- Week Alabama, it's not like they said!

[klaviator]

It was finally time and we rode to the area where the Creekside Classic dirt racing would take place. We rode down a dirt trail and found a place to park our bikes.

We checked out the start area and............someone had decided that dirt racing would be better with a Mariachi band

These guys ended being here for all the races. It just added some hilarity to the event.

Here come the racers.

Rich and I walked a bit to find a good vantage point. I was wishing I had brought a chair. (Yeah, I'm getting old)

This was not real dirt bike racing. Most of the competitors were on street tires. The most popular bike by far was the Grom.


Getting some air.

 

[oldschool]

A mariachi band, LOL... would not have expected that!

 

[klaviator]

A mariachi band, LOL... would not have expected that!

Me either but somehow it fit the atmosphere of this event. Sure they were "racing" but it wasn't that serious. They just ran groups of six at a time and everyone only raced one time. They didn't have a runoff of winners to determine a grand champion.

They riders certainly weren't dressed like they were racing. This guy was one of the few that had some semblance of ATTGATT:

Since he was on a new Grom I think he was one of the moto journalists given the chance to ride the new Groms. Talk about having a great "demo ride"!

This was the typical protective gear worn by the racers:

This next guy gets the fashion award:

Despite all this, the racing was sometimes pretty tight.

 

[klaviator]

We wandered off to check out some different vantage spots to watch from. Being old men we were getting tired of standing so we decided to go back, get our bikes and explore the viewing spots on our bikes and then we could sit on them while watching!


There is a dirt "road" that goes around part of the track. It was probably more challenging than the track itself with some pretty deep muddy spots. It was a fun ride on the small bikes. We soon came to the end of the road.

We turned back and found a good spot where we could sit on our bikes and watch the action. This Kymco Super8X won its heat.

There were some Monkey Bikes out there but they didn't seem as competitive as the Groms. I think they just had slower riders.

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[klaviator]

We decided to head back to my truck. It looked like rain was coming in and Rich rode to this event and wanted to get going. He had stashed his riding gear in my truck.
I wasn't really worried about the rain because I would be in my truck. I figured if I came all this way to get to the event I wanted to get all I could out of it.

I walked around the vendors area. Most of the people were at the Dirt racing area so it was pretty quiet here. A couple of the vendors were playing cornhole.

I decided to back over to the dirt riding area to see the hill climb. As I was riding over it started raining so I ducked under a tree.

The rain didn't last and I continued on. I had figured it would be hard to get a good view of the hill climb because of the large crowd and limited viewing area. This was sort of true but I noticed that there weren't that many people at the very bottom of the hill so I hiked down.

The hillclimb was set up to make it as difficult as possible. This hill was part of the track at the Vintage cross country racing last time I was here but those were dirt bikes and they had some speed when they started up the hill. The way it was set up here there was little run up area and then they had to jump a log which pretty much killed their speed.

The hill started right after the log and quickly got steep.

On top of that there were some ruts and bumps to make it more challenging.

 

[klaviator]

Some riders made it up and some didn't. Most of the bikes doing the climb were not dirt bikes and had street tires.

This guy managed to clear the log at ludicrous speed

I think he made it to the top.

There were some scooters in the hill climb. This was a two stroke.

He grounded out on the log and pushed the scooter over.

This vintage bike raced in the dirt race before this and was running really badly on the second lap. We don't think he finished the race but he must fixed whatever problem he had.

I didn't think there was any way he would make it up the hill but I think he managed make it by pushing.

 

[klaviator]

More hill climb because.........well it was just cool to watch!

This guy went at the log full bore.

And he crashed full bore as this pic from another angle taken by someone else shows.

And more of my pics.

He picked up the bike and continued on to the cheers of an enthusiastic audience.

I don't think he made it all the way up but I don't remember for sure.

 

[klaviator]

Once everyone had a try at the hill the hillclimb was over although there were a number of riders lined up hoping for a second run. Since this was the last event I planned on attending I headed back towards my truck. It was a fun day and I was glad I came. I wasn't quite ready to leave so I r0de around the perimeter road.

This is the area where the swap meet is located during Vintage Fest.

It was totally different on this day. There were just a few trucks & trailers parked here today.


I rode over to the pond across the road to take a pic.

As I was getting ready to head back to my truck I saw someone waving at me from across the road

So I rode over there. It was someone I knew from a couple of forums who was there with his truck, trailer, bikes and wife and son. He asked me if I was planning on doing the parade laps. I told him I wasn't planning on it since I had spent 20 minutes on a track where I could ride as fast as I dared and this would not be as exciting. Well he had bought 2 passes for the parade laps and they just gave him 2 extra. He asked if I wanted one?

Hell Yeah

So my day wasn't done yet!

I went back to my truck and put on my track day "ATTGATT". Yes I was way overdressed compared to almost everyone else but there's just something a bit unnerving about riding around a race track wearing shorts and a T shirt.

This was at the staging area with everyone getting ready to head over to the track.

Riding around the perimeter road.

Over the shoulder shot.

 

[klaviator]

We got on the track by the museum. There was a pace car up front that kept the speeds down. I did a parade lap at the Vintage Fest in 2019 on a bigger bike. Despite all the bikes being tiny for this event I'd say the speeds were about the same. On the pre ride brief they said "NO Passing".....except if you are going faster than someone

It was quickly obvious that they weren't enforcing the no passing rule so I did some passing but I tried to give other bikes a wide berth when passing them. This track is so wide that there is plenty of room despite the large number of bikes. I don't know how many bikes were on the track but I'm sure it was well over a hundred.

I was able to hit around 60 on the straights. Speeds where lower in the curves due to traffic but not so slow that it wasn't fun. This is a great track. The track surface is super smooth unlike the small track I rode earlier in the day. I would love to do a track day here someday but on something a bit faster than my Like.

I did take some pics.

This bike looked like a Kawasaki sport bike but I think it was a custom bike that was built around a scooter drivetrain.

As you can see riding gear requirements were strictly enforced

It was only three laps but it was a blast

I went back and loaded up my scooter and headed out. The guy who gave me the armband was still there so I stopped to thank him and talk a bit.

He had quite the cool collection of bikes. In the trailer were a Helix, Elite 110, Passport??, and then a really nice CB125 in the truck. So we talked a bit before I headed for home.

 

[klaviator]

My thoughts on this event. First, I had a blast and I'm really glad I went. Initially I was a bit disappointed because there just didn't seem to be that much there. I had also heard there would be Kawasaki Demo rides and there weren't. I would really see demo rides there in the future, particularly of small bore bikes. I'd love to ride the new Grom, the monkey bike, trail cub and super cub. I'd also like to ride the Z125.

The Gymkhana was really lame and disappointing as well. They need to get someone who knows how to set up a decent course. I've ridden a lot of gymkhana's and they all had much better courses.

The Track time was unexpected. It would be even more fun on a bike with more cornering clearance.

I did run into a number of people from ADV and the Motorcycle Alabama forum.

The dirt racing and hill climb where really cool as was riding my scooter in the dirt near the track. It would have been nice to compete in the dirt races. I could easily get around the track on my Like, or any of my bikes but I don't know if I would want to subject them to the abuse of trying to ride fast in the dirt.

Riding the parade laps was also awesome.

I'll probably go again in 2022 year. I'll be better prepared if I do. I'm thinking of bringing an EZ up, some chairs and a big cooler. Having a place to relax and hang out between events would be nice.

I'll also bring better gear for riding on the track. It would be cool to get a group on the track together.

For 2022 this event is scheduled June 3-5 in case anyone is interested.

 

[klaviator]

Here is a video shot by one of the guys on the street ride last weekend: https://rumble.com/vzcq2v-group-street-ride-on-the-v85tt.html

It was the first time shooting video on a new bike so the placement of the camera was not ideal and the view was often distorted by the wind screen. It still does a good job of showing the riding we did.

 

[FLrider]

The Barber museum is a must see for anyone who has an interest in motor sports as a whole. Very beautiful layout both inside and out on the grounds. Thx for posting that all up..

 

[klaviator]

The Barber museum is a must see for anyone who has an interest in motor sports as a whole. Very beautiful layout both inside and out on the grounds. Thx for posting that all up..

I did take a bunch of pics in the museum years ago. At some point I'll post them in this thread.

 

[FLrider]

 

[klaviator]

I'm going to flash back to 2013 for the next part of this report. I had just moved to Alabama and someone on ADVRider had sent me a link to Bamarides, a local forum. I got on there and saw that there was a local ride coming up so I decided it would be a good way to meet some local riders

This was posted as a "Mystery Barbeque Ride". Now I had to decide which bike to ride. My KLR had a leaking fork seal, My 150cc super 8 was too slow and my XT350 was still in Ga. That left my Aprilia Sport City 250, a scooter. I was concerned about doing this on a 250. Would this be bringing a knife to a gunfight?

I got to the meeting spot early and bikes started to show up.

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As you can see from the pics, it was mostly cruisers and touring bikes. There was also an old Bandit and even older KZ1100. When the rest of the riders showed up the group became much more diverse. We now had a lot of cruisers and touring bikes, a couple of large Adventure bikes, a couple of Dual Sport bikes, and me on my 250cc scooter. Some riders were ATTGATT and some had no protective gear beyond a beanie helmet and everything in between.

The ride leader was riding 2 up on a Harley touring bike. I think it was an Electra Glide. He held a riders meeting explaining that this ride would be on back roads with lots of curves and some hairpins. He explained the rules which were pretty simple. everyone ride their own ride, staggered formation on the straight roads and spread out in the curves. He said he would ride the speed limit, or reasonably close to it

It was a large group of nearly 20 really diverse bikes and riders. I was thinking this was going to be a disaster. Oh well, if things got really screwed up I figured I could find my way home. So off we went.

A few miles of urban traffic and then we went over Green Mountain road, one of my favorite local roads. I took some pics on the go.

While it wasn't a sport bike pace, it was fast enough to not get bored.

It was nice and cool riding in the shade up on the mountain.

One of the riders, on a Super Tenere, went ahead to stop and get some pics while we rode by.

 

[klaviator]

We rode for about an hour on some pretty nice country roads. I thought the pace was pretty good. Sport bike riders might have been bored but for a group like this it was a good pace.

We stopped at an overlook near Grant, AL.

At the time the Super Tenere was a new bike and I thought it was a good looking bike. The view was pretty nice too.

I wasn't the only one with a 250 on this ride. Add up the displacement of both bikes and it's still less than the next smallest bike on the ride.

More bikes.

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[klaviator]

After the overlook we headed to Gurley for gas and another break. Running on HWY 72 I had to twist the throttle to the stops for a bit to keep up. Then the pace slowed down to the speed limit.

Since I have a small tank I decided to gas up. .7 gallons and I was good to go

Then we got back on 72 and then north on 65. 65 is a nice scenic ride with some pretty good curves.

Unfortunately we got stuck behind a cage through most of the curves which kept the pace down.

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After some curvy roads we crossed the Tennessee River.

This old bridge was torn down not too long after the ride.

 

[klaviator]

We stopped at another scenic overlook.

There was a nice view looking down on the Tennessee River.

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then we rode to the "mystery BBQ" lunch stop.

This place was out in the sticks and had no sign indicating it was a restaurant. I would never have known it existed if I hadn't come on this ride. No fancy decor but the food was good.

 

[klaviator]

It was a pretty late lunch and after lunch the ride was over. Everyone was on their own to get home. Being new to the area I knew how to get home but it was a pretty boring ride. Someone suggested a different route and someone was heading that way so I followed him. He was a really big guy on a Valkyrie with a car tire and his wife as a passenger. I figured it would be a slow ride.

I was surprised as he rode faster than I expected. His pegs were real close to the ground in every curve but he never scraped. He knew his bike well.

.

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So I was pleasantly surprised at how well this ride went. It wasn't the disaster I expected when I first saw the assortment of bikes and riders. I met some people, some of who would become friends. I rode on some new to me roads and most importantly I had fun. It somewhat changed my perspective on a few things.

It would not be my last ride with Bamarides.

 

[klaviator]

Last week an friend rode over from Georgia. The plan was to do a couple of rides here before the weather got hot. One of the places he wanted to ride to was in Mississippi.

MISSISSIPPI!!

Why would anyone want to ride there?? On top of that the weather turned out to be kind of crappy, cloudy and around 48 degrees all day we even got some rain and a bit of sleet

It was well over a hundred miles to our destination. I only got a few pics. We stopped at a motorcycle dealer in Florence, AL. It actually had a packed showroom but it was mostly used bikes.

.

Then we headed west on some mostly deserted country roads. We got on the Natchez Trace Parkway and crossed the Tennessee River.

Some people will go out of their way to ride the Trace but I find it to mostly be a pretty boring road.

We got off the trace and took 72 west to Corinth, MS.