I recently spent 4 days at the Southern FJR Owners (SFO) annual gathering at Turk (aka FJRBandit) and Jana’s camp in Jemison, Alabama, just south of Birmingham. For those of you that aren’t aware of this event, let me tell you that southern hospitality is alive and very well. We were treated undeservingly good by our gracious hosts.
My ole friend Nate and I rode together to the event on Thursday, and shared a nice clean hotel room at the Clanton Inn on I-65. For the price and the convenience, I left the camping gear home this time.
We had terrific weather all weekend. Sunshine with morning temps in the upper 50s, giving way to about 80 in the afternoon. On Sunday, I rode through about 100 miles of drizzle, but stayed dry under my Frogg Toggs.
I’ve been to this event 4 or 5 times over the years. The riding in north Alabama is good enough, and there are things to see and do like everywhere else. But you don’t go to SFO for the riding, or the sights.
You go to spend quality time with friends.
I hope you enjoy the pics.
Day 1: Lafayette, LA to Jemison, AL, about 500 miles.
Nate and I agreed on a meeting place and time in the morning. I packed the horse last night and woke up with one unwavering goal: East bound and down. Since our meeting place was a bit northeast, I was able to avoid Baton Rouge all together, a nice treat on this workday morning.
It’s sugar cane cutting season now and the mill in Erwinville is cranked up early this morning.
Nate arrived at the meeting spot in Clinton, LA right on time, and after a short break, we hit the road.
I’ve ridden just about every road in southern and central Mississippi. Some are better than others, but it doesn’t really matter. The weather is nice and we are zig zagging around today.
Somewhere south of Forest, MS, I found this place that looked like lunch. The onion rings were not freshly made, but the chicken sandwich was good.
After lunch, I led us to more adventure through the rural south.
A lot of the small towns have renovated their old train depot as a park of some kind. This is Lake, Mississippi.
Fun Fact: If you ride with Pants, midafternoon, we will likely stop for ice cream.
It’s a nice day for a ride. For the most part, traffic is non-existent and the weather is perfect.
We crossed into Alabama later in the afternoon and I started following this guy. Never could quite catch him, though.
We got to the hotel about 5:30 and missed the shuttle to the camp. So we rode there and it was exciting to see many friends from all over the south (and beyond). Turk and Jana prepared a nice chili with fixings for us, and I had a nice time catching up with everyone. Can’t wait for tomorrow.
Day 2: Up to the mountains and back in Alabama, approximately 250 miles.
I slept good on the hotel mattress. As part of the room price, we can eat the breakfast buffet at the Shoney’s next door. Many of the attendee were gathered there and the breakfast was good. Scott (Blind Squirrel) was organizing a ride to the mountains and he invited me to join them.
Herding the cats before the ride.
Our fearless leader guiding us to the fun.
Now that’s a motley crew if I ever saw one!
The roads in northern Alabama are nice. Not overly twisty, but the hills are fun and many of the roads have been recently paved.
We wiggled our way to the highest point in Alabama.
The boardwalk there is a nice walk to the overlook.
Pretty good view from the Bald Rock Overlook.
From Cheha State Park, we rode Hwy 281 (Talladega Scenic Byway) north to lunch. There is still some splashes of color up here.
In Heflin, we had good BBQ at Marie’s. I’ve eaten there before.
After lunch, I took the lead and wicked it up a bit back down Hwy 281. I stopped at this overlook to let the adrenaline wane a bit.
We had a great day on the road.
We got back to the hotel about 4 pm, which gave me a couple of hours to shower and take a short nap before the evening festivities. Meanwhile, Turk and Jana and crew were busy preparing a wonderful low country shrimp boil. Uncharacteristically, I did not take any pictures of that, but rest assured, a good time was had by all.
Day 3: More Alabama wandering, approximately 200 miles.
I sipped on the shampoo a bit last night, but woke up rested and excited about the upcoming day. The breakfast and coffee at Shoney’s again was very good.
Today, Doug and I decided to ride to the Talladega Superspeedway. Mike and Craig joined us for the adventure. I picked a route different from yesterday just to check out something else.
The Clanton, Alabama water tower is painted like a giant peach.
The dam at Lake Mitchell seems to be in working order.
Wonder if the fish are biting?
Good roads this way too.
I can’t tell if Mike is having fun or not.
No doubt about these two jokers!
There’s still a little bit of cotton left in the fields to be picked.
We have arrived!
I’ve been to a few races here before, but today, we are going to tour the track and learn about the work done behind the scenes. We just missed the 10:30 am tour, so with 2 hours to kill, we walked around the museum.
The presentation was mostly focused on NASCAR, but there was a little bit of everything to check out.
Our tour guide was pretty cool and he took us on a lap around the track, pushing the tour bus as hard as he could!
We stopped to walk around and appreciate the high banks on this racetrack.
A good time was had by all.
Midafternoon, we got back on the bikes and I started free styling it in the back country. Since we basically skipped lunch, a snack was in order.
Another nice day for a ride with friends.
Craig and Doug split off to head to the hotel, and Mike and I took the longer way home. This is Maple Valley Road, and it was quite nice.
I stopped at this spot on Lake Mitchell to take a couple of photos with the afternoon light behind me.
My old FJR turned 88,000 miles on this trip – still runs like a scalded ape, though.
Again, we got back to the hotel with plenty of time to shower and rest a bit before heading over to Turk and Jana’s place.
This evening, Turk and Jana have made special arrangements for us.
A delicious meal of BBQ ribs and pork was prepared for us. Turk made time for us to remember Jason, a fellow rider who died earlier this year. Some attendees shared memories of Jason, and his long time girlfriend, Sonya, even made the time to attend this evening, a gesture that was very well received by everyone.
After dinner, we sat down and were entertained by the incredibly talented Allen Barlow.
Allen has played for the SFO group many years now, and his renditions of classic rock-n-roll songs are really good.
I passed the shampoo around and we got a wee bit loose in all of the excitement.
A wonderful time was had by all.
Day 4: Clanton, Alabama to Lafayette, LA, about 475 miles.
Last night, Doug, Nate, and I enjoyed the buzz at the hotel parking lot a wee bit late. Nate got up early and launched for home about 6 am. I closed my eyes but didn’t go back to sleep. About 7 am, Doug and I hit the breakfast buffet and discussed the day. Doug lives in California, and having been gone over a week, is starting to smell the barn. He will take the ride over the next few days in big chunks, and I gave him a suggestion or two about getting out of here. We will ride together a few miles to start.
I loaded up the horse and donned the Frogg Toggs, as it was drizzling just enough to wet everything. Outside of Maplesville, AL, I waved Doug to the east and wished him well. I enjoyed spending time with my Californian friend.
Knowing better skies were ahead, I pressed on for about 125 miles in the drizzle before stopping where I thought the worst was behind me. It worked out nice and turned out to be a nice riding day.
I do enjoy the company of other riders, but I always like to have a little time to myself on a motorcycle trip. It gives me an opportunity to think and reflect, which I crave like an addict craves his crutch. You see – I live quite a sheltered life. I have it all – wonderful wife, terrific kids, nice comfortable home, means to travel, toys to play with. I really do have it all.
And I also have friends. Many friends from all over the country (world) and from all walks of life. They’ve taught me to realize that nothing is worth having if you can’t share and enjoy it with others. Would I ride alone without friends? Highly doubt it. Would I travel on epic adventures to far away lands and explore insatiably? Not a snowball’s chance in hades. My desire to see my buddies is as strong as my desire to ride. I know their families. In many cases, I’ve been to their homes and they have been to mine. They have allowed me into their lives, and I’m very grateful for it.
I stopped in Forest, MS for lunch (Subway sandwich) and then continued through the Bienville National Forest. Somebody has made hay while the sun was shining.
I popped out onto US Hwy 84, a desolate 4-lane divided highway. This is how I like to ride that.
Now midafternoon, the urge is too great to resist.
After ice cream, I start smelling the barn, so I beat feet toward the house, arriving safely about 6 pm.
It was a good trip, as they usually are. My FJR never missed a beat. I sure have enjoyed riding that motorcycle over the years.
And I’ve enjoyed meeting and being with great friends too.
Stay thirsty, my friends…
