Switchbacking up to Passo Gardena. Photos by the author.
Every organized motorcycle tour worth its salt has interesting roads, captivating scenery, tasty food and comfortable accommodations. That?s what you?re paying for, in addition to experienced and knowledgeable guides and the convenience of having a motorcycle waiting for you when you arrive. All you have to do is show up and ride.
The sign at Passo Falzarego was remarkably clean. Signs at most of the passes are covered in so many stickers that it can be hard to read them.
Every tour also has a hook, something that catches riders? eyes and convinces them to lay down a deposit and clear their calendar for a week or two. In the case of Ayres Adventures? Switchback Challenges, the hook is short, intense tours that promise riders more hairpins, chicanes, kinks, sweepers and high passes than they can count. A short break at Passo Gardena, only a few kilometers from our hotel.
Covering seven days, with two travel days bookending five riding days, these tours are reasonably priced (starting at $2,975), offer mid-level accommodations and, by staying at the same hotel during the riding days, require less hassle than tours that go from hotel to hotel each night. Ayres offers four Switchback Challenges–the Pyrenees, southern Spain, central Alps and the Dolomites.
Many valleys in the Dolomites are crisscrossed with twisting roads and ski lifts.
Lofty terms such as motorcycle “heaven” or “nirvana” are ...