October 2020 – Halloween Ramble

This Halloween, Larry, Dave, Mike and Mel rambled through North Georgia in all its fall glory.  Their weather was a far cry from the warm tropical moisture of Zeta a few days earlier.  With starting temps in the mid-forties, heated grips and gear were prized conveniences.  They took easy-going backroads like Cove, Grandview, Sunrise and Doublehead Gap around Jasper and N to Van Zandt’s in Dial.  It was a welcome respite as temps had dropped to 41 in the upper elevations and winds were blowing 20+ mph.  Thin morning cloud cover was delaying the day’s expected warmup.  Fortunately, the previous day’s dry air, sunshine, and winds had nicely cleared the roads of the extensive weather debris from Zeta.  But while the metro area largely had power restored by Saturday, it was apparent from the numerous bucket trucks they weaved around, that work was still underway in the mountains.

After hot biscuits and coffee at Van Zandt’s, they pressed on – down 60 to Suches.  Being too early for lunch, they skipped the usual stop at TWO (motorcycle resort) and continued E across Wolf Pen Gap where they saw their most hazardous road of the day.  Since WPG has lots of tree cover and is protected from the wind, the extra-curvy mountain road still had 6” ridges of debris on the road and required extra caution.  But there was always a clear, dry tire track to ride and it was still an enjoyable pass, if only at 20 mph.  From there, they took the clear and fast 19 south to lunch at Roadkill BBQ just N of Turner’s Corner.

To their surprise, Roadkill was hosting a Halloween car show and costume event and they really enjoyed the eclectic mix of cars from classic to modern to rat rod!  And the BBQ was great, too.

From there it was homeward bound via the usual suspects - 9, 52, Yellow Creek, etc.  The morning cloud cover lifted and temps finally started with a five, then even a six by the time they made it home.  A very enjoyable ride and good “shake down” for the upcoming winter season.  About 175 miles for the day.  Join us next time!