C-CW Ramble-- July 16, 2016

During the week we kept our eyes on the weather report for Saturday the 16th and watched it change daily from lots of thunderstorm activity to, a clear day, then back again to thunderstorms. By Friday we stopped looking and decided come-what-may we were taking off early Saturday, unless we were in the midst of a gully-washer.

As it turned out Saturday morning was clear and a little cooler than it had been. Ten of us (Garrett, Dave, Larry, Steve D., Mel, Bob K., John, Scott, Tad and Bob S.) headed north on "secret" backroads aiming for Silver City, and Ga 9. After a stop at the Chevron outside Dahlonega we headed north to Stone Pile Gap and then, rather than follow our usual route to Suches, we rode over toward Helen to pick up the Richard Russell Scenic Byway at its foot at Ga 75a.

The newish pavement on this  southwest side of the RR was a delight, making the curves up to the summit fast and enjoyable. Past the summit however only one lane of the road was repaved, leaving our side, going down, littered with just enough gravel in the curves to make the going "interesting" at times.

Before reaching the end of the RR at Ga 180 three of the V-Stromers and Larry on his KLR decided to short cut over to US 129 by way of Helton Creek Falls.  A short cut it wasn't, as a short way in one of the Stroms and its rider took a dunk in the creek. No significant damage but lots of water-filled boots from getting the bike upright in moving water.

About the time the "pavement" riders were about to turn onto Wolf Pen Gap Road at Vogel they realized they were one rider short, Mel. Bob K. and Scott backtracked onto the RR to see if Mel had any trouble, but came back without seeing him. We tried cellphone but had inadequate signal strength. After waiting a while we decided  to go ahead  through Wolf Pen Gap to Suches hoping the off-roaders and Mel, knowing we were stopping at TWO for lunch, would catch up there; they did.

 At lunch Tad, who was running low on fuel, walked back a short way to the see if the station/store on the corner had gasoline. No luck, their pump handles were bagged (or missing altogether). Rather than head down Ga 60 directly to Dahlonega for the nearest gas, Tad figured he had enough fuel to take the R-Ranch-Clay Creek way down to Ga 9 with rest of us, and gas up there at the Chevron we stopped at in the morning. About 3/4 of the way there it looked as if he was going dry, so we pulled into a Baptist Church's parking lot to siphon some gas from Larry's KLR (aka the Exxon Valdez) but found Garrett had a liter fuel bottle that was used instead. That done, we continued on toward Clay Creek Falls only to discover a country store with gas pumps a short way down the road. Tad and others filled up there and we headed for the Foothills area south of Big Canoe.

After pulling into the Foothill's Chevron the clouds that had been gathering unloaded and bikes, but not riders, got a good wash down. After perhaps fifteen minutes or so the downpour slowed and we were on our way home on what soon turned into dry roads and sunshine.

For a short video (go full screen HD)  

Total mileage was less than 200, probably close to the 184 the H-D Planner calculated.