Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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companies that are popping up all over the place, Two Wheels does not provide lodging - you are basically on your own in that department. They do, however, recommend a local travel agency called Travel Air International located in Lihue near the tour's base. The agency is familiar with the tours and the Leightons say that TAl can set up your travel arrangements, accommodations, rental cars and other packages, if you want. We had a two-day ride planned, but Two Wheels offers anywhere from oneto fou r-day tours ($250 each d ay and $150 a day for passengers, as well as a d iscou nt p rice for three- and four-day tours). Each tour will consist of no more than four riders in order to "be tter perso na lize" eac h rid e. Two Wheels says they can cat er the to urs to an y riding level from n ov ic e to experienced expe rts, and the routes can range from a completely paved road ride to a route that is mostly in un pa ved areas. I op ted for the mostly unpaved rou te and w as rew a r d ed wi th some of the most outstanding scenery I'd ever seen, and some of the bes t riding I've every experienced. The tours are based out of Ann and Tom's other business, their Two Wheels motorcycle shop in Waipouli, about a 10-minute drive from the airport in Lihue and near the eastern coastline. It's the island's on ly motorcycle dealership, and their house is actually built onto the shop itself. Their commute every morning consists of - on a bad day - about five seconds. Having the tour based out of their shop comes in handy just in case you forget something like your gloves, goggles, lenses, etc. . Phil Oveland, one of Hawaii's top off-road riders and former supercross racer, would be our trail master for the next two days. Also joining us were "locals" Mike Gregory and Paul Rathbone, both of whom, along with Oveland, will lead future tours around the Isla nd. A couple of other local riders, Sam Van Gieson and Bill Shepard, tagged along, as did my wife, Theresa, who was easily persuaded at the last moment to be a passenger on the back of Oveland's bike. I, on the other hand, had to tote arou nd a backpack full of camera equipment. By 9:00 a.m., the seven of use we re p u ll in g out of the sho p's driveway, beginnin g wha t would be a ISO-mile ride th ro ug h ca ne fields, tropical ra in for es ts, op en fiel ds and small tow ns, mo stly on easy tw o-track dirt roads. Sometimes we wou ld divert onto smaller and slightly more challenging singletrack trails that more-or-less paralleled the wider dirt roads. We spen t most of the day exploring the eastern and western sides of the island. Perhaps the highlight of the day was riding through the Puu Ka Pele Forest Reserve on the western - and warmer - side of Kauai. As we climbed up the paved road, we got a breathtaking view of Waimea Canyon, also known as the "Grand Canyon of the Pacific," but, in my opinion, it resembles Mexico's Copper Canyon more than the famous chasm in Arizona. There were places along the road where we rode along rolling, single-track trails that skirted the edges of the huge and spec. tacular Waimea Canyon. (Above) Our tra il master Phil Oveland , a former f ull -time to ur guide and supercross racer , knows just about every Inch of trail and dirt roads on the Island 01 Kaual - he should, because he rides on them every day wh ile commu ting back and forth to work. He rec ent ly won the Li ghtweight Four-Stro ke class at th e Tras k Mountain ISDE Qualifier In Oregon. (Left) Paul Rathbone also led us aro und the Island. Here, he crests a peak on the outskirts of Waimea Canyon, also known as the Grand Canyon of the Pacific. (Right) Specta CUlar scenery was never-ending throughout our two-day ride. Within a few minutes after this photo was tak en, the canyon had become completely obs cured by clouds and it started to rain. Moments later It was sunny again! Typ ic al Kaual weather. Even th ough it rained on us a lot -.u sually b rief downpours· it never really got cold or uncomfortable. We soon found ourselves deep in the rain fores ts, cruisi ng along a wide and deserted dirt road . As the road beca me we tter and we tter, Oveland stopped to wa rn me: "Up ahead the mud is slick, so be careful. It d oesn 't look like it, but it is. We call it 'Hawaii an Ice:" Ma n, he wasn 't kid ding ! The mud was decieving. It looked ha rd -p acked and you'd think it would offer excellen t traction, but the red d irt felt like yo u were rid ing in a hoc key rink. I was all over the wi de d irt road tryi ng to keep th e knobb y side d own, desp ite the fact we were creeping along at a snail's pace. The best technique for me was not to fightthe bike, bu t to inst ead let it slide around as it pleased. Turning was simple: just go strai ght until you bounce off of something, usually a berm on the outside of the road. At first I felt like a bumbling idi ot, but after I got used to the greasymud, I loved it . We all were hootin' and ho llerin,' laug hing at each 23