http://www.al-tn-trailoftears.org/
The Trail of Tears is a commerative ride that if held free annually the third sat. in September. The ride starts in Chatanooga TN, and ends in Waterloo, AL, which is just west of Florence. The ride is to honor those indians lost that were forced from their homes by the white-eye, to the reservations. Numbers of the last attendance were in excess of 90,000 motorcycles. I rode the trail in 2001, and must say it is one of the most memorable rides of my life. The ride starts in Chatanooga, TN around 6 am, with a temp of high fourties. Youll want to get to the starting point early as so not to get caught in the back of the ride. It will take approx a hour to get everyone moving. It is the equivalent of a freight train stacking cars, the accordian effect. Move then stop, because of breakdowns etc. Police escort is used, however should you get caught in the back of the pack it is possible that when the escort moves back up to the front it could leave you with the traffic jams following. If you ride in a pack with your buddies, its best to tell them just to meet you in Waterloo. Trying to keep a group under such condition is near impossible. This ride attracts all types of rider, some experienced, some just fiquring out where the clutch lever is. Use extreme caution as to who is around you and to the flow of traffic. I saw a couple of riders go down. Dont take to the negative of the ride, I tell you this to guide you, not persuade you not to participate. This is prob the largest rides on the planet, and is a must do at least once. People will line the roadways, overpasses, etc. for miles on in and cheer you on as if you were a war hero returning from victorious battle. There are several stops along the way with vendors selling drinks etc. Gas stations will take on lines so I would advice you to fill up before hand but youll prob have to take on fuel during the trip. A normal pace would get you to the destination in approx 4hours, however being that I was caught in the rear and with traffic jams that engulfed me it took 12hours to make the trip. After some clutch, walking my bike for what seemed miles I told my little women to hold on, and my buddies that I would meet them in Waterloo. The sun warmed the day up nicely, so warm in fact that sitting in traffic was down right miserable. I began to split lanes, hug the shoulder etc., just what ever it took to keep moving(to me this was part of the fun, and like ive said keep to the front). Youll also want to avoid left hand turns at all cost, and be aware of motorist making them. With 90,000 cycles all moving in the same direction your talking of a steady stream of traffic for an hour easily. Any motorist sitting in traffic that long will definitely loss his patience by that time, and probably proceed to 'squeeze' through trafffic (one of the accidents I witnessed was as such). Once arriving in Waterloo, you will be greeted by a live band, and plenty of vendors. Camping is an option, or you can take a short ride to Florence and find a room(make reservations should you chose so). Its a great experience and should be done at least once. Check out the web site for further info.

 

Sounds incredible Sincecrazy.

 

Yes,does sound like 1B.A rally! guess there doesn't need to be more publicity for that one.was it fun enough you'd do it again?

 

Id go again, but I would like to share it with someone who hasnt done it before. Its always good to see someones first response to such a thing. Maybe we could organize members from the post for such a thing.

 

Sincecrazy,

The ride sounds awesome! I wish we had something like that here in California. Biggest thing going here is Hot August Nights (Reno, NV) & Street Vibrations runs (RENO, NV). Both runs take place once every year in August and September respectively. It's good times, but, doesn't even come close to what your describing. Probably about 40,000 to 50,000 bikers max.

I'll just have to put that on the wish list of places to ride. I'm gonna make the journey to Daytona next year, 2006.

Anyone know of any good rides out west?

Thanks also for the warm welcome.

-HDFATBOY-

 

That sounds awesome. I wanna go.
The biggest ride I've done was our Love Ride to Castaic. Last year was about 25,000 or 30,000. That was a pain in the ***. I would go nuts if I was with 90,000 but I would do it just for what it's about. Sounds great.

 

Heres a pic from the ride.

 

 

That's got to be a sight to see.

 

Sincecrazy,

It's an awesome ride, but it doen't end in Waterloo. Most people end their ride in Waterloo, but the complete ride continues on the next morning to Oklahoma where the indians were taken to. I have never rode the entire ride, but I have friends that have and the group that goes on from Waterloo is much smaller and you don't have the crazy ride that takes place from Chatt. to Waterloo.

The ride used to stop in Stevenson Ala. but this year it didn't and that helped some with the bikes not jamming up as bad as it usually does. I plan on riding the entire ride next year and I'm looking forward to it.

If you have never rode this, you need to at least once and you will enjoy it, it's a sight to see, motorcycles as far as you can see in front of you and behind you as well. I just don't recomend it for a novice rider.

This ride is the worlds largest organized ride.

John TN