahead of us, nostalgia is already setting in, thankfully we returned tonight to a familiar place… but in a different riad. This one farther up the hillside from the parking lot and much more modern. The welcome drink, a limocelli …
Tic-Toc Maroc: I Don’t Wanna Go
Bin El Ouidane to Meknes | October 28 | 202 Miles | Well, it was hard to leave paradise, but we tried to drag it out as long as we could with a poolside ride briefing and some dragging of the feet. The weather wasn’t quite right for a morning dip in the pool but we all …
Tic-Toc Maroc: Choking The American Dream
Marrakesh to Bin El Ouidane | October 27 | 327 Miles | Today had to be the worse day of them all… I mean, awesome because I’m still on tour in a foreign country and doing just fine, but sometimes when you want something so much, hurdles grow up between you and the goal. And that was …
Tic-Toc Maroc: The Shopping Bug
Marrakesh Rest Day | October 26 | 0 Miles | Mid-day report… Despite my hatred for the way they prefer to do buiness in Morocco, I’ve managed to spend too much money on things to bring home, ouch! Our tour guides arranged with a local man names Ahmed to give us a walking to this morning, …
Tic-Toc Maroc: Into the Kingdom
Ait Ben Haddou to Marrakesh | October 25 | 141 Miles | From one UNESCO world heritage site to another (this tour is full of them, visiting 6 of the 9 in the country!) today was a ton of fun.. and history. The day started with a climb out of the saharan desert, pass towns …
Tic Toc Maroc: Back In The Game
Boumalne Dades to Ait Ben Haddou | October 24 | 141 Miles | With more than 12 hours sleep, I started out feeling pretty good today, happily. Although had I been paying attention to the provided guidebook I would have realized that this morning’s ride was another loop ride, up into another nearby canyon and …
Tic-Toc Maroc: Chewed Up, Spit Out
Erfoud to Boumalne Dades | October 23 | 172 Miles | Bruised and back on the bike, today was one of the more relaxing days on tour…well, sort of… With only a “few” miles to ride, a scenic side trip, enjoyable (hilarious!) shopping experiences and a “helpful” bike swap… although the collective pain was mounting. Unlike …
Tic-Toc Maroc: Rest Day My Ass
Erfoud Rest Day | October 22 | Going in Circles So much for a rest day! That was a friggin workout… and in the end, cost me more than I’d spend on the entire trip so far (for food and fuel). With a handful of optional activities planned for the group, hanging around the hotel —although …
Tic-Toc Maroc: Long Day Down
Fez to Erfoud | October 21 | 271 miles Today was our longest day… and one that put me in a shitty ass mood… mainly because I was getting rushed through countless amazing scenes, yet I was alone. Perhaps riding with a group isn’t for me… not when I want to use my brain and take …
Tic-Toc Maroc: On Becoming Royals
Chefchaouen to Fez | October 20 | 135 miles Today was yet another amazing, and often shocking cross section of life in Morocco. It’s really only our second ride day and already there have been countless times that Chris rolls up next to me with his arms out and his head shaking in back and …
Tic-Toc Maroc: Aduanas To Blue
Malaga, Spain to Chefchaouen | October 19 | 175 miles While not much can be shown of the border crossing itself, columns can be written on the processes and failures of efficiency… nothing unusual for a border crossing with a motorcycle really. Thankfully, given a few hours of patience and experienced guides, we slink through, all …
Tic-Toc Maroc: Arrivé
For the next two weeks, I’ll be circumnavigating the country of Morocco with Edelweiss Bike Tours for upcoming stories in both Motorcyclist Magazine and HOG. This travelog was written during the ride, but thanks to many technical difficulties (to both this human and his machines) they’ll be posting after the ride. Please enjoy none-the-less. …
Tic-Toc Maroc: Bonne Route
Half way to my next adventure, I’m both writing about the model year 2016 Yamahas as well as reading guidebooks for my next destination. Traveling this time to Morocco, a throwback in time, if not at a minimum, an entirely new world of religion and understanding for me. Not only will this be my first visit …
Aotearoa to Zeelandia: Oceania’s Finest Specimen
Take a Polynesian naming convention, add in the European dialect and influence of the 1600s, a dash of contemporary-dipped architecture, wildlife one finds in the zoo, some rainforest glaciers and the ease of traveling in English and what do you get? A tour though the last discovered landmass on earth… New Zealand. Read the whole …
Three Days in Middle Earth
Here’s my first story on New Zealand, in a three day ride story in Cruiser. If Gandalf the Grey was a motorcyclist (You know he’s a biker!), you might already be sick of hearing about the backroads and byways of New Zealand, instead, hardly anyone knows of the their greatness. With high mountain passes, glacial …
Digging Up History in San Diego County – RoadRUNNER June 2012 Issue
San Diego county is host to California’s second-largest city and also has the pleasure of securing America’s border from neighboring Mexico and it’s migrating masses. Despite being portrayed as a line in the sand surrounded by flaming barbed-wire fences, manned by armed vigilantes picking off “illegals” like empty bottles of High Life perched on the …