Arizona's Premiere Rider's Club
What potentially could have been a very hot ride to and from Yarnell was actually not too bad! After installing a fresh battery on my Honda last night, she was ready to go this morning! Our 2nd Sunday Breakfast was held today at the Ranch House which is right at the top of Yarnell Hill just down the street from downtown.
As of this writing, only 3 Tee Pees with 2 double beds are left at the Wigwam in Holbrook! Don’t miss the opportunity to stay at an icon of old Route 66! Once we sell out of rooms at the Wigwam, we’ll announce an alternate hotel that you can book on your own. For more info on the 6’s Wild Grand Tour, click here!
As of July’s meeting of the AZRATPack Board Of Directors, NJSteve Arnoldi has stepped down from his position on the board due to personal reasons. As a founding member of our board, NJSteve’s service and contributions were greatly appreciated, and we look forward to any volunteer contributions he has to offer moving forward. Thanks NJSteve!
Our dinner this month was at a unique eatery that featured a collection of exotic birds scattered around the outdoor portions of the restaurant.
Continue reading “July General Membership Meeting & Dinner Recap”
Let’s get the obvious out of the way right now. It’s hot! With that said, July’s breakfast was held in the cooler temperatures of Payson. For me, this meant leaving my house in Buckeye just after 7:00 AM. It was already in the high 90’s at this time. I met up with fellow board member Todd at the Chevron across from the Ft McDowell Casino and road together up The Beeline (SR87).
This month’s dinner was in a trendy section of downtown Phoenix near Roosevelt Row. The club has been here twice before, the first was an Alien Abduction Tour Meet & Greet and then we’ve had a regular club dinner. Both occurred a few years ago and we were due for a return!
Continue reading “June General Membership Meeting & Dinner Recap”
It all started in 2003. The first time I’ve heard of the AZRATPack was on a shuttle from my hotel in Birmingham, AL to the airport. I was at the 2003 Ducati 999R launch at Barber Motorsports Complex and was talking to Peter Cramer, at the time, owner of Phoenix International Motorsports, who was a customer of mine that bought Fast By Ferracci parts for Ducatis from me. He was telling a group of us about how he had formed a RAT Pack out of his dealership and Triumph’s involvement in these.
We’d just finished filling our 2005 Yamaha FJR1300 in Eureka, Nevada located on Highway 50, known as “The Loneliest Road in America” (a name provided by Life magazine in 1986) when the young girl working the station asked if we’ve seen Mormon crickets. Being from Calgary which is as close to bug free as you can get we replied with a cautionary “uhhh no”. She began regaling us with stories of these enormous smelly, oily, sticky bugs that measure 3 to 4 inches in length, endowed with a long spike on one leg and will be covering the highway as we continue west to Reno. Stories she told that got my attention include a tractor trailer rig that was unable to get up a hill due to the greasy migrating mass and how the locals spray Pam cooking oil on the front of their cars to help with the removal of the bugs. What really got my attention was the mention of “several” motorcycle crashes that occur each year mostly at night when the crickets are almost impossible to see. Then in her southern drawl she casually mentions “sometimes they get so thick the snowplows are sent out to remove them…but I haven’t seen a snowplow today…yet!” I was “half” convinced that she was teasing us”.
Continue reading “Mormon Crickets & US 50, The Loneliest Highway”
At the June 12th Board Meeting, we have decided to phase out our Meetup.com group and steer membership to our website.
Continue reading “Meetup Group To Be Phased Out”
The hot months are here and it means that we move our breakfasts out of the valley and into some cooler areas up north. This month, we visited Anita’s Cocina in Wickenburg. This is a perennial favorite spot. We’ve stopped here several times over the years for either a 2nd Sunday Breakfast or a lunch stop on a ride.