15th Anniversary Celebration Recap

El Vice Presidente’s House, Gilbert, AZ – June 23, 2018

by El Presidente

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.

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Mormon Crickets & US 50, The Loneliest Highway

by Brian Norrie

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”.

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June 2nd Sunday Breakfast Recap

Anita’s Cocina, Wickenburg, AZ – June 10, 2018

by El Presidente

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.

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Snowbowl Tour Recap

GO AZ Motorcycles, Peoria, AZ – June 2-3, 2018

by Melinda Dominguez

I love going up to the Flagstaff in the heat of the summer.  We went as a family three years ago for our daughter’s 20th birthday and took the chairlift ride at the Arizona Snowbowl.  It was wonderfully cold!!! It’s hard to believe that in July it could be cold in Arizona, but up north, it does!  The view from the chairlift was beautiful while being an all around fun time.  I wanted to go back and I felt it would be a great to suggest to the club’s board to add it as a summer, “get out of the heat” ride.  Last fall, they voted and YES!!! It was going to actually happen!  For me this was my ride and I couldn’t wait! I even bought a Groupon for the chairlift a month in advance.  I was ready!!

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In Search of Coco’s Corner, Baja Mexico – Part 1

by ElChinoLoco
Baja California, Mexico is a dream place with beautiful scenery, fun roads and legendary places. This trip to Baja was to explore more places and make the journey to Coco’s Corner. Places in Baja have mystical names: Mikes Sky Ranch, Coco’s Corner, Mama Espinosa’s and many more.
This was my third trip to Baja. Again, traveling with Alan Hirst and Greg Brenneman. This trip was planned for 5 days. The trip would enter Baja at Tecate, travel Mexico 3 to Ensenada, then Mexico 1 south to Bahia de Los Angeles then back tracking to Mexico 5 north to San Felipe and back to the USA through Mexicali then home.

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