3 more do the AAA

[rockosmith]

On Friday, Paul, Gail, and I left on the AAA ride. We went counterclockwise, starting on the west side near Columbus, MS. We departed at 5:20 on Friday morning, overnighted in Phenix City and arrived back at our starting place on Saturday evening at 7:18. No incidents or bad weather. Just about a dozen (literally) raindrops. My odometer showed 1335 miles for the run, probably due to taking a couple of wrong turns when the GPS decided to go on strike. The GPS showed 1396 but it has some issues of inaccurate mileage when it loses signal, which occurred several times in the heavily wooded areas. Anyway, we had 24 hours and 40 minutes of seat time and 4 hours 3 minutes stopped, excluding the overnight. The entire northbound run on the AL/GA border was most impressive as was the area around Waterloo. I didn't know Alabama had that much beautiful countryside. My thanks to whoever conceived this idea (Bob and Gary?) and put the time into laying out the route.

Dave

[SteveS]

Congratulations Dave, Paul and Gail. Alabama is a beautiful place to live and ride. Who's next - Connie - Vance - Martin?

[Vance]

You guys are making me jealous! Yes...I will do it. Just haven't planned exactly when yet! COngrsatulations you guys. I am most impressed!

[R90srider]

Way to go guys and gal and congratulations to you three for taking on the challenge and completing it successfully. I totally agree with you that we are very fortunate to have such wonderful scenery and great and exciting roads to ride in our State. Gary, Steve, Tom and I were especially surprised about how good CR 8 out of Waterloo is. The Coon Dog road, in spite of rough spots in places, and the series of roads from Alabama 65 to Stevenson were also excellent. We thought that the majority of the roads were very good to ride with only a few transit roads through built up areas that were not too much fun. Many of the little towns and even larger towns were interesting to see too.

Were all of the turns and printed directions accurate? If not, and you found some errors, please let me know what they are so I can make the corrections.

Paul and Gail. Special congratulations to you two for completing every recent challenge the Club has offered: The 4 Corners Run, The Extreme Alabama Run (twice) and now the All Around Alabama Run. Darn good job! Just curious, which one, if any, was more enjoyable?

Be sure to collect all of your ABEES checkoffs and send me the results. At a minimum, you got 5 of the 7 extremes. That alone will give you 15 more jacket tickets (5 extremes and 10 bonus tickets) for successfully completing the run. Also, don't forget that Bogart's offerers a 25% off coupon for successfully completing the All Around Alabama Run. Gary and I both took advantage of the coupon and saved close to $200.00 with our purchases. I will notify Bogart's that you completed the run so feel free to use it anytime you wish.

Just for every one's information, the All Around Alabama Garmin GPS routes and printed turn by turn directions suitable for a roll chart and tank bag are available to download on our club website (www.bmwmoal.org) > ABEES Touring Guide page.

[rockosmith]

I can't comment on the printed directions as I didn't look at them. The GPS routes were all fine. The only problem we ran into was a bridge that was out just east of Hazel Green with no detour posted, just a road closed sign. No real problem though.

Dave

[R90srider]

Thanks Dave.

Glad to hear the routes are correct and that you were able to find your way around the detour.

[dixieoutlaw]

Congrats to the three of you. I agree it is a wonderful ride and a bit of a challenge. Sorry about the bridge being out. If it is the same bridge I am thinking of it was out earlier this year when I did a recon on that part of the ride, but it was open when we ran our ride.
As Bob stated please tally up your points and turn them in. This deservingly puts you among the leaders for the ABEES ticket contest.
I will be interested in hearing your tales of the ride. If Ihad know you were coming by I would have sit out on Clem Road and cheered you on as you crossed the Interstate.

Gary

[Gail]

Thanks to Dave, it was a very enjoyable ride for Paul & myself. What a great way to see Alabama! Dave had the route down pat, and due to his good navigational skills, we lost no time except when I hit the wall near the end of the ride. Somewhere up around Waterloo, I just ran out of steam and I had to stop for a Coke. Dave & Paul, being the burley guys that they are, could have kept riding, but the sissy of the bunch caused an unexpected stop . I knew I needed to stop when we came to a railroad crossing and I was disappointed the train didn't hit me so it would all just end . I especially enjoyed the ferry crossing ( I am easy to entertain). There are so many nice little unknown towns that you go thru on this ride. Unless you had a specific reason for going there you would never know they existed. Also, I enjoyed seeing all the wildlife and beautiful horses along the way. I would also like to thank the person or persons responsibe for this ride, as it was well worth doing. Gail

[R90srider]

Glad you enjoyed seeing the scenery Gail. There are guys that could not have make it, and that goes double for the other two runs you and Paul did including yours truly. You were very wise to stop and take a break!

The run was so enjoyable for me that I am thinking about doing it again in reverse (counter clock wise). If not this year, next year for sure. I may be bumming an extra bed at the Thornes the evening before stating the run. I have a friend (Arrow buddy) in Columbus, Ga that I haven't seen in a while and will bunk with him the first night out.

I enjoyed the ferry ride also. There are two other ferry rides that are just as enjoyable, maybe more: The Gees Bend Ferry from Camden to Gees Bend and the little Davis ferry that crosses the Alabama at Packers Bend in the Monroeville area.

Navigating with a GPS is a big help, but it can definitely be done using the route sheet. It was good to know that all of the turns were accurate.

[terese]

[QUOTE=R90Srider;3145]...I have a friend (Arrow buddy) in Columbus, Ga that I haven't seen in a while and will bunk with him the first night out. QUOTE]

You have friends???????

[R90srider]

Hope you are one of them.

[terese]

Nice to be included