I’m not one to repeat most motor trips, and I’m certainly not one to review my old articles. However, there is an odd symmetry to this Spring Trifecta piece. Two years ago, almost until now, I wrote a web article for Rider titled, Spring workouts: A good reason to dust off your bike. I wrote this piece after combining some great motorcycling in southern Arizona, Cactus League spring training, and appropriately named Innings Festival concerts. It was a great time, but the rapid onset of Covid-19 immediately cut short spring training and made gatherings like music festivals a thing of the past.
This spring, with Covid loosening its grip on society, I will be returning to spring training to watch the boys of the summer hone their skills and attend the Play Festival to more good music. I followed the new motorcycle routes in southern Arizona. This time, it’s not a confounding new virus; It was an argument between those summer boys and their boss who silenced the baseball diamonds. With one leg of my joy trio severed, I canceled my spring riding and concert plans.
A few weeks later, baseball owners and the players union agreed to an 11-hour deal, and spring training was given the green light for a late start. My routes are ready and the bats are up and running again. All I was missing was a musical ingredient to complete my trip back to southern Arizona and some sense of normalcy. An Internet search reveals that Roger Clyne, the rock balladeer of the Southwest, will be performing in the intimate and gorgeous outdoors. Mesa Amphitheater, but just a rock (or hard ball) thrown out of the Chicago Cubs’ Arizona training facility. Perfect!
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Turns out, it was perfect. My trip south of Phoenix was amazing. Towering cacti stood guard as I passed the Sonoran Desert National Monument. Blue skies and rugged mountains were the backdrop on my roundabout trip even further south through the Southwest Desert. Things like labor disputes, the global virus, and two years of missing many of my favorite things are blurred in my rearview mirror.
The night after my stay at the arid version of God’s country, I settled into my weary saddle at the Mesa Amphitheater. Interspersed among the enthusiastic spectators were Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers concert shirts and various repeating baseball shirt styles. Obviously I’m not the only one enjoying a vibrant tune of spring activities. Under Mesa, Arizona, the stars, Clyne played an audio mash-up of his original songs, threw back footage of his exclusive tequila, and generally got his fans going. crazy for the community. I make a strong recommendation. Experience a Roger Clyne performance because it’s easy to become a fan.
Over the next few days, I embarked on another much-needed and spirited desert trip through Arizona’s burgeoning wine country. The tall grasslands of southeastern Arizona are fertile ground for both viticulture and recreational equestrianism. I passed isolated vineyards and quaint small towns in the vast desert. My big BMW R 1200 GS seems to happily escape winter stagnation, variations and quarantines like me.
I watched the rides with some time in the sunlit stands as I watched the comfortable tempo of early Cactus League practice at the Cubs spring training facility. Hear the bats and jokes of the players returning to their diamond sanctuary just as the doctor ordered.
So there you have it – a man back to some sort of normalcy. Baseball is back, concerts are back, and horseback riding has always been there. There was a smile on my face. Trifecta complete.
