As I mentioned in my previous post, I’ve decided to write a bit about riding in Southern Arizona (SoAZ). SoAZ has (in my opinion) some of the best 2-wheeled riding areas in these United States.  I am writing this as a general piece about riding 2-wheeled vehicle here. You must decide for yourself if each individual ride is appropriate for your particular scooter or motorcycle. At times, I will specifically mention if an area is “50cc friendly” or if you must ride at highway speeds, etc.

So what or where is “Southern Arizona?” According to Wikipedia, SoAZ is generally considered to be the part of the state “south of the Gila River.” I am going to create my own definition. For the purposes of these posts, SoAZ consists of  Pima, Cochise and Santa Cruz Counties. Not coincidentally, this is the part of the state where you will find the “Sky Islands” The namesake of our club.

To make it easier to write about clear geographical areas, I will further subdivide SoAZ into four areas. The first area is the Tucson metro area. The next area is everything west of a not-so-straight lined formed by Interstates 10 and 19. (See the second map.) Area number three is that part east of the I-10/19 line and north of  that section of I-10 east of Tucson. (You have to look at the map. I-10 runs east/west when it’s east or Tucson, then turns kind of northeast when it’s west of Tucson.) The final area I will write about will in the southeastern corner of the state, south of Interstate 10.

There will be some who will wonder “Why doesn’t he include Phoenix?” There are a few reasons.

• One – I’m the one writing this.
• Two – Arizona has three major cities: Tucson in the south, Phoenix in the central part and Flagstaff in the north.
• Three – Look at the map above. Using two (imaginary) horizontal lines, divide the state into thirds. Phoenix, at least the way I see it, is at the extreme southern edge of the central zone.
• Four –  The southern zone is characterized by low desert dotted by numerous, very small mountain ranges. Some of these are quite high in elevation.
  

  Harsh desert punctuated by mountains

  As you leave Pima county, going north, the landscape begins to change. The tiny mountain ranges spread out and as you go north of Phoenix you be climbing onto some high plateaus. There is more water.

  

  The Salt River runs through Phoenix.

  Further north, AZ looks a lot like Colorado. See there, three general geographic “zones” of Arizona.

  

  Pine trees and snow-capped peaks

  There are, indeed, many great riding areas in the other two regions of Arizona. They are, however, someone else’s responsibility. I live in SoAZ and I grew up here. I have visited the other areas, but have limited experience, virtually none on two wheels. as “they” always say, “write what you know. I know SoAZ.

  I am really looking forward to writing this. It looks like this will be a five part series, with this introduction being Part I. One of my early goals for this site was to have part of it be a reference for people coming here who want to ride. I guess the Live traffic Feed was my inspiration.

  Howard

  

  Club ride to the desert San Xavier del Bac mission

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