Well, I'm bummed I missed Reg's event, sounds like everyone had a great time. But, at least I got out on my first ride since moving to Phoenix. The pics aren't that great, but the ride was sure nice! I took highway 88, Apache Junction to Tortilla Flats. The weather was perfect, but there was quite a bit of traffic, since it was Sunday and all the tourists were out. It's clear to me that Arizona is a Harley place - not nearly as many sportbikes as in California. Of course, Phoenix Bike Week was also wrapping up, so that probably accounted for a lot of the Harleys. We did come to the rescue of one Harley rider who went down in gravel. His beautiful yellow bike was banged up, but not as much as his ego. He has some pretty bad road rash on both of his elbows and his head (no helmet law in AZ, which is also creepy to me). Lots of blood, but nothing serious. We helped him lift his bike and he hightailed it out of there as quickly as possible out of embarassment. Could have been much worse. I also almost ran into a horse. Yep, you heard me right - not a car, or a deer, but a horse. Ran right out into the road in front of me and I had to slam on the brakes. I doubt either of us would have won that one! Thank goodness I'm out of practice and very slow. :thumbsup: Anyway, here are some pics, let me know where my next ride should be!
Wow. Pictures of the real Michael(as far as we know). You are kinda like Charlie on Charlie's Angles-no one is really sure if we have ever seen you. Glad you had a good ride. I'll clue you in on a little Valley of the Sun culture...EVERYONE leaves town on the weekends. They all go somewhere else. So getting out of town on Fridays and back into town on Sundays is a pain in the azz. Mid week rides are best. I have heard the mine road out west of Wickenburg (up Hwy 60 NW of Phoenix) is quite nice. Mr Den(from Ahwatukee) has been out there. Thanks for posting.
You did miss a great ride at Reg's. I'm in Ahwatukee as well. Drewl's thought of the Vulture Mine road is good. I'm thinking about it this Sat. There is the Safford to Eagar trip on hwy191. Supposed to be great. You need to start very early or stay in Safford.
Hey, M. Good to see you about. Next ride should be somewhere going west to meet us coming towards the east... How far can you handle in a day and we'll find something interesting...?
Hey Michael, welcome to Phoenix. As we are virtually surrounded by mountains, there are a ton of good rides to enjoy. I usually ride during the week since there's less traffic to deal with. Shoot me a PM if you'd like to get together for a ride. Also, there is a great forum of area riders here, with plenty of good rides to join and lots of good people; check out southwestrides.com. It's a place where all riders are welcome. Look forward to riding with you in the future.
WELL, you jumped into the deep end first. That is one challenging road! Lots of blind turns, no guardrails, sand and gravel expected at any point, mad bicyclists and 1000 foot drop-offs for the unlucky.....not to mention the fishing boats on trailers, Sheriffs, and Winnibagos. Least favorite part is the return trip, where sharply downhill decreasing radius turns suck you in way too deep and you think" i should have been dragging my rear brake 25 feet back, and now look where i am and going faster than i planned and that patch of road where i'm headed looks shiny and slick......, damn!!" FOR great next ride ; Beeline ( 87) to Payson....just watch out for the tar strips if weather is hot.
3 words in Arizona. Salt River Canyon. C.L.I.R. (the road to Torilla Flats) is a good place to get hit or ticketed. Too many times I've had other ricky racers going the other direction cross into my lane. (Been hit twice. Never gone down but one of the guys who hit me did. Hard.)
Stay off the Beeline Fridays and Sundays-it is a parking lot. They widened it to 2 lanes and it might be a little better, but still very busy. Payson is a nice destination though, very pretty.
Glad to see you got out to some of AZs best roads. However, you will find there are better rides than Tortilla Flats. Try Salt River Canyon and HWY 191. Also come'on down to the Old Pueblo and we'll take you to Arivaca and up to Mount Lemmon! As far as there being "more" cruiser riders here than sportbikes, you just haven't been to the right places! Log onto AZ Sportbikes.org and you will find where they meet and ride.
Shoot me a pm sometimes, i'm always up for a ride.. Salt River Canyon is a Can't miss ride. Also Vulture Mine road is nice going up to Yarnell and then the White Spars into Prescott for a late breakfast or an early lunch. Just let me know... Bill
I am coming to AZ to ride in May. On my way back east I am planing to go from Tucson to Globe to Show Low and then to Eagar. Is 60 or 260 the better route east from Show Low?
Hit me up. I can get out on the weekends once in a while. I have a day free Memorial day weekend. Probably going to AZ's Tail of the Dragon!
BTW the pic of my bike is on the edge of one of the corners at SRC. It's a looooong drop off behind there! :attention:
