Pashnit Motorcycle Tours

 

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Bill S.

San Francisco, CA

6/23/2007 4 photos

Pashnit offers  wonderfully dense flavors, incredible smells, beautiful presentation, seductive thrills and great company.   It will pull you and your thoughts out of daily reality and immerse you in something better and different with unbelievable swiftness and thoroughness.  It will give you perspective and memories that will last  the rest of your life.  And no, Pashnit is not a restaurant, a club, or even an opium den. Its a motorcycle touring company and website.

If you hate motorcycles, or have never wondered why dogs stick their noses out car windows, stop reading now. Nothing in this review will make any sense. In fact, you will probably find it annoying.  But if you understand the intimacy with surroundings and freedom that come with two wheels, or enjoy a good but user controlled dose of adrenaline, then Pashnit may be for you.

WAMP! WAMP! What it do? What it do?

Motorcycle tours. You will join a group of maybe 15 other bikes and ride some roads picked out by Tim Mayhew and Tim Regehr, Pashnit guides/owners, stay in a hotel, eat some food  and talk with fellow riders. But that's like saying Nascar is about making left turns or Warren Buffet doesn't do anything but pick stocks all day.

Tours are based on the hundreds of thousands of miles of riding the Tims have put into setting them up. A truly great cook can work with the same ingredients and recipe as as an ordinary one but produce something with a far better and more dense flavor. These guys know how to string together the very best roads, stops and restaurants in a way that  would be damn near impossible for a couple of buddies armed with a map and a guidebook.

You will ride with one Tim out in front and the other in back. Both are mechanical and carrying tools, tire pumps, siphon tubing and other emergency gear. Tim R is also a RN and well equipped for anything from minor sunburn to major road rash and shock-trauma.

Despite all this  good stuff, Pashnit's greatest strength may be its near magical ability to attract quality people and forge a bond between them. For some participants, riding is a passion that overwhelms everything else, for others its a hobby that that coexists next to work, family and other interests. Some riders can hold their own on the race track, some have  just a few thousand miles under their belts or 20 year gaps in their riding resumes. But in my experience (and I've done three Pashnit tours) all share decency, common sense, respect and a love of the road. Riders come as strangers and leave as  friends. Its hardly surprising that Pashnit has led to at least one marriage. Fifty percent of riders are repeat customers. Many riders are local, but almost every tour has someone who has flown in from Europe or Asia just to participate.

Most tours are 3, 4 or 7 days and very roughly speaking seems to average around $100 a day plus food and lodging. Motorcycle rental is available.

For more information about the tours see http://www.pashnittour...

For the definitive California motorcycle road and ride site see http://www.pashnit.com

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