As you may have seen on my socials, I moved to Flagstaff, AZ, with the rental motorcycle fleet! This northern Arizona location is at 6500 feet of elevation in the mountains, so it is pleasant in the summer, not roasting like Phoenix is. I lived in a suburb of Phoenix for 15 years so am familiar with many of the trails and twisty roads here, but there is so much still to explore! Flagstaff is where you go from Phoenix in the summer to get out of the heat, and where you go in the winter to see snow and ski.
I am now 5 minutes from the AZBDR and about an hour from the stunning Grand Canyon and famous red rocks of Sedona. This location also puts me much closer to the rest of the Southwest, only a few hours from Zion and Bryce National Parks, Moab, southwestern Colorado, the start of the UTBDR and COBDR, and more! San Diego was so tucked away in its corner that it took forever to ride anywhere else across a burning hot desert.
It has been a whirlwind year. It took me 3 separate trips to move all the motorcycles here, as I don’t own a trailer big enough to haul all of them. Even if I did, it would be too heavy for my 4runner to tow- and I didn’t have anywhere to keep a trailer in California in any case! My 1 car garage was full of motorcycles already in San Diego!
Well, my Arizona location is on 2.5 acres. That gives me the room to park my new toy hauler and offer parking for any AZBDR riders who want to stage a truck or trailer here! My property even came with a fully outfitted guest casita in a separate building that the owners before me had rented out! I now offer it to riders and renters on Airbnb, as well as a tire changer and tools if riders need to do mid-ride repairs: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/1519629479792032978?guests=1&adults=1&s=67&unique_share_id=b9071505-aceb-4cb7-9589-2b46fe268131
And of course, I have a big garage for the motorcycles so I can do maintenance inside, instead of burning in the sun and having to squeeze between bikes to get my tools or camping supplies like I had to in San Diego.
Winter is coming now, but I got a lot of rides and motorcycle rentals in this spring-fall in Flagstaff. This will be my first winter since 2015, as the Navy then sent me to San Diego, Hawaii, and Mississippi, but I’m 45 minutes away from warmer weather at a lower elevation in Sedona, where there are also tons of trails and hikes. You bet I will be trailering the bikes 45 minutes south to get of the snow sometimes, and now I can keep Churro in the toy hauler while I ride! Before the toy hauler, I tent camped, but I couldn’t leave her in the tent of course.
I am so excited for winter rides in Death Valley and near the Colorado River/my old stomping grounds of the California deserts, spring rides in Moab and Zion, and summer rides around my house and in Colorado! This is such a prime location to start your riding adventure, within striking distance of most of the Southwest!