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My Top 15 Rides of All Time

This week has been rough- with Monday blowing sub-zero temperatures into New York City...to nearly 60 and pouring by Thursday.  I'm working on a pretty cool project with my Streetfighter... (more on that later- I'm dropping an 1198 engine in the bike to create a StreetfighterR), but I've been doing some clean up on the website, and it has made me a little sentimental for rides gone by.

So much of my identity has come from the rubber I've laid down on the road alone and with others,  to the point that most of my closest people are now largely in the motorcycle community.  I thought I'd take the weekend to reflect, listicle style- on some of my absolute favorite rides I've ever been blessed to take.  So with all of that said, here are my top 15 Ducati motorcycle trips I've ever ridden, in no particular order:

1. Museo Ducati in Borgo Panigale


I've actually gotten to visit the Ducati factory a couple times by now, but the Museo Ducati is absolutely essential to visit if you go to Bologna (or even anywhere in Northern Italy).


2. The Cabot Trail


Going on 5 years ago (and before I took videos apparently), my buddy Jay and I embarked on a 12 day, 2500 mile adventure up to Nova Scotia and around the Cabot Trail, lugging a case of beer and camping out at Meat Cove, at the northernmost tip of Cape Breton Island.  This trip was such a self-affirming journey, for the people that we met, and what I discovered about myself, and even moreso discovering what was out there available to me in the world.

Moto Guzzi Museum Motorcycle Tour 2 (1940-1960): Racing Pedigree

Tigh Loughhead visits the Moto Guzzi Museum with NYDucati
A quick walk up flight of stairs yielded another generation of Moto Guzzi racing motorcycles.

Moto Guzzi Museum Motorcycle Tour 1 (1920-1940) in Mandello del Lario, Lecco in Italy

Tigh Loughhead: NYDucati visits the Museo Moto Guzzi in Mandello Del Lario, Italy
Alex and I arrived exactly at the Moto Guzzi Museum, in the small town of Mandello del Lario, at exactly 3pm, which was perfect, as the museum only opens for an hour per day.

V Addio Bellagio as We Bring the Bikes Back to Milan

The rest of the trip will feel odd without a motorcycle.  There is such agency that comes with a vehicle, and an added immediacy or presence on a motorcycle.  A motorcyclist engages with his or her environment in a way that no other mode of travel offers.  I never feel like a tourist on  a bike; rather I feel part of the landscape, as I feel the curvature of little pieces of earth as I wend my way down the road.

IV Circumnavigating Lake Como on BMW Motorcycles

We didn’t get riding quite as early as we wanted yesterday, but we did get a ton of riding in today.  I think cheap grappa last night put me over the edge, and we needed breakfast, but the hotel turned out to be just as creepy as the night before, with the host hovering over the unappetizing continental breakfast that the hotel offered.  Also, no one drinks coffee here (café Americano, that is…), but instead; caffeine is consumed in tiny sips of expresso, which isn’t really enough to get me going in the morning. 

II Around a Couple of Lakes from Italy to Switzerland

Milan, Como, Gravadona, Menaggio, Lugano


I We’re Renting Bikes in Milan to Explore the Italian Lakes Region

Rides gone by...