See for Yourself II - SFO 2017

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FJRBandit

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Location
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I suppose this counts as a ride report, even though I didn't have to ride anywhere. As many of you know, Mrs. Bandit and I hosted SFO 2017 for the second consecutive year at our getaway place in the countryside near Jemison, Alabama. For those that aren't aware, I'll give you a brief background here.

In the summer of 2016 someone asked if we were going to do anything for SFO that year since there hadn't been anything posted to that point. Several people mentioned that they would like to have a camping type rally. Since we own 21 beautiful, secluded and wooded acres in the heart of Central Alabama I offered up my place and so it began. I basically told everyone that I would handle everything, pay for it all and then we'd just split up the costs. This would be a rally where there are no sponsors and no swag, just a group of like-minded sport-touring motorcyclist getting together for three days and having fun.

While this started out as a camping rally, not everyone wants to camp so I set up a group rate at the nearest motel for those that preferred staying at a hotel. The Inn of Clanton was only 11 miles away from my property and they offered a fantastic rate with clean rooms and a full breakfast at the Shoney's Restaraunt next door included in the price.

Although there is some decent riding in Alabama it's really not known for mountain twisties and incredible sport touring riding. However, with its beautiful countryside and plenty of natural sites such as waterfalls, rivers, lakes, rolling mountains, beaches etc... and other attractions such as the world-class Barber Museum, Alabama can be a fun destination, especially if we have a big party! So we decided to hold SFO in Alabama as a get together of past friends and hopefully an opportunity to meet some new ones, eat some good food, be entertained and just in general, have a good time. So off we went.

The first event was held at the end of Oct. 2016. We had 20 bikes and roughly 30 people attend. From all indications, it was a resounding success and there was a high demand that we do a repeat again this year. I got the notice posted in February of 2017 and there was instant interest. Basically, we just did a repeat of SFO 2016 with a shrimp and corn boil on Friday night with live entertainment afterward and then a mega feast on BBQ ribs and pulled pork on Saturday night. This year we had 30 bikes show up and we fed around 45 people. From the feedback we have received I think most everyone had a great time. So here's a little recap seen through my camera, with a slight bit of commentary.

It all started a few days prior to the first arrivals with a trip to Costco to gather some basic provisions.

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Cav47 said he could make it on the rubber he had on his rear tire, but was sure he wouldn't make it home. So he drop shipped a tire at my place. It was waiting on him when he arrived Friday evening.

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My FJR's were ready to roll, even though they didn't have very far to go. (By the way, I own a 1/3 interest in the '09 AE on the right. I share it with FJRBritbob and a local friend) The bike on the left is my primary FJR, an '08 A model.

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A few of the guys arrived a couple of days early to help make sure everything was in perfect order and ready to go for the masses. A big thank you to my friends Randall (LA2wheeler), Bobby (Cornbread) and Gary (GPRider) for all of your help in the setup!!!

This year we had the distinct pleasure of hosting the lovely Tyler. She had made her way from California five weeks prior for EOM and then had an epic tour of the Southeast U.S. and bookended her awesome adventure at SFO 2017. We were honored to have her with us this year!!!!

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Tyler made it in on Wednesday evening and due to the help the three aforementioned buddies had provided, we had a free day to ride on Thursday. Tyler mentioned that she would love to see the fictional town of Spectre, which served as the set for the movie "Big Fish". It's located only about 40 miles south of rally HQ, so I arranged a day ride for us that would swoop through the cotton fields of Central Alabama that were in full bloom and then over to Spectre, located on Jackson Island, adjacent to the Alabama River near Montgomery.

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If you have seen the movie Big Fish, these shots might seem familiar.

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And our star.......

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From there, we headed to the nearby historic old mill town of Prattville.

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We had a wonderful cajun lunch at Uncle Mick's in downtown Prattville.

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I had the jambalaya, field peas, red beans and rice, cornbread and buttermilk pie. The entire plate was awesome!

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From there, we headed to the nearby bamboo forest. This place was a trip! 100 foot tall bamboo trees spread over 20 acres. There's a story behind how it got there, but I don't remember the details. I've lived in this state all of my life and never really explored the town and the area around Prattville. I'll be back - seems there's a lot to see in addition to the old mill and the bamboo forest.... https://www.al.com/living/index.ssf/2017/04/scenes_from_prattville_home_of.html

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From there we made our way over to the historic town of Selma. We were running a little short on time so I didn't get to take everyone to the old cemetery there, which I have previously included in a ride report here on the FJRforum. It's a really neat old cemetery with sprawling 200+ year old oak trees with Spanish moss cascading from them. Maybe next time, heh? But we did make it to downtown Selma and crossed the historic Edmund Pettus Bridge, infamous from its roll in the civil rights marches in 1963.

Time was running short so we blazed it back to Jemison to begin greeting the Thursday arrivals.

Mrs. Bandit had prepared a country gumbo with Chicken and Apple sausage over rice for us Thursday night. I think everyone got their fill and no one went to bed hungry (or thirsty).

We had maybe five or six campers arrive Thursday night and several people at the motel. So we suited up and rolled down to Shoney's to meet the hoteliers Friday morning. It was crisp and cool so I opted for the adventure jacket!

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Top_Speed (KJ) had taken some routes I had prepared in Google Maps and he converted them to Garmin gpx format for everyone. a big thanks to KJ for taking the time to prepare those awesome maps in that POS of a routing system they call BaseCRAP!

I don't know exactly how many bikes we had that morning but it was in excess of 20. Once bellies were full several groups formed up and off we went. Some followed the routes that had been provided and some just made up their own routes. We all struck out around 9 am with instructions to be back and ready for the Tipsey Taxi at 6 pm. The Tipsey Taxi is our own little taxi service we provide to the people staying at the hotel so that they don't have to worry about getting to and fro Rally HQ on their bikes. A big shout out to Kaismo and gixxerjasen for assisting this year with designated driver duties!!!!

I led a group of five and KJ followed the same route a few minutes behind with four bikes in tow. Our first stop was along the banks of the beautiful Lake Martin near the little village of Kowaliga, known by the song of the same name, sung by the late, great Hank Williams, Sr.

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We had a nice ride up AL 50 (great road) until we ran up behind a poking Po Po. He kinda ruined the spirited ride we were enjoying. From there we then headed north through Dadeville on AL 49. We made a quick stop at the Horseshoe Bend National Military Park. There was a large group of kids there on a field trip, so we didn't get to tour the visitor's center and learn the history of Andrew Jackson's final defeat of the indigenous Native American's, and the ultimate push to the Trail of Tears. But we did take the quick loop around the grounds and got a feel of the sanctity of the site.

From there we followed AL 49 to the little town of Lineville, where we gassed up and then filled our bellies at the Young House BBQ restaurant. It was some fine BBQ, so fine, in fact, I was too busy eating and forgot to take a picture. Here are the bikes lined up after fueling up at the Young House.

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From there we took a short ride into the Talladega National Forrest and made a little stop at the High Falls trail head, where we happened to run into several others that were in a group led by Tyler. They had just arrived as well, so we all struck out for the falls together.

These majestic falls are comprised of a series of three or four waterfalls fed by spring water coming off Cheaha Mountain. It is a beautiful place and not to be missed if you are ever in the area. I think everyone had a great time hiking around and just taking in the beauty of the place.

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From there we rode up to the awesome AL 281. However, time was running short so we didn't get much time to play on that wonderful playground. We had to strike it back to Jemison where we had a shrimp, kielbasa and corn boil feast awaiting us.

Here's our chef for the evening, one of my best friends in the world, Bubs and his lovely wife Melissa. Bubs had toiled over the low country boil while we were out playing all day. Thanks my man, the boil was awesome!!!

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He had done a marvelous job of getting all of the food ready by the appointed 6:30 pm so that we could sit down and enjoy our special entertainment for the night, The Negotiators duo of John Campbell and Allen Barlow, guitarist extraordinaires! Last year we only had Allen, this year not only was he joined by his sidekick John, but they were also accompanied by Uncle Hud's helmet and riding suit.

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Although we had to move the festivities indoors due to the threat of rain, I think most everyone really enjoyed having the guys play for us and then the socializing that followed. We all just sat back, sipped some brews and had an occasional knock on the various forms of "homemade" spirits that were passed around.

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Then someone pulled out the nectar of Satan - aka, Jack Daniel's Tennessee Honey and the night was never the same for me. Neither was the next day! In fact, we woke up to a steady, cold rain. Less than optimal riding conditions for sure. Everyone just made the most of it and sat around socializing pretty much all day. It wasn't so bad actually. Of course, we would rather have been riding, but it was nice to have a chance for everyone to visit.

While we were sitting around shooting the bull (some of us in deep recovery mode) our grillmaster, Stan the man was smoking up some fine ribs and BBQ butts for us. I'm not sure how pictures of all of that escaped my camera, but they did.

That evening we had a massive feast!!!! and then more socializing if you can believe that. KJ put on an amazing laser light show for us that he said would have been 100X better had the wind not been diverting the smoke. I'll have to take his word on that because I thought it was over the top bad ass just the way it was!

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The next morning came and it was departure time for everyone. It was a dreary, cold morning, but in true sport touring spirit, everyone knew they had places to be and had to get moving.

After the tent campers finished breaking camp and getting their bikes ready to roll, we sadly waved goodbye as each of them rolled down the gravelly drive, headed for home. For the record, there were no casualties all weekend on the slippery slope. I think we may have some moto enduro riders in the making!

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With that, another chapter of SFO was in the books. Mrs. Bandit and I proceeded to sweep up, burn some trash and do some general clean up. After all was said and done, we made it to our house, 30 minutes up the road, about 6 p.m. that night, completely exhausted but greatly satisfied that all had gone off without a hitch.

It was wonderful seeing so many friends and having an opportunity to make some new friends. As someone else around these parts mentioned, these forums aren't just for fixing our bikes, they're also for making lifelong friendships with people from all over the US and even the world, that we would otherwise likely never have an opportunity to meet. I just want to thank each and every one of you that help make SFO 2017 a rousing success and hopefully, we can do it all again next year.

Till then - ride on my brothers and sisters, ride on!

PS - feel free to add your own pictures and/or tales of SFO 2017 here on this thread.

 
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Great write up and again thanks for the warm southern hospitality. One of the highlights of my weekend was to observe all the attendees with their opinion and "hands on" efforts in regard to lighting the propane heater. That was straight up comic gold. LOL.

 
SFO 2017 - addendum

Just when you thought that was the end of it, there's more!

Actually, Poolboy and I had planned to tack on a couple of days after SFO and ride up to the North Carolina mountains on Sunday. With the weather being less than ideal and the tidying up that needed to be done around camp, we made alternate plans to meet in Ft. Payne the next morning and strike out from there. So Poolboy went to Huntsville to visit with a nephew and I finished up some things around camp, went home and got some rest. The next morning I was up and at them early and ready to roll in short order. It was a brisk 37 degrees when I struck out, but the sun was shining and it was a beautiful day.

I met Poolboy in Ft. Payne around 10 am. We took a nice stroll up the mountain to Little River Canyon and rode the roller coaster there known as AL 176. It's a great little road that runs along the rim of the scenic canyon. We stopped for a quick break at the Wolf Creek overlook. From here you can see and hear the raging river below. It's a beautiful site and one not to be missed if you are ever in the area.

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From there we headed up through Chickamauga National Battlefield, stopped for a bio break then headed to Tellico Plains, TN via TN 68 through Ducktown and Turtletown. TN 68 is a fantastic ride, although there sometimes is a decent amount of traffic that impedes the fun.

We took a little break in Tellico before striking out and heading up my favorite road east of the Mississippi, the famed Cherohala Skyway. Since it was getting a little late in the day we skipped Bald River Falls but in no time we were at the 3,000 ft. elevation and began seeing this white stuff in the woods. Then to our amazement, we ran up on snow deep enough that at some points along the way it had been plowed from the road! Here's a little sampling of what we saw.

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We crossed over Huckleberry Knob and started down the mountain. Stopped in another pull out at Hooper Cove to enjoy the view. Just gorgeous! BTW - you can see the snow spray on my front forks and fairing in this shot.

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PB just chillin'

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As you can tell, it was getting late and the temps were dropping. So we headed for the Best Western in Murphy.

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The next morning I had to start making my way home, but not without a mandatory stop at Mercier Orchards in Blue Ridge, GA.

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Blueberry ala mode for FJRBandit please -

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From there, we headed over Ft. Mountain, took a little break. Then down to Calhoun, GA, where I think I had the best reuben samich I've ever eaten! The corned beef was smoked onsite along with the pork and brisket. Accompanied by a cup of fabulous Brunswick stew, It was fantastic!

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PB and I had one last stop in us - I found this fixer upper a couple of years ago and had to stop to take a picture for a friend who is looking to move to that area in a few years. He might want to start working on it now, it's got a long way to go before it's inhabitable again. But it makes for a nice little butt break location!

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Just a few miles down the road, PB and I said our goodbyes over the Sena com. He was headed back to Huntsville to his nephew's house and I, headed home and back to reality.

One last parting shot - I forgot to post this in the prior write up. Our group shot on Friday night, taken by Mrs. Bandit from high above!

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Damn, what a great week riding and fun with an absolutely great group of people! Thanks again to all that attended and especially those that helped make it all happen!!!!

 
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From the feedback we have received I think most everyone had a great time. So here's a little recap seen through my camera, with a slight bit of commentary.
You think? I know!! If you look up the definition of "Southern Hospitality", there should be a photo of you and Jana next to it... not really sure how it could have been any better... thank you for letting me stay at your place and for all of the work you put into making this happen... it was splendiferous! :wub:

 
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