We had some paved transit sections in Costa Rica that were absolute bananas. Not only hairpin after hairpin but the grades were crazy, to the point of me mumbling "there is no way you can pave that..."
Don't great roads bring a smile to your face.
I had a look on YouTube for rides going up the 129 from Thessalon to Chapleau that that article talked about. All I saw were straight roads that they raving about; yes with a slight bend here and there. In any case I'll ride it next year just to get away from heavy traffic. Funny thing is I went right by there in the early 90s over the bridge in the Sault into northern Michigan.
2022 and 2023 I had my girlfriend along in the Alps and with all the gear and a fully gassed up motorcycle, we were sitting at 1000 pounds. No big deal but I told her while riding the inside of a hairpin (around a 45 gallon drum) with a 20% grade, don't swing your body left or right while I am doing 5 kph (I'd need a Beta for that). Normally you would swing wide into the opposing lane and then cut in, but with traffic that you cannot see coming from above, that is next to impossible. Well we did 48 passes and some of them were ultra tough that I have taken countless times solo, I never dropped it. Then I pull into a Shell gas station in Winterthur, Switzerland and as usual, I fall over and always at 0 kph. Go figure.
Nahh, after 27 years of riding some 220+ different passes countless times there over the years, time to ride more here in my old age and drive less technical roads. I'll miss the cheaper vacations in Europe though. Motels and hotels here are a rip-off!
Some of the roads I took many times...not my videos.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFMwV74FjqIhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hoKZ3LN9XBYIan B has some good videos.
Strada della Forra. Took this in 2022 and 2023 (a James Bond road).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2eEvGwTPZcSS46 Italy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pq-TH0Wie-wManiva Pass took that in 2000.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOywqUnsuF4I see more motorcycles in a day there than I see back home in a year.