Guy Boutin's Motorcycle Touring and Travel Pages

Adventures in Sport Touring with the Honda ST 1100, 1300 and the BMW 1200RT

Exploring North America...One Road at a Time

Day 1
April 27th, 2009
Prattville, Ala

Because today is a short ride, I put off packing to the last minute.  Yesterday I went to New Orleans and back to pick up my nephew, not returning home till 11pm, so I slept in kind of late.

My plan for today is a leisurely 125 mile ride to North Alabama to spend the night with my sister.  Past experiences taught me a ride to West Virginia goes for 600 miles from my house, so if I can shave off 130 miles of that, and bump start the next day, so much the better.  But beside all that, it gives me a chance to spend time with my sister.

Upon waking I started packing.  I pack from a list, that must be a pretty good one, because I've found myself never lacking for anything once on the road.  I'm a lot more worried about losing something along the way, then forgetting something at the beginning.

I was scanning the list, and when I came to the cold weather stuff I made a executive decision.  "Its early May, in this part of the country there will be NO 25 degree days, and I'm not riding that far north."  So I left all my hard core cold weather stuff at home.  Heated gear, thick gloves, insulated vest, and long wool socks, all went to the side.  This freed up a lot of space in the left bag.  I also packed only one sweatshirt, instead of 2.  I was making a conscientious effort to lighten my load.  My strategy for the upcoming West Coat Tour will be pack for a week, then wash clothes, repeat.  I wanted to see how that worked on this 10 day tour.

When I finished packing I noticed the MotoFizz bag was noticeably lighter then rides past.  I strapped my gear down and called my sister.  "Yeah, look for me about 6 or 6:30."  Then I ate lunch with Debbie, "Look here, I don't look for this to be a high mileage ride, so I'll see ya in Virginia on Thursday night."  Debbie was flying into Baltimore, so I needed to be in DC by that afternoon.  With that settled she went back to work.  I spent the balance of the afternoon waiting around the house till 4pm.  

It's a pleasant ride to Gadsden, one I've been doing since I was 18 years old.  I've done it all the ways it can be done, but today I decided to go back to basics, and ride the route as if it was 1973.  Most of that route is still intact.

I reset all the trip meters, and booted up the GPS, which for this day I didn't need, so I just left it in map view.  I rolled off the stand and up the driveway a little after 4pam to begin the adventure.  It was a warm, sunny, pleasant afternoon.

I stopped at Herrod's Chevron on Memorial Drive and filled the RT for 11 and some change.  Then checked tire PSI.  The rear was down 20 lbs.  "That's strange, but maybe it has been that long since I checked it?"  Been running a plug in the rear the last 8k miles.

With the gas tank full I charged north on U.S. 31 instead of I-65, for no other reason then I had time, and it was a nice afternoon.   

In Pine Level I went past my Aunt and Uncle's house, they have been deceased for many years. I recalled playing in the big front yard, as I went by.  Back then their house was in the "country," it still is, but Pine Level is getting closer and closer.  My cousin lives in the house now.

I passed several cars and trucks on 31 as I rode on to Clanton, including a propane truck.

At Clanton I left U.S. 31 and went to I-65, a few miles later I took the 212 exit for SR 145.  Exit 212 is known as the "peach exit" because of the water tower painted like a peach, in a nearby field.

SR 145 is one of the few roads in Alabama where a guy can ride 25 miles without encountering a stop sign or traffic light, the road is mostly straight but fun. 

 Summer comes early to Alabama and the temp was in the mid 80s.  The warm wind flowed through my Roadcrafter and Arai.  My ride today took me past rural lands and farms dotted with rolling hills and grazing cattle.  It was good riding.

In Wilsonville I went to SR 25, past the steam generating plant, across the river, and through a couple of turf farms just south of Harpersville.

I have many memories of these roads.  My 350 Four, Z1, and 1978 GL, all traveled these roads many times, in a simpler less crowded Alabama.   I thought about stopping at Richey's BBQ in Harpersville (it was supper time) for a sandwich, but I promised my sister I'd eat supper with her, so kept moving.

I left Harpersville on U.S. 231 and streamed on toward Pell City.  The city was still quasi busy from yesterday's nearby Talladega 500.  Several stores had the familiar sign out front "Welcome Race Fans."

Where the north side of Pell City was once desolate, it is now bustling with a Wal Mart and a row of fast food places.

With the afternoon sun dropping I stayed on U.S. 231, and made some nice leans as the roadway threaded its way up a few hills to Asheville.  I moved the suspension of the RT to the sport mode to stiffen up the shocks.  The  1200 responded and soon I found myself tilted in a few nice curves.  A man in a slow moving truck moved over for me as I motored past him on a long, twisting uphill run.  It was fun.

The courthouse in Asheville was under renovation, but this late in the afternoon all the workers had gone home.  I think it will look good when they finish it.

I left U.S. 231 for U.S. 411 and began my favorite part of the ride.  The highway now transports a long rider through a nice valley, populated by farms and homes with rail fences.

   "populated by farms and homes with  rail fences."

Alabama is a warm land of green fields, crops and livestock.  All along 411 I witnessed neatly kept houses and cars.  None were the homes of rich people, but they were nice.  I can trace many of these homes back to my early days when I first started riding to Gadsden.

These green, rolling hills border U.S. 411 between Asheville
and Rainbow City.  Ever get the chance, ride it.

It was a quiet time as the miles effortlessly fell before the graceful RT.  I thought about the ride ahead, and how I was glad to be back on the road after a tepid winter.  I had just had the RT freshly serviced (including a front tire) to get it ready for the 2009 touring season.  I break my year into 2 phases: Riding season (winter) and touring season (spring, summer and early fall)

    
"It was a quiet time as the miles effortlessly fell to the graceful RT."

I crossed the Coosa River and came into Rainbow City about 6:30pm amid cascading late afternoon shadows.  It had been a great ride, and a fine way to spend 2.5 hours.

Rainbow Drive was semi busy as I went past a few old shopping centers and fast food places.  I went in my sister's established neighborhood of quiet streets and old trees, and a few minutes later set the stand after a 130 mile ride.  Her chocolate lab ran out the door barking to check me out, but when he realized it was me quieted down and wagged his tail.

I let myself in and found my sister in the kitchen.  "Hey what's goin on?"  I said as I took my coat off.  "Hey now, where ya off to this time?"  "Somewhere up north, gonna turn around in Pennsylvania somewhere, see Uncle Rom, then head south to DC."  "You know you live by a whole different set of rules then the rest of us, how do you think you can get away with it?"  "I dunno, but I hope forever."

She showed me to my room, but I knew where it was.

"So what do ya want for supper?"  "You know I've been thinking about BBQ since I came by Richey's."  "Oh so you came up the old way.  Was it nice?"  "Yeah it was."  The interstate was finished through Birmingham in the early 80s, and the need for back roads was eliminated.  Even though the new route is 20 miles longer, it removes about 15 minutes of run time.  Not near as much fun though.  "Well we can pick up some BBQ from the place down the street, not as good as Richey's but not bad."

After getting out of my riding gear, I went out and cleaned off the RT's screen and fairing with Plexus. 

On the way to pick up the BBQ I went by the ATM for a little cash.  My brother in law was home when we returned.

We ate supper with Fox News on the big screen.

I checked my Iphone to see what the weather looked like for tomorrow's ride to West Virginia.  Radar indicated a large band of rain working east.  "Tomorrow should be ok, but after that I dunno."

We stayed up late watching "3:10 to Yuma" (2008 version).  I set the alarm on the Iphone for 6:30am and went to bed at 12:30am

Next- Heading to West Virginia