Rio Rico Ride To The Old West
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| WOW! The Old West
Rio Rico Ride has set a new participation record for Black
Mountain Motorcycle Club, Inc. Ride Host, Robert
Martinez’s ride attracted one-hundred and sixteen BMMC
Members, setting an all time record for the club. On Friday morning, March 14th, excited BMMC members gathered at the starting point in Fountain Hills in anticipation of a fantastic weekend. Robert had the members pre-assigned to one of the five riding groups. The members lined up behind their respective leaders and following the pre-ride briefing, the groups departed in ten minute intervals for the first leg of the ride. It was a beautiful Arizona morning, and spirits were high as the groups traveled to the first stop in Florence. The pre-assigned groupings and departure intervals worked perfectly as the five groups moved in and out of the gas stops with precision. Following another short gas stop in Tucson the groups rode through the beautiful Saguaro National Park, arriving at the lunch stop at Old Tucson Studios. Robert had arranged for reserved parking and a dedicated entrance and special pricing for the group. The hungry members enjoyed a delicious BBQ lunch at Old Jakes. After lunch everyone toured through the town and enjoyed the history of the old western movies that were filmed there. It was then time to mount up and head out for the final leg of the ride to our weekend destination at The Esplendor Resort in Rio Rico. Everyone checked into their rooms, unloaded their bikes, freshened up and gathered on the terrace for that evening’s reception cocktail party. Upon arriving at the cocktail party, members checked in with Robert and received their BMMC complimentary drink tickets for Friday night and Saturday night’s festivities. It was then time to get a drink and enjoy the delicious assortment of hot appetizers that were served throughout the evening. It was a lively, festive group with members talking about their ride, their plans for their Saturday rides, and making new friends. It was a beautiful evening on the terrace and all were definitely in the “party mode.” So much so, that a number of the members used up their Friday and Saturday drink tickets. Dinner was on your own, however, with the hardy BBQ lunch and the abundant appetizers, some members continued to party on. Moving from the cocktail party and the resort restaurant, joyous members took over the resort bar and resumed the party spirit. It was Karaoke night in the bar and members signed up to entertain the group, and “entertain, they did.” There were definitely various levels of talent displayed with some members participating with false courage, generated by the expenditure of all of their drink tickets. The number one entertainer was definitely Sharon Guenther who entertained everyone with her beautiful voice. In 2nd place was The Mike and Mike Duo. Mike Stramaglio and Michael Viola teamed up to belt out one of Sinatra’s greatest songs. The BMMC girls all got together for a couple of songs and Barry Howard and Steve Lynch also gave it a shot. The highlight of the evening was a singing tribute to Alan Sollinger, given by BMMC Member, Patti Belzunce, (Alan’s chemo nurse), with the entire club standing, holding hands and joining in singing the song “You Got a Friend!” YOU COULD FEEL THE LOVE! All good things have to come to an end, and soon the members started heading for their rooms with memories of a wonderful BMMC evening. Saturday morning found the members up early, bright eyed and bushy tailed, ready for a day of riding, golfing, shopping, sight seeing, and just plain old relaxing. The members gathered in small groups for rides to Bisbee, Tombstone, Kartchner Caverns, Kitts Peak, Patagonia and others. Some members took cars and went into Mexico for shopping with others enjoying the shopping at nearby Tubac. That evening everyone regrouped and took a short walk to the Mesquite Gulch for the outdoor BMMC cocktail party and BBQ dinner. Before dinner, Ride Host, Robert Martinez announced the winners of the day’s golfing event and called out the winning numbers for the 50/50 raffle. In addition to the cash winnings, Robert had secured additional items for the raffle. Dinner was then served and the members enjoyed the delicious BBQ, and the evening’s music entertainment. Following dinner everyone gathered around the bonfire and discussed their day rides and the anticipated return ride back to Phoenix. The members awoke to a very cold, but dry morning, and gathered up in small groups for the return ride home. All of the participating members had a wonderful time and would like to sincerely thank host, Robert Martinez for planning, arranging and hosting this wonderful ride. Robert had arranged something for everyone and even provided golf club transportation for the golfing members. In addition to being a participation record breaker it was also a fun record breaker. It was a delightful party and adventure. From all of us, “Thank You Robert.” We would also like to thank all of the club Ride Captains who led and swept the groups, and got us all there safely. A special thanks to our webmaster, Ray Williams for getting Robert’s many ride announcements out to you, and for taking the pictures for the Ride Review Slideshow. We would also like to thank Paula Weil for driving the golf club transportation truck. Also, thanks to all of the members who supported this great ride. This was definitely one of the best!!!!! |