Big Loop Ride--August 13,2016

Dave, Steve D., and Bob S. hoped the weather forecast on their smart phones was correct, though the sky said otherwise, as they headed north at 8:30. When they got past Jasper they got their first glimpse of the mountains, shrouded in dark clouds. Even closer-by Sharptop's peak was in a cloud.

Not to worry. They continued north heading over Sassafras and down to Cartecay to pick up rural Rackley Road over to Roy Road with its abrupt, ninety degree turns, that never fail to take you by surprise. Then they continued north passing the forest road heading up to Springer Mountain, the southern terminus of the Appalachian Trail.

Soon they were on Aska Road and took a break at a breakfast restaurant in Blue Ridge.  By this time the blue-sky patches outnumbered the clouds and rain seamed off the agenda for a while.

After passing over the dam that impounds the Toccoa River to form Lake Blue Ridge, they followed Old 76, aka Veteran's Memorial Parkway, and reached Ga 60 near Morganton. Ga 60, from Morganton to Suches, is a favorite motorcycle path, having numerous sweeps and turns interspersed with open pastoral vistas. However, this day, for the first time, forward motion was often impeded by cages that freaked out on every turn. with no recognition of the line of vehicle tailing behind them. It was the first, but not the last moving road blocks encountered.

Entering Suches they headed for TW of Suches, aka TWO, for lunch. They were not alone. Every seat on the wrap-around porch was occupied with riders and the parking lot was full of motorcycles of every description and purpose. Surprisingly the restaurant was only sparsely occupied and the line for lunch, short.

After lunch they headed east on Wolf Pen Gap Road, renowned as Georgia's Tail of the Dragon. The dragon was tame this day as once again cars, and to a lesser extent bicycles, kept passage slowed through much of the ride over to Vogel State Park. Perhaps this was a good thing, as the Georgia State Patrol was sitting off the road, out of sight, on the straight stretch along the park's lake. You've got to believe a lot of riders pour it on at that point, after coming out of the gap's twisties. LEO's were on many of the roads this Saturday, really discouraging any quick double yellow passes,

Unfortunately this road hogging repeated coming down from Blood Mountain, in spite of numerous designated "Slow Vehicle Turn Out" areas all the way down, almost to Turner's Corner.

After a pass through Dahlonega, and a break at the local Chevron, they headed down Auraria and River Roads, skirting Dawsonville, and soon arrived home.

A great ride in spite of the occasional crowding on the road. In total a little over 200 miles, with lots of clouds but not a drop of rain fell on them.