Williams News Logo
Grand Canyon News Logo

Trusted local news leader for Williams AZ and the Grand Canyon

Desert Road Riders Escape to Williams for their annual rally
Bikes will zoom into town for Great Escape Road Rally

Members of the Desert Road Riders will tear into Williams this weekend to take part in the Fourteenth Annual Great Escape Rally. Williams is hosting this year's rally in conjunction with officials from the Desert Riders Association. The festivities will begin Friday and continue through Sunday at the Bob Dean Rodeo Grounds.

Desert Rider Secretary Treasurer Sid Hawkins said the event is designed to raise funds for the riders' annual toy drive.

"We have a very large toy run that goes on," Hawkins said. "Basically we're a non- profit organization and we help the community any way that we can. This run is pretty much the big funder for the toy run we do at the end of the year."

A rally for the children

The riders raise roughly $6,000 worth of toys each year, according to Hawkins. The group distributes the toys between Oatman, Bullhead City, the Fort Mohave tribe, Chloride and Kingman. Hawkins said the drive is typically held in the second week of December. One hundred percent of the receipts from this year's rally will benefit the annual toy drive, Hawkins said.

Activities for the this year's event include the Miss Great Escape Contest, bar stool races, a bike show, bike games, vendors, food and drink, live music and entertainment, plus other festivities, according Hawkins, who said the bar stool races was an event favorite.

"We made up some bar stools on four wheels and, inside the pavilion down there at the fair grounds, they'll race from one end to the other. It's a timed event," he said.

"The bike games, one of them is the biker bowling. It's a two-person event. The passenger has a bowling pin. At one point they release the bowling ball and see how many pins they can knock down. There's also the ball drop. You ride your bikes and try to gauge when the ball will come out the other end. Of course we have the traditional weenie bite (too)."

Hawkins said the Desert Road Riders, while celebrating their fourteenth Great Escape Rally, have been coming to the Williams area for the last six years to partake in "the nice cool weather." The Miss Great Escape contest, scheduled for 10 p.m. Saturday at the rodeo grounds pavilion, is a 21 and over event, Hawkins said. The rest of the rally, he added, would be a family friendly event.

The Desert Road Riders were founded in 1993. The group, based out of Bullhead City, became a non-profit club in 2000 to promote safety, education and freedom for bikers and their families.

For more information on the Desert Road Riders, visit their Web site at www.desertroadriders.com.


Donate Report a Typo Contact