Company offers guided motorcycle tours for those aged 18 or more
IAN STALKER
Virginia’s Open Road Moto Tours offers some easy riding for those inspired by the likes of famed movie Easy Rider.
The company, founded by motorcycle enthusiasts Jonathan Brabrand and Beau Waldrop, has guided motorcycle tours on scenic Virginia routes, including the Blue Ridge Parkway and Skyline Drive.
The company offers six tour packages, priced between US$175 and US$250 and lasting six to eight hours, and which include lunch and entrance fees to Shenandoah National Park. Each tour accommodates up to eight riders to ensure comfort and safety.
Riders provide their own bikes, and the routes guarantee all-pavement travel with no interstate highways.
And Brabrand and Waldrop say the tours are ideal for less experienced riders, having been designed for riders of all levels, and allowing participants to set the pace and make stops as desired.
“Our only qualifications are that our clients must be 18 years old and have a valid motorcycle driver’s license,” Brabrand says. “We welcome adult riders of all ages, skill levels, and riding abilities, and make sure our tour routes, riding pace, and rest break intervals are perfectly accommodating to maximize our clients’ enjoyment.
“Our current touring offering focuses on routes that are specifically designed to be more relaxing and exclusively follow paved public roads, avoiding interstates/freeways in favour of more interesting backroads through the scenic countryside. Future tours are expected to include new routes that feature off-road sections that are more challenging.”
Brabrand and Waldrop have been riding motorcycles for over 20 years, with one of their motorcycle adventures being an eight-day cross-USA trip they took from Virginia to California, a journey Brabrand says was “truly awe-inspiring.”
Their current guided tours feature sections of the famously scenic Blue Ridge Parkway and Skyline Drive through the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, offering “sweeping vistas into lush valleys as riders wind along the mountain ridge.
“Our guided tours highlight the beauty and history of the rolling hills and farmland of rural Central Virginia as we pass through farmlands, hardwood forests, and small towns as we head up into the Blue Ridge Mountains and then back again. It is not uncommon to see deer, bears, and other wildlife on our tours, as well as authentic, small American towns that are often over 100 years old,” Braband reports.
But why choose to explore Virginia on two-wheeled transportation when the state can also be toured by car? Well, says Braband, the reasons are many.
“Motorcycle touring provides an entirely different, more heightened experience versus exploring by car,” he reports. “You can feel the temperature changes as you climb in elevation, smell the freshly cut hay field as you pass by, and immerse yourself in nature. We think the following quote from Robert M. Pirsig’s Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values, says it best: ‘In a car you’re always in a compartment, and because you’re used to it you don’t realize that through that car window everything you see is just more TV. You’re a passive observer and it is all moving by you boringly in a frame. On a cycle the frame is gone. You’re completely in contact with it all. You’re in the scene, not just watching it anymore, and the sense of presence is overwhelming.'”
Brabrand reports that motorcycle touring tourism is on the upswing, both in the U.S. and internationally.
“Motorcycle enthusiasts are adventurous by nature and are discovering the benefits of experiencing a well-scouted, neatly packaged guided tour experience that allows them to forget about the logistics and just fully enjoy the ride,” he says.
And Brabrand promises that Open Road Moto Tours will take much of the work out of touring parts of Virginia.
“Our clients show up at the start of the tour on their own motorcycles, and we handle the rest from there, including the cost of lunch at a locally owned restaurant and the National Park entry fees required to access Skyline Drive,” Brabrand continues. “We can help facilitate rental motorcycles through third parties if clients are traveling from out-of-town or otherwise need a bike for the tour. Our full-service guided tours allow clients to know that they will have an exceptional experience full of camaraderie, big smiles, and lifelong memories.”
More information is available through www.openroadmototours.com.
