When the group from Birmingham arrived with the escort we (about 350 or so) headed to Scottsboro. The only draw back to this portion of the ride was trying to hold the reins on the RT. Upon arrival we parked in a church parking lot and the organizers had people passing out free bottled water. When the main ride started past it was Awesome. Every once in a while they would stop long enough to let some of us out of the parking lot. It took me 55 min. to get out.
I was on the road now for my first organized ride. There were no cars on the road, just a lot of people lining the sides of the road to cheer us on. We were told to stay out of the left lane and keep up with the person in front of us. It didn't take me long to find out that some people have to slow down to wave. I could see several gaps opening up ahead of me. Someone had to fill them in. I was disappointed when I got to the lead bikes of the group that I was in. We had fallen back from the rest of the bikes and we were being led by a group of BMWs. I had to put them in my rear view mirror to catch the group of wing dingers up ahead. There were about 20 of them. They had fallen off of the pace also (another task for the RT). I passed them and closed the gap on the next group. It was a large group of Harley's and they were keeping a good pace until a gas station came into view. For some reason they couldn't pass up a fuel stop. They began peeling off not leaving anyone for me to follow. We were on the bypass around Huntsville with no 4 wheeled traffic and I had a lot of ground to cover to catch up with someone that knew where we were going. The police had the on ramps blocked and didn't seem to care how fast I went past them.
I caught up with the main group just before arriving at the lunch stop. When I arrived it was almost time for the leaders to leave again. Every parking lot in Madison was full of Motorcycles. I stopped long enough to get rid of the free water from the previous stop and to check my oil. I saw a group leaving ahead of the main group and decided to travel with them.
The next 85 mi went pretty well. We made good time and arrived in Florence far enough ahead of the main group to get a bite to eat and take a few pictures.
These were Taken in Florence
My Lone BMW in a Sea of Harley Crome at Florence
You Never Know What You'll See on the Road
This early start thing seemed to work for me, so I departed 10 minutes before the main group on the final leg of the ride. I was told that the last 20 mi were the best and they were. The road traveled along the river where the scenery was nice, but the best part was the people. We had spectators all along the way, but nothing like this. People were everywhere, they were having cookouts in their yards, parked in the ditches, in cornfields, anchored along the road in boats, anything they could do to watch the ride. They applauded, waved, yelled, and at one point even blew bubbles across the road. I arrived in Waterloo and beat the crowds to the T-shirt stand and bought my shirt. I was ready to take a couple of more pics as the main group arrived.
A Few Early Arrivals in Waterloo
The Main Ride Arriving at Waterloo
When they started letting traffic out, I headed for home. I probably passed 1,000 more bikes the first 20 miles that were on there way in. The estimate was 66,000 motorcycles. They didn't know for sure when I left. I think I saw at least one of every bike I'd heard of and some that I'd never heard of. I had a really good time and I'm glad I was a part of it, but you know the saying (been there done that and got the T-shirt). I don't know if I'll go back again, because I'm not real big on crowds. I arrived home at 9:15 PM, 15 hours and 412 mi later... No worse for the wear. The stock seat is tough but I found a couple of tricks that make it more bearable for me.
Well a few days have past and all of the figures are in. They claim that there were about 80,000 motorcycles with almost half carrying a passenger. There were about 20,000 other spectators that were not on motorcycles. It was estimated that the people that came for the Ride spent over 7 million dollars in the community and the economic impact of the ride to the surrounding communities was about 35 million dollars. I can see why everyone was so glad to see us.
From what I've been told if you can ride near the front, it's a lot more organized. The farther back you get the more gaps and the more likley it is for four wheeled traffic to get in. As much as I dislike crowds, I may have to go back next year.
