Thunder Beach

Live from Panama City, it is the Friday morning before the storm. Although reports are that reservations are down 40%, it seems a perfect weekend to enjoy riding and checking out a few bikes, beers, and babes. Pictures to come soon.

Trail of Tears 2008 - Chattanooga to Florence

Despite the confusion, the turnout was amazing. Probably 15-20,000 bike at the stop in Fayetteville, TN - and 35-50,000 in Florence at McFarland Park.

Trail of Tears 2008 - Northern Route

The long version of the video - 17 minutes click here

Trail of Tears 2008 - Two Trails?

Once again we find ourselves approaching the largest biker event held in Alabama, the Trail of Tears. Each year the estimate range from 90,000 to 150,000 motorcycles participating in the 30-50 mile long parade of bikes, commemorating the historical Trail of Tears, the 1838 removal of native Americans from the territory.

The interesting development this year is the the split of the ride into two separate rides. For the past few years a storm has been brewing between organizers of the ride until a split was made, and two separate groups were formed, conducting two separate rides, down different roads, with different stops and destinations. There is certainly a large amount of confusion about where the rides will start, and where they will end. The two groups each have their own website to find out more about details of where the rides start and finish, check out:

Trail of Tears Remembrance Motorcycle Ride

Trail of Tears Commemorative Motorcycle Ride

Lots of confusion for everyone this year. Let's hope it does not spoil the amazing spectacle this has become. If you want to find out more about riding in Alabama, don't forget to check out the real source of information about what is happening in Alabama, where everyone is riding, and the cool spot to hang out at Bama Rides videos and descriptions of great roads, rides, and stops in Alabama to make your life better. Sign up for the free motorcycle forum to share your opinions about the Trail of Tears, and any other topic concerning motorcycling in Alabama.

Buck's Pocket State Park - Alabama motorcycle rides

Second part of the Sunday ride after Paint Rock
Nice ride around the lake, then on to the park. It got dark too quick, so not much to see at the park or the overlook

Buck's Pocket Motorcycle Ride - Best Alabama Motorcycle Rides

Paint Rock Alabama - Motorcycle rides in Alabama

Paint Rock Alabama Motorcycle Ride - Best Alabama Rides

Worth the trip

Bankhead Forest

What a great ride. We left Jasper with 11 bikes, and found some interesting places that very few people in Alabama know about. Nice, easy riding, with mostly long, sweeping turns, and scenic forests along the way.

Bankhead National Forest motorcycle ride - more great motorcycle rides in Alabama

Cottaquilla Road - twisties outside Anniston

Cottaquilla Road - Great motorcycle roads in Alabama.



Read the entire review here

River Ride to Lock 17

A brief look at some roads twisting thru the hills of Central Alabama while riding with a few members of Bama Rides on a Saturday afternoon. We pass Jefferson County sheriffs as they pull a dead body found in the river the same day.

Alabama Motorcycle River Ride to Lock 17 on the Warrior from Don Redman on Vimeo.

Bama Rides Member makes state news

Proud we are of the leader in the MAC '08 Challenge - sonicsix and his wife were on the news this weekend for their participation in "an unusual contest" and their plans to win the contest.

Ride Out from 29 Dreams

A beautiful Sunday riding Highway 25, with a fun bunch of guys riding the twisties outside 29 Dreams in Vandiver Alabama.

Ride Out from 29 Dreams - one of the best motorcycle rides in Alabama

PB's Tech Tips - Episode 1 - Battery Maintenance

Please welcome PB from AX V-Twin Performance in Vincent Alabama, hosting his first of many podcasts "PB's Tech Tips", to be aired exclusively on BamaRides.

PB's Tech Tips - Episode One - Maintain your motorcycle battery

Bike Night at J&J Quick Stop in Sylvan Springs AL

Rode out to a tiny quick-mart on Hwy-269 last night to grab a free hot-dog, and meetup up with Zukilover and his crowd. When I rolled up at 6:15, there were already 30+ bikes in the lot, and I figured it was in full swing at that point. By 7pm, there seemed to be close to 100 bikes, and quite a few interesting varieties.

Inside the store, you will find the common quick-store/gas station supplies, alongside a biker gear store...an interesting mix.

You can see a few more pics here

Find more bike nights in Alabama

Lock 17 ride to King's Point

A little less spontaneous than last Sunday, we planned this ride the night before, and posted in the new rides section. After meeting up at the Crack-Barrel, we wound our way thru Hueytown to find a nice surprise out in the woods - River Cafe - great hamburgers, fries, and an interesting menu of frozen items, with plenty of cold beer, cold-air, and comfortable environment built for the hungry biker.

After dining on the delicious fare, we continued the journey onto the Warrior River. Nice twisties, decent paved roads, with just a bit of gravel in a few of the turns. Lots of other places to explore out here, when you have the time.

Eventually, we arrived at King's Point, the end of the road, and another place to wet our whistle. Not quite as nice as the previous stop on the inside, but they did have cold beer. Outside, was much more scenic, with a few picnic tables overlooking the lake on the Warrior River, a nice boardwalk, and a few boats passed by as we rested.








On Sunday - all the regulars show up..

Spontaneous Sunday Ride thru Alabama

It looked like another boring Sunday with yard work and remodeling a kitchen being the highlights of the day. Then, while returning some emails, in popped a dude to the chatroom. He mentioned that he would like to go down to Chilton county and get a peach, and I said that is a great idea, and when and where do we leave from? About that time, another member pops into the room. So all the sudden, we have 3 guys, ready to roll, on a short adventure to rescue fruit from the trash pile. I make it sound like it was much easier than it actually was. There was really several minutes of discussion, via chat, and a phone call, and then we all had to take a quick shower, so it was not all fun and games, lots of prep time(35 minutes or so, including the shower, getting dressed etc.)

So I meet the first rider in McCalla, fueled up, had a quick chat(the in-person kind), and rode down a few minutes to Green Pond (I know, I should have taken a pic) to endure about 10 minutes of the Green Pond police starring at us while we were in the Q-Mart lot discussing the ride and meeting each other (this is the first time I have met either of these guys).

Nice ride down to Maplesville, and had to stop for a train, where I notice another group of riders hiding under the shade of a closed old building. So I could not resist the temptation to stroll over and introduce and find out what they were doing today. Just like me they were riding down from Birmingham, cruising thru peach country.

So we moved on down to the Peach Park at I-65, and had some delicious home ice cream and, and decided to mozy down to Indian Hills Resort(since we were so close, and one of the guys had never been). So a quick ride across, found us with cold beverage in hand, discussing various topics. As the Sunday crowd thinned, we decided to check out an interesting pub we had passed on the way in, just across the river.
This place was nothing short of different. On the river, 100 yards off hiway-22, just below Mitchell Dam, is what we will call No-Name Pub, because nobody asked what the name was. We had access to the pub, upstairs, and the boat house, complete with couches and chairs, pretty cool, and something certainly different.

I guess the point I am trying to make is that we all had a blast, it was all spontaneous, started in a Chat Room, and I saw stuff that I probably never would have known about had I not jumped on this ride. Maybe we should all start trying to get in on a ride?

Interesting satistics from the Hurt Study

A few interesting stats from a crash study done in 1981:

***The median pre-crash speed was 29.8 mph, and the median crash speed was 21.5 mph, and the one-in-a-thousand crash speed is approximately 86 mph.

***Motorcycle riders with previous recent traffic citations and accidents are overrepresented in the accident data.

***The motorcycle riders involved in accidents are essentially without training; 92% were self-taught or learned from family or friends. Motorcycle rider training experience reduces accident involvement and is related to reduced injuries in the event of accidents.

***More than half of the accident-involved motorcycle riders had less than 5 months experience on the accident motorcycle, although the total street riding experience was almost 3 years. Motorcycle riders with dirt bike experience are significantly underrepresented in the accident data.

***Motorcycle riders in these accidents showed significant collision avoidance problems. Most riders would over-brake and skid the rear wheel, and under-brake the front wheel greatly reducing collision avoidance deceleration. The ability to countersteer and swerve was essentially absent.

***Seventy-three percent of the accident-involved motorcycle riders used no eye protection, and it is likely that the wind on the unprotected eyes contributed in impairment of vision which delayed hazard detection.

***Less than 10% of the motorcycle riders involved in these accidents had insurance of any kind to provide medical care or replace property.




From: Motorcycle Accident Cause Factors and Identification of Countermeasures, Volume 1: Technical Report, Hurt, H.H., Ouellet, J.V. and Thom, D.R., Traffic Safety Center, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California 90007, Contract No. DOT HS-5-01160, January 1981 (Final Report)