Arizona Gangsta Ride, April 12-15, 2-Day and 4-Day Option Inside!

[count]

Ladies and Gentlemen, it's the first ever NMMR Arizona Gangsta Ride! This ride can be done as a 2-Day ride (Saturday and Sunday) or the full-blown bun-burnin' 4 day run. The map link is at the bottom of this post, but here is the run-down:

Highlights: Black Range into Silver City. Hwy 191, some of the most fun you can have with your clothes on. Mountain goodness around Payson. The sceninc back road from Sedona to Flagstaff. The Grand Canyon. Reservation desolation. And of course, the COMPANY!

Saturday the 12th: Leave ABQ at around 10:00am. Burn up the interstate and have lunch in Truth or Consequences. Then head west on 152 through the Black Range (fun road) to Silver City and stop for the night. Silver City was chosen becuase it offers plenty of restaraunts, motels and camping. If everyone decides they want to camp we can go a bit farther.

Sunday: Take 180 northwest to hwy 78 and cross into Arizona to Clifton. This puts us right at the beginning of the fun stuff on the amazing HWY 191!!! Twist and turn to our hearts content until we reach Eagar, AZ. This is where the 2-Day and 4-Day rides separate. Those who need to get back to ABQ can take hwy 60 over to Socorro then back to ABQ. The rest of us will head west on 260 over to Show Low. If we're still feeling fresh we can take the long way south through Salt River Canyon into Globe, then up to Payson (this option is not shown on the map.) If we're getting tired we can leave Show Low on hwy 260 for a more direct route to Payson. Each rider can choose to camp or hotel it here as well.

Monday: Take hwy 260 out of Payson to Camp Verde, hwy 279 to Cottonwood, then hwy 89 to SEDONA. We then continue to take the beautiful back way to Flagstaff. From Flagstaff we'll take hwy 180 to the GRAND CANYON! I have made no plans for Monday night, I want to leave it up to those who are riding. I'm all for camping in or near the park, but let's talk about it.

Tuesday: Time to ride back to ABQ. We'll take hwy 64 to hwy 89 to hwy 264 and work our way back to Gallup. From there, more evil interstate back to home base.

So...Who's in??????? ;D

I'm not sure how accurate Googles mileage calculator is, but it shows 1213 miles for the entire trip.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&hl=e...,11.887207&z=7

[bonfy]

Gangsta's to your posts! That route sounds really cool. I had asked for April 25th and 26th off thinking that was the trip dates. I'll have to see if I can get the 12th off instead. If so, I would be up for the 4-day version. Hope there are some candy stores for me and alpaca farms for Lance along the route.

[count]

Hey Bonfy, there will still be a Utah run at the end of April...this is a new trip that just came up! Come ride both with us! ;D

[DucMouse]

oo ya u know im in!!! [thumbsup]

i lucked out ;D

[count]

Schweet!

Count Desmo
DucMouse

Who else?

[bonfy]

Originally Posted by Count Desmo

Schweet!

Count Desmo
DucMouse

Who else?

+1 [thumbsup] I'm game for both. I'll find out Wed. if I can get the 12th off. I'll keep the 25th and 26th dates on the calendar.

[count]

It looks like the Utah ride will be April 25th, 26th, 27th, 28th, and 29th. That's a Friday through Tuesday. There is a whole lot of ground to cover and things to see up that way, so it will take time. I'll try to have an itinerary up tomorrow.

[s4_randy]

sounds like a good run!

for whatever reason, i never hit Salt River Canyon when i lived in phoenix...yes, i am an idiot. the roads out of & around silver city are plenty fun too, and i only hit them in a car as well :-\

anyhow, be careful around payson as the beeline highway is closed coming out of phoenix:::::::::> http://www.azcentral.com/12news/news...212008-CR.html

that might cause additional traffic on some of the roads you're planning on hitting.

[count]

Thanks for the tip, Randy. Extra traffic won't be fun, but we probably won't ride much of that until Monday. Maybe we'll get lucky.

[count]

OK, everybody, It looks like there are tent sites available at Mather Campground in Grand Canyon National Park! Woot! If everyone is interested in camping I can make reservations. I would like to get an idea of how many people are going so I can reserve adjoining sites. It appears we would be close to the Market Plaza which has a grocery store and a couple of restaurants.

I know there isn't a whole lotta notice on this, but I'd like to get the reservations in.