The Atlanta Motor Speedway (AMS) labor day race weekend is becoming an annual gig for myself and 5 other riders. We attempted to spend an entire weekend last year (2011) but were chased out by Tropical Storm Lee. That, and my Harley I had last year caught fire on the way up... but that's an entirely different tale!
Here's some pics from the ride, mostly done on ST type bikes... our fearless leader by proxy (who organizes all our tickets and such) is the only exception, riding an Ultra Classic, but we still like him all the same.. lol
Along with my new Connie, we have a C10 also, towing the trailer he built for these kind of events, we labeled the "Chuck Wagon."
All packed up and ready to go, my C14 awaits deployment into speed land sporting all sorts of camping gear buried in there somewhere!
Chuck Wagon in tow from his C10, Duane put together a really nice package... you would not believe what he crammed onto that thing... This was a "box" trailer (Northern Tool kit trailer) and he cut it down, narrowing it, and then added the diamond plate and LED lighting, etc...
Fearless Leader Bill, at our meet point, a Cracker Barrel off I-75 north of Tampa.
Mark's Honda ST... nice machine!
Rob's Ducati Multistrada (which translated from Italian, means "many roads..." or -- maybe "very expensive!" lol
Bruce's nice GS1200, sporting all the goodies including Zumo 665 and XM/Weather package... He has a really cool shock-absorbing mount from
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Highly recommend this restaurant in Quitman, GA... yes, we took mostly back-roads going up, hooking up with a hotel in Albany, GA...
Nice Econo-Lodge in Albany, not so nice area, but we didn't have any problems after all.... cheap too! $59 a night for a double. Rooms clean, smelled fine too (except for me, since it was HOT and I was sweating like a crazy man!)
Hey, sorry, I could only pack two pair of pants!
Supply run... we couldn't get too much, since we didn't have but a small cooler on the trailer to put any left-over... we ended up leaving two beers in the fridge; considering the area, probably an appropriate tip for the cleaning staff!
My fat-ass doing what I do best... well, there is one other thing but that's for a completely different forum!
All packed back up and reading for day-two.. next stop, AMS! (yea, your darned right we didn't leave a single scrap of stuff outside overnight.. those little ferrets that seem to occupy these kinds of places would have a field day... On a side note, look closely underneath my bike... see the outline of something on the ground? These jokers decided to pour a puddle of oil underneath my C14 and when I walked back to the bike from up front by the pool, I was mortified! I saw my entire weekend go up in smoke again... So I jump on the ground, trashing my shirt... looking for the leak -- and I can't find one! Then I dab some oil on my finger... it's fresh! So I smell a rat when the two hooligans come out of their room.. "oh, what happened, Tom?" I said, nice try, #$%&bags... we got a laugh out of it... and I will die two years earlier now, thanks guys...
Me likeeeee! Oh, and the panier's are ok too!
This Ducati is a super-nice bike! Let me digress a bit -- fully knowing this is a Concours or ZG forum... if you're interesting in learning more about the bike, go to the link below the pic, check out a rather "cheeky" review. I cannot believe what the cram into this thing... and yes, even these Ducati aficionados chastise Ducati for not adding a.... wait for it... CRUISE CONTROL... sound familiar?
Ducati Multistrada 1200 S ReviewOk, stop it... hey, I get hungry on the road!
OK, here we are at the Campground... this is before. We had three sites in the Legends tent area, Row E #1, 3 and 5....
...and after...
Chilling after cleaning up and setting up! Friggin' hot as heck too... sweaty
balls... I mean... oh nuts, forget it..
My humble abode...
Lets go racing!
Perfect seats for both nights... Section 248 for the nationwide and 247 (right above the start-finish line) for the Sprint Cup Advocare 500 race... wow!
Tail-Gating of sorts under the drive-through of a local bank with some other Tampa are folks...
Moe (
http://www.nationalpools.net/) yea, shameless plug, I know... slung the breakfast grub!
Other fare was: clams, pork, fish, bean dips, beer, bloody mary's (ahem... no mom, I didn't have any of those!)
No, I did not burn this cigar, I promise!!!!
Sometime during the entire mind-blurring weekend, I spied Bruce's trunk and snapped a pic... Team Wanker is kind-of a different thing, if anyone in the Southeast knows Dixie Dual Sport you've probably heard of it.. I'd have to explain it over a few beers..
Start of the Sunday race, the 500... Hearing protection mandatory!
http://s62.photobucket.com/albums/h90/tmbevtfd/AMS%202012/?action=view¤t=2012-09-01_19-24-50_571.mp4Look at that sky, this is Sunday Eve... wow! The Race Gods were smiling on us (thanks Dale! Know you're up there, even though I was never a #3 fan...)
Post-Race Fireworks!
Monday morn, all packed up, and what...? Eating again? Hey, we get hungry! Found this little place in the boonies, I am not sure where it is... but food was great!
"Yes, will that be Italian or German sausage with your meal, sir?"
This little guy (the turtle, not Rob)... was seen by yours truly underneath Rob's Ducati at a gas station! We were just standing there, and I glance down and say, "crap, there's a turtle under your bike!" So Rob grabs it and Bruce (BMW) says, "take a picture next to the Ducati with the turtle... " I look at him like.. what? He says, "you know... Ducati... and a turtle? They're not slow, so it'll be kinda.. oh never mind..." Got a laugh out of that parallel (even though it's true, that Duc has 150hp on tap)...
Three of the six of us took the Superslab home, the other three went more backroads... we needed to haul butt and we had the bikes to do it, so we did! No nastygrams from the po-po either, thankfully...
Great weekend, had a blast... NASCAR is a great option still, no matter what you think about Stock Car Racing, it's cheap compared to pro sports.... Tix are cheap, camping fees are reasonable.. heck, even the food and beer isn't that bad... we'll be back next year, but... anyone have a BIG RV we can borrow?
