Into The Clouds (and then some)

Thursday the 29th was warm, blue skies and sunny. Saturday too. Friday, not so much. Never-the less three hearty riders, Dan, Frank and Bob S. headed north to Dahlonega and points north for a day of riding in the hills. Passing through Dawsonville they noticed the Hot Dog Place, a favorite stop, had a sign "thanks for 10 good years". They're out of business. Bummer.

Further north they had a more pleasant surprise signaled by orange barrels at attention lining route 9 at the entrance to Lumpkin County. The tar snake capital of Georgia has been repaved and is now a smooth and well marked ride. No curves were straightened so its still fun just not as twitchy. The guys had hoped to stop at the diner on Wolf Pen Gap Road that Larry and Bob discovered this past Spring. But a call to see if they were open on Fridays got only "this number is no longer in service". Another bummer.

They settled for a stop in Dahlonega at one of the favorites of the locals, Wagon Wheels. Good food and some local color. 

While gearing up after lunch the clouds started to let loose a few drops and the skies looked darker that before. Not ones to worry they headed up to the Stone Pile to pick up SR 60 to Suches. Not long after the 'corkscrew' they entered the clouds. Visibility? Not much. Now with vertical walls on one side, vertical drop off on the other and a disappearing fog-line, the pucker factor was high, but they successfully crawled there way up the mountain. By the time they passed the Appalachian Trail crossing they were out of the clouds and came down into Suches with rays of light peeking through the clouds. It was like this through Wolf Pen Gap (thank goodness) and over to the Richard Russell. There the clouds were moving fast, scudding over the peaks and sunlight broke through. Things were looking up...until they saw the drop down sign announcing "ice on the road". How could that be? It's in the high forties? Probably left over from one of those cold nights a while back. Talk about optimists.

The ride up the Richard Russel gave them confidence they were right..dry roads, no traffic, great riding until they made the turn by the high-point viewing area. Here again visibility decreased AND the cliffs and road were covered with ice. Not good. Luckily there was a strip of ashes or dark gravel left in the middle of the lane. The guys slowed to a crawl, kept the bikes as vertical as possible, and passed through maybe a hundred yards of ice. It seemed like a lot more. The worst part was on the ride down the mountain anticipating more ice around every turn and with every dark spot on the road. But around half way down to 75a confidence returned and the s-curves that make the RR a favorite ride could be taken at fun speed.

Soon after getting on 75a they turned of into Smithgall Woods for a break. Nice place. From there it was back roads to the top of SR 400 and home. Mileage was about 165, ten more than advertised, but that was probably due to wheels spinning on the ice 

Lots of adventure on this ride, just like they like it.Here's a short video complements of Dan