Riders to hold first event Sunday

Shhh. Maricopa Motorcycle Riders are organizing. A least a bit.

Members of the group pride themselves in not being a club. They have no interest in bylaws. Officers certainly aren’t needed. Rules are forbidden — except for safety. And the clubhouse is the local QuikTrip where they meet up to go on a ride.

Riders communicate through Facebook, and the most organizing they do is where to have the next pool party or barbecue. Until now.

The group, which has grown from about 40 at the beginning of the year to nearly 150, it hosting it’s a first rally noon to 5 p.m. Sunday for Stagecoach Days at Pacana Park.

“We hope and look at (the rally) as Maricopa can be a destination ride,” said founder Vincent Manfredi. He hopes to be back from his honeymoon by then. Manfredi also hopes the rally will attract at least 100 other riders from through the Valley.

It will feature a People’s Choice bike event in which people can vote on the best motorcycle in three categories: custom motorcycle, cruiser and sport bike. Members have collected gift cards for jewelry and hotel stays.

“If any business in town wants to give us anything, we’ll take it,” Manfredi said.

Manfredi said he can scarcely believe how big the group has grown.

“One of the coolest things is that it’s not just the riders, it’s the whole family,” he said.

Paul Lenhard, who moved to Maricopa about a year and a half ago, said, “It’s turned into a social thing. These are my friends. . . . There are no snobs.”

Dee Kegley, who has lived in Hidden Valley since 2003, said she found the group on Facebook last Christmas. “I was used to riding by myself but wanted to give this a try,” she said.