In Famous Last Words articles, I regularly mention the tarmac road rally “Targa Tasmania”, which I’ve competed in annually on twenty-nine occasions. Overall that time, my love of the Tasmanian roads has never waned and, although we race over them when they’re closed to other traffic, so don’t get to enjoy the scenery as much as we possibly should, I can certainly understand why so many people head over Bass Straight to experience them.

The beauty of Tasmania is that it’s a comparatively small state with so many different geographical features to enjoy … heaps of good places to eat and stay, and you don’t have to drive for hours to get to them.

It also doesn’t matter if you’re on a bike or in a car unless, of course, the weather turns bad, and the roads are all a joy to be on. I recently came across this article from Kellie Buckley from Bikesales which gives a good overview of eight of Tasmania’s best motorcycling roads and I can vouch for all of them.

“8 Great Motorcycling Roads in Tasmania” – Bikesales

Not surprisingly, nearly all the rides Kellie mentions include some of the great Targa Tasmania stages such as Elephant Pass on the East Coast; The Sidling on the Tasman Highway; Cygnet on the Channel Highway; Hellyer Gorge out of Burnie and on the Strahan to Derwent Bridge Road, there are the three classic stages of Strahan, Queenstown Hill and Targa Tasmania’s longest stage of Mt Arrowsmith. All great roads.

Just a tip though, make sure you check the date for your ride as there would be nothing worse than arriving at a road closure sign telling you that there is a car race happening!!!