06/01/2026
Well, it’s here. June 1. The heat is here and with it, time to stash the motorcycle for a few months, get the lights charged up for the mountain bike and become as nocturnal as possible! On the plus side, with the snowbirds gone, the students gone and lots of people cycling in and out of town on their own vacations, road traffic is light!
When I was a kid, I would rent Bruce Brown’s “On Any Sunday” on VHS as often as I could, then go and ride my dirt bike in the desert pretending to be Steve McQueen. A few years later I saw “The Endless Summer” on television and got sucked in by the round the world adventures of Mike Hynson and Robert August, so to this day when the motorcycle goes into hiding, I start thinking about surfing.
I’ve got some San Diego trips on my mind to get in the ocean and to do some R and D on what the breweries on the West Coast are up to.
I also got to surf last month at Revel Surf Park up in Mesa (photo above), it isn’t the ocean, but if you need a fix, the waves are pretty good! I’m working on them to start carrying Victory or Death IPA at their beach bar.
If anyone else has had their life completely derailed by Bruce Brown films, let me know and we can start a support group down at Moto.
I know gas prices are high, but if you have any road trips planned this summer, shoot us a message, would love to hear about it!
I know one of our mug club members is on a four week motorcycle trip to Virginia via Jackson Hole right now and has been sending updates. My current dream is to hand deliver our GABF beers to the Brewers Association in Denver in late August, hopefully I can pull it together for a late summer southwest road trip up into Colorado and Utah.
If you don’t have any plans to leave, Tucson is a great place to explore, even in the summer. Some of the high end resorts have summer pricing, so you can get over to one of the places that might be normally out of reach and spend a weekend at the pool on a staycation.
Obviously take your vintage ride or motorcycle if you can and order a MotoSonora Beer when you get there!
In beer news, we have released a collaboration beer with our friends at Harvest Hosts, called Brew With A View Blonde Ale, it is a beer that is being brewed all over the country at the start of road trip season. If you’ve ever been to Moto and seen the camper vans in the back, those are members of Harvest Hosts where by becoming a member, you can stay with wineries, breweries and farms all over the country.
It is a cool program that we are proud to be a part of and back when I had my camper van, I was a member myself. In other news, GoKart Mozart Malt Liquor is back on the schedule so keep your eyes out for it, although as a lager it may push into July.
We are also working on DMC-12 Irish Red, a classic beer style named for the gullwinged car built in Northern Ireland by John DeLorean which should be out mid month. Beyond that we are working on a slew of beers to send to the Great American Beer festival and starting to schedule our Oktoberfest beers so they can lager a nice, long time!
Thanks for all who rode on the Distinguished Gentlemen’s Ride last month, that is always a fun event and even more so since the ride finished at MotoSonora this year! I had a great time and was very happy to finally shave that muskrat that was growing on my face!
In car news, the BMW 325ix is getting a few more things done this month as it inches closer and closer to my dream of being a daily driver. Work on the Berkeley is going to start proceeding again once Vintage Metal Services finishes their move across the street.
For June, keep cool, get in the pool, stay hydrated and don’t forget about the cold beers, misters and cold AC at Moto! And start praying to the rain gods for a good monsoon.
Since it is too hot for outside things right now, how about a little fiction?
Cheers! JD
Click here for an update from MotoSonora Brewing Company!
