Ridge And Valley Ride (2)

We tried something new this time. Instead of heading north to the mountains of Georgia, Tennessee or North Carolina for a full day of riding, we decided to shorten the day and mileage to accommodate busy schedules and more sizes of motorcycles.

It sort of worked. Nine of us, on eight motorcycles, took off at 8 a.m.heading west to ride the Ridge and Valley Scenic Byway, stop at Villanow and Carters Lake on what was thought to be, a leisurely 4 hour loop, with an end-of-ride stop around noon at a restaurant in Jasper. Mileage was guessed to be around 150. The mileage was off a bit, more like 165, but the time was missed by 25 percent, 5 hours to lunch, instead of 4. But there were reasons.

Our first stop at a traffic light in Canton was a harbinger of things to come. The light just wouldn't turn green for us. After a long wait Sally K. leaped off Bob K's pillion, made a dash to the pedestrian signal button, and got back just as the stoplight  turned to green. Bravo Sally

Finally on the move, we made our way through Canton and Waleska enjoying the ride in the cool countryside when... the dreaded "Flagman Ahead" sign came into view. Sure enough there he was. He advised us to relax "it will be 8 to ten minutes, relax". So off went the ignitions and everyone dismounted and had a good chat. Finally the follow-me truck returned and we were on our way again past the workers. Then, a few miles farther in Rydal we stalled again, this time for a long,long freight train carrying coal south. After this the ride went as planned.

We stopped briefly in Adairsville then on toward Armuchee, turning north just short of the town on to Floyd Springs Road, close to the southern most point on the Scenic Byway. Once on the Byway we rode into the valley between Johns and Horn mountains. We passed through numerous "green tunnels" as we road along Johns Creek, stopping for a while at The Pocket, a camping spot that 76 years ago was the site of one of the last C.C.C. camps.

From The Pocket we headed north to Villanow to see the general store that has been in operation since 1840. After a short stop for photos we headed southeast, avoiding Calhoun traffic by branching east, passing through Resaca instead, on our way to Carters Lake. The road up the hill to the Visitor's Center at Carters Lake was reminiscent of some mountain roads. At the top the views of the lake were stunning and the center itself packed with information and exhibits about the lake and its inhabitants.

At Carters Lake we called ahead to our chosen spot for lunch to confirm we were on our way albeit an hour late. We pulled into Jasper around 1 p.m. and quickly headed to the restaurant, 61 Main. The food was excellent, if unusual, and all seemed pleased with the choice.

Too soon we headed out into the mid day sun and heat to ride south and take our various ways home. While this was a shorter ride than usual we still managed to ride in 7 of Georgia's 159 counties and we had a good time doing it.

Very few videos but a some photos