Guy Boutin's Motorcycle Touring and Travel Pages

Adventures in Sport Touring with the Honda ST 1100, 1300 and the BMW 1200RT

Exploring North America...One Road at a Time

The Road Less Traveled
April 1, 2002

I love the back roads.  Especially state routes, that connect the towns by passed when the interstates came to life.  Riding the secondary roads of America has become a passion for me.  They always have something fun to offer.

Most people take trips to get somewhere.  A family traveling from Michigan to Disney World in Orlando, wants to get there as quick as they can, so they jet down I-75 in their mini-van.  The goal is not wandering, but arriving.  They sleep in chain motels, and eat in chain restaurants.  The Denny's in Salina, Kansas is no different then the Denny's in Key Largo, Florida.  A Holiday Inn has no more character, then a refrigerator.

It started in the 60s, and became the norm when the interstate system was completed.  Sleep at the Ramada each night, and you know what you will get, before you get there.  Food at Shoney's is a proven commodity.  I call it the "vanilla" syndrome.  Sleeping at Motel 6 every night is like eating vanilla ice cream EVERYDAY.  Day in and day out.  Vanilla is good, but you will never experience the enjoyment of banana swirl, or pecan.  You have given up adventure for the security of vanilla.  A guy can take I-10 across the country and never really see anything.

In all my travels I have never seen a mini van family stopped in a town such as Colfax, Washington.  A quiet place nestled in the Palouse of East Washington.  The cafe a hangout for local wheat farmers.  People say, "Colfax? What the hell is in Colfax?  Why go there?" You go there just to see what IS there. Only the touring rider understands why a guy would ride to Colfax.

I want to see things up close.  I like to hear why someone calls a place home.  I recall the church BBQ I happened upon in Iowa.  The friendliness of the farmers who passed their Sunday mornings here, probably the only time they were not in the fields.  They spoke to me about harvesting, fertilizer, tornados, and farm life.  For 99% of the folks there, it was the first time they ever met someone from Alabama.  They took pictures of me and my bike, and ladies stuffed chocolate chip cookies in my pocket.  You are never going to have such an experience at a big mega church, next to a interstate.

How many times have we entered a crossroads intersection, looked at a road, and wondered where it goes?  What lies at the end?  A town? A river? Perhaps another road?

The back roads out west are the best.  They are void of traffic, open and fast.  They connect tiny hamlets and towns.  On my upcoming trip to the Hotel California, I will ride from Southern Kansas, to South Dakota.  All the way through Kansas, Nebraska and most of South Dakota, on secondary state roads, and I can't wait.  I will ride across the grassy plains of Eastern Montana to Glacier on back roads.  I will return to the Palouse of Eastern Washington, the peaceful, and humble way.  Riding these roads is good for the soul.  It causes you to think of stuff you never think about anywhere else.  It connects you with not only with those that live in such places, but with yourself.

The East has back roads too.  They are different.  More crowded, more towns.  High mileage days are not possible.  Till you get to Maine, you are never far from urban sprawl in the east.  You can never escape it for long.  Still, the state roads of Vermont, Pennsylvania and Upstate New York are fun, but you won't find any 100 mile run outs to the next town.

Motorcycles are the best at finding hidden Americana.  When I am on a trip, I don't feel as if I HAVE to stop to see anything.  I see it as I go by.  The openness of riding connects you with the environment no cage can ever match.  In 1999, and 2000 I took my Prelude cross country.  In everyway it was a superior machine to the ST.  It was faster, handled better, and shifted smoother.  I rode across the country with the top back and windows down. When it rained all I had to do was hit a few buttons and close things up.  I slept many nights in rest areas, in the front seat.  It was fun, but in the end it was NOT a motorcycle. I discovered people treated me differently when I was on the ST.  Upon completing those trips I had no sense of satisfaction.  Heck, anyone can ride cross country in Prelude.  

The Prelude could not connect me with America the way my ST does.

I wish more mini van families would ride across America and REALLY see this country and all its vastness and uniqueness.  Spend time on the back roads seeing things.  Certainly, everyone needs to see the Grand Canyon, Niagara Falls and Big Sur, but take the time to witness the stuff in between these places.  Don't ride the interstates from New York to the Grand Canyon, think of all that you would miss.

There are times when I am in the mood for interstate riding.  Miles of urban sprawl makes me crave the interstate.  A place where I can go to knock down miles quickly, where I can let the ST loose, and pass cages by the hundreds.

The days I just want to ride, and put distance down I will resort to the interstate.  I will seldom do that 2 days in  a row.  In fact, can't recall a time when I have.

I use the interstate to escape Alabama quickly. To clear me out of the familiar painlessly. To get me somewhere, so the real trip can begin.  My percentages of roads traveled are 80% secondary roads, 20% slab.

I will continue to ride the back roads as much as I can.  I will preach the gospel to the mini van families whenever possible.  "Get off this interstate and take a REAL trip brother.  Slow down and be patient."  How much good it will do, I don't know.