2016 - All Steak to Stagecoach and the Last Ride of the Year

[FJRBandit]

Last night I pulled into my garage returning from a 650 mile, two day ride to Stockton, Alabama where I attended the Last Ride of the Year at the Stagecoach Cafe. Just 38 hours prior I had pulled out of that same garage on a brisk cool Alabama morning. The past two days had been filled with some great riding, good food and visits with acquaintances, old and new. But when I pulled out Thursday morning I had a chance to reflect on the past year and what an incredible year of riding it has been for me.

I was on my way to meet a FJR riding buddy, Doug36854 (Doug) who just lives a couple hours away in the far eastern portion of Alabama along the Georgia border in a little hamlet called Valley. Doug and I planned to meet in Dadeville and then take the scenic back roads through the rural countryside as we made our way to Bay Minette for the evening, then hit Stagecoach the following morning. As I strolled down US 280 towards Dadeville my mind raced back through some of the places the FJR and my V-strom had taken me in 2016 and how lucky I am to be alive!

The eye of the camera has a way of sparking the fading memories that father time often has a way of blurring. So I invite you to sit back and enjoy as I reflect on the year that has been, through some of my pictures and thoughts from 2016.

February 2016

Last year UncleHud and I had discussed making our way to the Stagecoach Cafe for the 2015 Last Ride of the Year. The weather was miserable so that ride was cancelled. But we decided to have a RTE in mid-February. I posted up an invite for us to meet in Cullman, AL and visit D & H Cycle, then enjoy lunch together before everyone headed back home. Josh, aka Cav47, sent me a PM and said he was going to try to escape the Illinois winter for a few days and we agreed to meet in Mount Eagle, TN at the Smokehouse Restaurant. Then we planned to meet the others in Scottsboro, AL the next day and all ride over to Cullman together.

My first photo of the 2016 riding year. Getting on the slab headed towards Fort Payne, AL to do a little dual sport riding on my V-strom DL1000 before meeting Josh in Mount Eagle later that evening.

I made it up to the Little River Canyon Wildlife Management Area and got the tires muddy to start the year off right.

Later that evening I met Josh as planned and the following morning we met up with UncleHud and Griff along the banks of the Tennessee River in Scottsboro, AL.

We headed over to Cullman and visited with Jerold and Renae at D & H Cycles before riding to downtown Cullman for an excellent meal at the historic All Steak Restaurant. After we said our goodbyes. Josh pointed it towards Illinois, Griff and Hud headed back towards Atlanta, with Griff continuing on to South Carolina that evening and I had the long, 45 mile slog back home to Birmingham.

Still in February, the following weekend, my wife and I took a little Day Trip to Natural Bridge Alabama

We did a little hiking and had a nice lunch comprised of a hodgepodge of leftovers.

March 2016

March came around and although this trip didn't involve a bike ride, it involved a plane ride to see an old friend who I had ridden many, but not enough miles with over the past five years. Our friend, Fred Fraim, Old Pilot to those of you on the forum, had learned the prior year he had cancer. I don't know what form of cancer struck Fred because he was a quiet man who was very private. What I do know is that Fred was one of the nicest gentlemen I've met in my seven years of travels aboard my FJR. Fred was a man who had lived a life of adventure. The little he shared with me about his past included stories of some of his travels through the Caribbean on his sailboat, and how he was tossed overboard one night in a violent storm. He was sailing alone so somehow he miraculously was able to climb back aboard the boat and lived to tell the tale. Fred was also an airplane pilot and owned a small Cesna at one point from the little I gathered. But where I met Fred was through this forum and through our common love of riding our FJR's. The first time I met Fred in person was at SFO 2011 where he and I shared a room at the rally. We quickly became friends and often room shared at subsequent FJR rally's, EOM's and SFO's.


I didn't want to invade his privacy and figured he would share with me what he wanted me to know. But I did know in whatever form the cancer was I wasn't going to have many more opportunities to see Fred. Being the lifelong adventurer he had always been he was resolved to live out his last months, weeks, days and minutes on Earth as he had his prior 60+ years so he moved to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. So in January of 2016 I asked Fred if it would be ok if I came down to visit with him. He said that was fine but because his health was declining so rapidly he didn't have a lot of strength. He told me I shouldn't expect that we'd be doing a lot. I told him that didn't matter, I just wanted to come spend some time with him. So in March I boarded a Southwest flight and took flight to PV, MX for four days to visit my friend, Fred Fraim.

It would be the last time I saw Fred, as I just learned this past week on Christmas Day that Fred had succumbed to that evil illness we call cancer.

RIP Fred Fraim - Old Pilot, we'll miss you friend!

To Be Continued........

 

[Panman]

Wow, heck of a start. In fore the ride.

RIP Fred!

 

[FJRBandit]

Fast forward to May 2016

Although there would be other rides, May would be the month of my "big ride of the year". This one had been in the making for several months and involved four other friends that would make up the "El Durango Cinco". My buddy Jim on the Hondapotamus, along with LA2wheeler and Cornbread took a little jaunt out West together, where FJRbritbob flew from across the pond and joined us for a few days of our epic 12 day ride through Colorado, Utah and New Mexico. We also spent a little time in Texas both going and coming. Here's just a smattering of the 600 plus photos from that journey.

El Durango Cinco finally together

 

[FJRBandit]

July 2016

In July Mrs. Bandit and I made our way to visit my Aunt Clack and Uncle George in Charleston, WV. We visited with them and enjoyed a 4th of July BBQ and fireworks with them for a couple of days then struck out for Baltimore, where I put Mrs. Bandit on a flight back to Birmingham and I headed on down the eastern seaboard for the first time. My cousin's significant other, Bob, decided to join me on this leg of the journey on his Goldwing. We spent five days making our way along the Maryland shore, down to the Outter Banks of North Carolina and eventually inland to Raleigh, where Bob split off and headed back towards Charleston and I onward back home to Birmingham.

Our first day on the road we made the obligatory stop at Mercier Orchards in Blue Ridge, Georgia for some Fried Peach Pie!

Guess who we stumbled into!

Yep - Pants and Mrs. Pants were in the neighborhood looking for some fried pie as well.

We visited with them for a few and then we were off to Knoxville for the night, as a stop over on our way to Charleston. Coach Pat Summitt had passed away from earlier that week and the makeshift memorial had begun at her statue on the campus of the University of Tennessee.

We made it to Charleston and enjoyed our time with Aunt Clack and Uncle George.

Cousin Paula made us some of her famous banana pudding, YUM!!!!

We romped around West Virginia on the bike for a couple of days...

.... then headed to Baltimore so Mrs. Bandit could catch her flight back home (somebody has to work so I can ride!)

Bob met me in Baltimore and the first thing we did was head to Annapolis and tour the U.S> Naval Academy. Mad respect for our men and women in uniform - especially those that attend our incredible military academies!

Then it was on to the Eastern Seaboard, where we saw some incredible sights at the Assateague National Seashore.

.

My other traveling companion, Popcorn Chicken, made a new friend.

Took a swim in the Atlantic in Buxton, NC and enjoyed a few Red Stripes. Now this is living!

Finally visited Kitty Hawk!

Then on to Raleigh. Spent the night there and the next day headed towards home. On the way home, the Grey Ghost, my 2008 AE hit a major milestone! I had to pull off to the side of the road to commemorate the special occasion.

It has been one helluva ride for seven years on this AWESOME bike!

Stay tuned, there's more to come, we're not even done with July yet....

 

[Niehart]

Out of likes so ^^^^ Like ^^^^

 

[FJRBandit]

July 2016 - continued....

As Paul Harvey used to say, "And now for the rest of the story" that some of you already know, as I posted a ride report on my Fly and Ride back in July. For those that didn't catch it, here's a little synopsis.

When I returned from our trip out West back in early June, a good friend mentioned that he had been following our journey on Facebook and it had gotten him excited about riding again. I told him that if he was serious then I knew just the bike for him. I had seen earlier that day a sweet looking '08 FJR A model located in Colorado Springs that was loaded with more farkles than they sell on most motorcycle dot com websites and had even commented to the owner what a steal the bike was at the price he had it listed at.

It had been awhile since my buddy had been actively riding motorcycles so I made him an offer he couldn't refuse. I told him that if he would pay for my flight and expenses I would fly to Denver and pick up the bike for him. Also, he was welcomed to ride my V-strom 650 until he felt he was ready to climb aboard the FJR. After a few days he decided he wanted to take me up on the offer. With my buddy's proxy I contacted the owner of the '08 and struck a deal with him. We arranged a time a couple of weeks out for him to meet me at the Denver airport to pick up the bike.

So in late July I flew out to Denver to pick up the "new" '08 for my friend. Here I am in the parking deck of the Denver airport consummating the deal with the former owner, Casey, a genuine stand up dude!

and this is the sweet '08 I rode back from Denver.

It was quite a warm weekend... This was somewhere in eastern Colorado.

Stopped in the **** hole of Dodge City for the night and was just glad to see the sun rise the next morning so that I could "get the hell outta Dodge!".

H2O break in central Missouri.

Awesome burger at the Savor Bar and Grill in West Plains, Missouri.

Falling in love with this bad *** machine!

Spent the night in Jonesboro, Arkansas and then this happened on the final leg home the next morning.

Turns out some incident happened that dented the backside of the oil filter and put a small pin hole in it, causing the filter to leak oil like a sieve.

I located a new filter at an auto parts store nearby and corrected the problem in the parking lot.

Only to find these when I opened the rear trunk when I got home that evening!

August 2016

Turns out, my buddy decided that maybe the FJR was a little too much for him right now. He decided this about the time I learned that the Grey Ghost, my trusted '08AE had a burned intake valve. With 100K miles I decided not to spend the money to have the shop do the repairs. So, my buddy DeShan bought my 650 V-strom and I took the bad *** '08A!

Also, in roughly the same week, my buddy Hondapotamus Jim decided he wanted my V-strom 1000. So he and I made a deal and in the course of a week, I went from a stable that included my FJR 08AE, V-strom DL1000 and V-strom DL650, to having none of those (except for the inoperable AE) to owning just the new to me FJR 08A.

Here are the three of us on those three bikes on a little day ride in east Alabama taking a break from the August heat.

Sometimes life has a funny way of working things out doesn't it?

 

[escapefjrtist]

Nice job 'Bandit, looking forward to the rest of 2016!

--G

 

[Cav47]

Most excellent

 

[FJRBandit]

September 2016

So that brings us to my favorite time of the year, the Fall season. The colors change from bright green with a few flowers sprinkled in to a full array of "autumnesque" colors, dark yellow, bright yellow, dull red to brilliant plum, drab orange to brilliant orange, all shades of green and of course brown. Brown unfortunately was the dominant color this year in our area due to the extreme drought we have been experiencing in the deep south. But the Fall also means riding. Riding in the crisp morning air is probably my favorite time to ride. Where else to get crisp morning temps than the Arkansas Ozarks in late September.

So off we went, Hondapotamus and I struck out on a Wednesday afternoon for Memphis. We planned to spend the night there then head on to the Ozarks to meet up with LA2wheeler and Cornbread. Our first stop was in Memphis at the Flying Saucer to see if we could stumble upon an old buddy, Stu, who lives nearby and is a staple at the place. When we got there I asked a waitress if she had seen him that evening and she told me he had just left. You might ask why I didn't just call him in advance and that would be a reasonable question. But Stu is a nut, in a good way, and it's just more fun to surprise somebody like that with your appearance than to serve advance notice. Anyway, I had to resort to calling him. Stu said he was just down the road at the pharmacy where he had stopped to pick something up for his sweet, pregnant wife, Steph. He bitched at me a little for not giving him notice I was coming into town. But said he would call Steph and let her know I was in town then be right back up to the Saucer. I half-heartily apologized for "popping in" and tried to convince him to just take whatever it was he was buying for Steph home to her. But he insisted it wouldn't be a problem and he'd be right there.

Stu is a good dude and I'm glad we got to spend an hour or so with him. Steph, by the way in now about seven months along and I believe due in early March with their first child.

The next morning Jim and I struck out to meet the other two in Batesville for lunch. When we arrived we were surprised to learn that LA2wheeler's cousin, Dennis (DJ) had come along for the ride. DJ is one of the funniest dude's on the planet so I knew we were in for a treat over the next few days. What I didn't know was that Cornbread would get us introduced to the Boone Co. Arkansas Sheriff later that afternoon.

All turned out fine, but for a few minutes Cornbread had earned himself a performance award for his rendition of "Big Bird on FJR". We were only about five miles from our final destination for the evening when some stupid ***** simply pulled out in front of me with no care in the world. I was leading the group of the five of us and Cornbread was somewhere behind me. Well, it was a weird intersection where the traffic from our left was to yield to us, but this woman did no yielding, she just came on out. I had seen it all in the making and had begun to slow down and as she kept coming I laid on the horn and gave her the "hi" sign and resigned to just letting it be, taking it on in the final five miles and having a beer. Cornbread was having no such thing! He blasted around me and then almost took the front bumper off the woman's SUV when he darted over in front of her and then brake checked her. Then he began flapping his arms - he thought he was saying "WTF?" but from my vantage point it looked like he was trying to fly! Cornbread "don't want no stupid com system distracting him" so he and I were not in communication but I was yelling inside my helmet to him to just let it go. He finally did and then just a mile or so up the road we reached the corner store that was near our destination. We stopped to fuel up and pick up our beverage supply for the evening. While we were fueling Jim and I noticed that there was an unmarked black pick up truck parked over to the side with a guy inside talking on the phone and what appeared to be POV police markings on the front of the truck. As Cornbread walked inside the store, the guy in the truck got out and started yelling at him to "stop!". Since Cornbread is old and still had his ear buds still in he couldn't hear the guy yelling at him. It was classic!!! Cornbread is an ex-trooper and here this young whipper snapper deputy is chasing him down to have a chat. The young deputy apparently was behind our line of bikes and had witnessed everyting EXCEPT the ***** that almost killed me! What he saw was Big Bird trying to fly only five feet in front of the woman's SUV.

Long story short, there was quite the sword fight of badges, trouble was the off duty deputy didn't have his badge with him and was not on duty so he wasn't in uniform either. Cornbread gave him a dressing down about how he wasn't following commands from someone who just flashed his wallet at him, but he would be glad to talk with a uniformed officer.... oh it was getting good!!!! Next thing we know sirens are roaring in the distance and in pulls another POV and out pops a uniformed deputy. Not seconds behind that an unmarked Dodge Charger whips in, lights flashing and siren blazing! Out pops THE High Sheriff of Boone County himself!!!! By this time the other four of us had moved over to the parking next to the store and just sat back eating popcorn while watching the show.

Well, the Sheriff didn't want the young deputy to write a citation but told him it was his call and he would support him in whatever he decided. The deputy eventually wrote Cornbread a citation for "Unsafe Operation of a Motor Vehicle", which he probably deserved. But, while he was writing the ticket, the HIGH Sheriff came over and chatted with all of us. He was a really nice guy and said he appreciated all of the bikers that came to their community because it brought much needed revenue. We invited him to come to The Hub and have a Prime Rib on us the next night and he said he just might do that. Well, we chatted with him a few more minutes before he went over and talked with the deputy again. Next thing you know, the deputy comes back over and tells Cornbread to give him the ticket back - and tears it up!!! You can't make this **** up people! It was classic.

We finally made it to The Hub and got checked in. It was great to see Debbie, Randal and Happy (their sweet dog). Through the years they have become friends and truly are some of the nicest people on the planet.

Morning sun rising over Marbel Falls, Arkansas.

Now it's time to eat, ride, drink, sleep, repeat for the next two days!

It wasn't Cornbread this time, but some Harley guy apparently upset one of Jasper, AR's finest by going the wrong way on a one way street. I believe he went home with his performance award, unlike Cornbread.

Time for a smoke break.

L to R - Cornbread, LA2wheeler and DJ

And what is a trip to the Ozark's if you don't hit the Oark Cafe???

then we moved on....

Those that know me know I love Arkansas! Them there is my kind of people and the riding is fantastic! But, sssshhhh, please don't tell anyone.

I think we just about tried them all!!!!

Hondapotamus is an anomaly - he doesn't eat sweets - so he just had an America!

Then we were off to Hollister, just outside of Branson City, MO.

I love everyone of these guys and they're a great bunch to ride with - but that is definitely a group of Deplorables right there!

Next month, we all come together for SFO.

 

[Niehart]

Oh ya baby ....

 

[FJRBandit]

October 2016

In late October my wife and I hosted SFO 2016. It was a departure from the past SFO's that have been held in the Ozarks. But attendance had dwindled over the past couple of years and it seemed we needed a change of pace. We had the meet at my property in Jemison, Alabama and ended up with about 20 bikes this year. Roughly half of those camped onsite and the other half stayed in a motel about 10 miles away. It seemed to work out well.... here's some pics from the event.

Of course, we had a little food Southern style too! First night was a shrimp and corn boil.

The second night was smoked BBQ ribs and boston butt.

The BBQ was smoked all day by my buddy Stan and his lovely wife Casey, while we were out riding.

Of course we had some pie too!

...and how about a little blues to go with your shrimp and corn boil? Thanks to my buddy, Allan Barlow, we were well entertained Friday night.

Saturday we did our group pic at Barber Museum.

All bikes and even former bikers were welcomed!

I just want to say a big THANK YOU to everyone who attended! I hope you had a great time and we'll see what we can do to have an even bigger and better event in 2017.

 

[FJRBandit]

November 2016

November was a busy month. I managed to get a day ride in to Selma, AL with my buddy DeShan and then Jim, Doug and his significant other Lorrie, and I went to Helen, GA on a cold mid-November weekend. Fun times were had!

Helen, GA

 

[FJRBandit]

December 2016

Last year, in December 2015, as I mentioned right at the start of this year in review UncleHud and I had planned to do the "Last Ride of the Year" to the Stagecoach Cafe in Stockton, Alabama. I understood this was a ride that was comprised of some hard core riders from the long distance community, right up my alley. But the weather turned extremely ****** that week, cold temps and heavy rain. FJRBandit will pony up and ride in cold, and FJRBandit will pony up and ride in rain. But what FJRBandit won't do is pony up and ride in the cold AND rain. That is just miserable. I don't care what anyone says, it is not fun. If it rains hard enough and long enough water is gonna find it's way in and when it does, if it's cold - as in below 50 for this Southern boy, then the fun factor goes way down - to the point of get me off this bike.

Anyway, this year the weather forecast was cool - starting temps in the upper 30's Friday morning, but no rain. So I contacted Doug and confirmed that he had this ride on his radar. UncleHud was also coming but he wasn't leaving until the day of. Doug was in for leaving a day early and taking a little ride through rural Alabama en route to Bay Minette, attend the dinner the night before at Streets Seafood, then ease over to Stagecoach Cafe Friday morning, kick some tires and chew the fat with some of these super stars of the LD riding community and then break it on home that afternoon. Just my kind of ride and come Wednesday night this past week Doug and I were both IN!

As I mentioned at the start of this report, I met Doug in Dadeville, AL and he and I took the scenic backroads to Bay Minette. Our first stop was in a little community about 20 miles east of Troy, Alabama. We stopped for fuel at a general store and found all kinds of neat stuff inside.

A football signed by the "The Kansas Comet", the great Gayle Sayres!

Soon, it was time to saddle back up.

Next thing you know, we were in Bay Minette and headed to Streets Seafood.

The next morning I got up to take my shower and was treated to some serious ambiance!

Although it was 36 degrees out, we pointed it towards Stockton and the Stagecoach Cafe. When we arrived around 9:30 the parking lot had about 40 bikes in it, mostly all Lords of the Long Distance Riding community.

We didn't win any awards ourselves, but it was nice to see those being recognized in the following categories.

I decided not to eat because I was still kinda reeling from the grease the night before at Streets - I don't know how , but somehow I managed to resist the buffet that included some good looking friend chicken, catfish, turnip greens, grits, corn on the cob and a plethora of good looking deserts. When we came outside from the early lunch the parking lot had turned from a being a bunch of LD heroes....

....into to a pirate convention!

We walked around for a minute and looked at a few cool bikes and then saddled up to get the hell outta there!

As I mentioned, the pirates were rolling in!!!!

Not far up the road we needed a bio break - we found a cool little spot along the Little River.

On up the road an hour or so later it was time for another bio break --

I just had to sample some of Doug's finest distilled spirits - he called it watermelon, I called it "torch water"!!!

Then we saddled back up and headed to a little spot along I-65 that is the most non-descript BBQ joint that I know of. It is located just south of Greenville at the "Pinneapple" exit - exit 128. Man, I am telling you, this is some good stuff! If you are in the area I encourage you to check it out. Even if the BBQ joint inside the gas station is closed, a lot of times they'll have made up sandwiches in the warmer. Don't pass up on these, they're always fresh and just as good as the ones they bring to your table.

From there, Doug and I saddled back up and hit the slab for the first time on this ride. We made it about 40 miles to Montgomery before we signed off on the Sena's, he struck out towards Valley on I-85 and I on I-65. It was a great ending to a fabulous year of riding!

Looking back at the past year's riding, it has been quite a year for sure. My rough tally for the year was somewhere around 15,000 miles. While some were a little more difficult than others, I dare say I didn't have a smile on my face on any given mile. They were all good. I got a new to me bike this year, made several new riding friends, and just in general had a lot of fun! It was a tumultuous year in the political arena and our country has some mending to do. But when I'm on a bike ride none of that **** seems to matter. Maybe that's something I enjoy most about riding, I don't know. What I do know is that I look forward to more miles and smiles in 2017. See ya out there!

 

[Panman]

Just a great READ, thanks for sharing. I want to go south and find a place to eat!

 

[Fontanaman]

Neihart said:
Out of likes so ^^^^ Like ^^^^

What he meant was he likes this 2016 recap and is sorry he missed out on the Fried Peach Pie.

And this is a great 2016 recap. Thanks for sharing as it is 25 degrees in Seattle. No riding today for sure.

 

[gapiob]

Ouch, verry nice! Thanks