Fire & Ice:
Threatening weather doesn't dampen rally's spirits


TOP: Flag girl Tiarra Jarrell gives the signal as Max Mascarenas and Darin Cooper take off from the starting line during the first gear drag race during Saturday's Bike Rodeo at the Fire and Ice Festival in Grants. Thousands showed up for the annual event. ABOVE: Rows of bikes line Santa Fe Avenue on Saturday at the Fire and ICe Festival in Grants. [photo by Brian Leddy / Independent]

By Helen Davis
Cibola County Bureau

GRANTS — By all accounts, the 8th annual Fire and Ice Bike Rally was a wicked good time.

A little bit of cloud cover, some high winds and — yes — thunder, lightning and rain gave MainStreet Project promoters a few nervous moments Saturday night, looking a bit too much like the massive cell that wiped out the big act last year, Donald Jaramillo, project president, said.

Saturday’s big storm cell went right around the rally site, Jaramillo said, leaving a mess of water and mud in other parts of town, but barely visiting the rally.

“It might have been to our advantage,” he added. Jaramillo said at an educated guess, based on sales and complimentary wristbands, they had 2,500 people “under the tent” when headline band Foghat performed about the time the five-minute storm started. He explained that when some of the vendors began closing up shop a bit early because of the rain, people headed for shelter — and entertainment.

Cynthia Little of Days Inn Motel said the small amount of rain probably helped the rally because it cooled off the overheated site. Little and her husband left the fully-booked motel and went down to the rally for a while.

“We had a great time,” she said. This is her first year back after leaving Grants for over 20 years.

“The attendance was great,” Aaron Dean, local businessman, American Legion Rider and rally veteran said. One of the coordinators for the Motorcycle Rodeo, Dean said that even attracted between 350 and 400 contestants. “We had a blast,” he added.

Dean said the poker run to Dancing Eagle Casino in Casa Blanca had 120 hands and local people held all winning hands.

A local man also won the big MainStreet prize, said George Gonzalez, long-time rally man and MainStreet participant. Robert Marcus of Grants held the winning number for a stock 2008 Harley-Davidson Super Glide, a $17,000 value, at wholesale price, Gonzales said. Marcus could not be reached for comment.

Jaramillo, along with several others, said the attendance was great. It was about the same as last year, or maybe up a little, but it was definitely up from 2006, he said.

The apparent good turnout lasted through the Que Loco cage match late Sunday, a surprise hit. Jaramillo said that even at 3 p.m. the last day of the event and for 20 bucks a head, an estimated 1,500 people attended the fights. “Sunday was bigger than Friday,” he said.

Other rally watchers and local business had mixed responses to the rally.

The extensive police presence brings complaints every year, but Dean said it appeared to be even more extensive this year.

“I felt there were more police than there needed to be. I don’t feel we need that many,” he said. Dean explained that he heard people say seriously that they will not come back because of the cops. He said he attends other rallies and has not seen police used that way elsewhere.

Bob Rice, a manager of the Crossroads Motel in Milan, said he and his wife Pat, estimated the attendance was down as much as 25 percent. The Rices base their estimate on the number of motorcycles that turn around near their business to go back to Grants and the significantly smaller number of inquiry calls per day this year.

Domino’s Pizza spokesperson Judy Alton said the eatery did fine this year, but business was down from last year’s rally.

“There was more bad weather last year,” she said. Alton added that on the whole her business has been down all year, however.

Chili Kicks on Route 66 had a great rally.

“We were very, very busy and really enjoyed ourselves,” Millie Chavez, the restaurants owner, said. “We worked our buns off,” she added.

Phillip Lucero, owner of House of Pain Tattoos, said he did less business than in a normal weekend this year. The tattoo parlor brought in about $800 total over the three days of the rally, contrasting to $4,500 over two rally days in the past and $300 to $500 on an average weekend.
Lucero believes that attendance was down this year.

“Everyone got scared of the rain,” he said, referring to the monsoon that closed the rally early last year.

David Loeffler of Loeffler’s Guns, Etc. said that on Saturday he saw three people in the store, “not counting the mail lady.” He said his business was down about one-third from normal on Friday and was about one-tenth of normal on Saturday. The shopkeeper said the antique store next door “did zilch” on Friday.

Most merchants, promoters and attendees agree, however, it was a pretty darn good motorcycle rally, even if not everything was perfect for everybody.