Renegade Issue 34

36-37 / 100

36
Ohio Bike week was my first big show out of my home area and
first stop on the Zombie Apocalypse Tour. As it always seems
to go I had a very short time to pull it all together, I got the final
confirmation on the show only four weeks prior to the event
leaving me very little time to pull it all together. Not only did I
need to put together all the ads posters and flyers, make tons
of phone calls, email and social media blasts, I also had to buy
a new van!
My old van was having many issues and I just did not trust it to
be road worthy, so I had to buy a another one, and I wanted to
use as many of the parts as I could from the old van on the new
van, so I had to find another Dodge van around the same year
and model. I found one two weeks before the event and within
one week I cleaned out the new one I just bought, stripped the
doors off my old one and replaced them on the new van along
with the entire interior set up that I had built in the original van
and had it painted by the following weekend! I also slapped
together my 77 Ironhead project bike so I could take it with me,
37
This being my first trip to Arizona Bike Week, I didn’t know
exactly what to expect... But I have to say I was pleasantly
surprised! I’ve been going to so many motorcycle events lately
that are really more like vendor fests than true old-school bike
rallies. But that seems to be the way things are going nowa-
days. This trip it was a truly refreshing change of pace to at-
tend a rally that was more than just a bunch of vendors in a
parking lot. The icing on the cake is the location for this event,
set in the beautiful scenic Arizona desert!
The rally is basically broken up into two competing rallies. The
official Arizona Bike Week is in Scottsdale, AZ at the West-
world of Scottsdale. At Westworld, you’ll find the big concerts,
demo rides, bike builders and lots of vendors. For four days
and nights, you can shop till you drop while listening to your
favorite bike week bands tearing up the stage for your enter-
tainment.
Personally, I prefer the other rally going on in the area at the
same time called Cave Creek Bike Week; which starts a week
earlier and runs for 10 days. Cave Creek, Arizona is a small
town in the desert at the foot of the mountains just north of
Phoenix. Here the streets are filled with bikes cruising up and
down the strip all day long making stops at each bar. The most
famous bar in town is The Hideaway Grill, voted the best biker
bar in Arizona, is where all the fun starts and ends in Cave
Creek. The staff is friendly and easy on the eyes too! They
say there are no strangers here, just friends you haven’t met
yet. Across the street you’ve got Hogs & Horses, which is kind
of a unique place also because it has a corral with live bulls
in it out back of the bar. Just up the road a block or so is the
Roadhouse Bar & Grill another biker friendly place to gather,
brought to you by owner and ringmaster Mark Bradshaw, who
owns the Hideaway as well. The atmosphere and the food is