Some say it was 29 degrees, others 30 or 32. but all agreed it was cold when five of us started out at 9:30 am to explore some back roads in Cherokee, Bartow, Gordon, Pickens and Dawson counties. To accommodate the cold nearly all of us had brought along some heat in the form of heated vests and gloves. All except our hearty Englishman who relied on his thick leather jacket.

We started out from Ball Ground but soon turned on to Mineral Springs road and headed West with the sun on our backs. We explored many different roads, some paved, some gravel and some wash-boarded dirt, really enjoying some new mountain vistas and passing through some farms and "ranches'  that kindled thoughts of earlier days in north Georgia. I won't name all of the roads but there is a map at  

Route Map November 10, 2018

We got to Jasper around noon and headed for 61 Main for lunch, and warmth. After a longer wait than usual (there was some sort of celebration in the back) we were seated an had a great lunch.

In March 2017, several hardy souls rode to Bell Mountain (just outside Hiawassee) and experienced rain, wind and snow – yet still talked about what a great ride it was?!  With that praise bouncing in our brains, we decided to try it again, this time without the snow, but maybe still the rain and wind as Hurricane Florence was just over the line in SC.  As Larry, Steve and Dave fueled up to start, another V-Strom pulled in, gassed up and decided our plan beat his and joined us!  Welcome, Robert (from Holly Springs)!  It was a pleasure to ride with you and hope to see you again.

The riders took favorite backroads like Matt Hwy, Bannister and 115 to Cleveland to their morning chicken biscuit with the folks that invented chicken biscuits.  Although those roads were efficient, they weren’t nearly as pleasing as 75 N to Helen, then Sautee Nacoochee and 197 along the west shores of Lake Burton and Moccasin Creek State Park – very enjoyable and very deserted on a Saturday morning.  From there, 76 (Georgia’s Mtn Hwy) led to Hiawassee and Bell Mtn. 

The road up Bell Mtn is a steep, former Jeep trail now nicely paved, albeit narrow and with the same tight switchbacks.   About a quarter is one-car-wide and the rest is a car-and-a-half.  But your reward is a 5 star view (on a 4 star scale)!  The 360 view overlooking the Hiawassee mountains and Lake Chatuge is spectacular – the best overlook we’ve seen.  And as the commercial says… “We’ve seen a thing or two!”  Don’t worry about the trip up… there were 10:1 bikes to the cars at the top!

Saturday the 28th, six riders (Larry, Dave, SteveD, Mel, BobK, and Don) met in Ball Ground for a leisurely ramble north toward Ellijay and the Cohutta’s.  We didn’t realize it, but we would soon ride thru the “Shine Peddler’s Metric Century” bicycle ride in the Jasper area.  On peaceful backroads like Grandview and Burnt Mountain, it really wasn’t any trouble for either us or the hundred or so cyclists we encountered.  “It’s all good” when you’re on two wheels.  

Our first stop was www.Apex Cycle Shop.com located deep in the woods outside of Ellijay (no one will ever stumble across this place by accident – GPS required!)  Apex is an award-winning custom bike builder converting old BMW’s and Ducati’s into cool works of art.  The owner Wes gave us an awesome tour of his shop, custom bikes, and a lounge worthy of HGTV.  At the risk of overstating it, this place just oozes cool – check ‘em out for yourself. 

Next stop was to be the awesome overlook at Fort Mountain State Park (W of beginning to rumble.  So… we took the “quicker and easier” option of stopping at the Cohutta Overlook on 52 outside the park.  A great view and quicker to lunch.  But before lunch was the wonderful ride down the mountain to Chatsworth on a true first-class motorcycle road!  Lunch at Edna’s was delicious

Friday afternoon the 15th, Mel, Dave and Larry played hooky and set off for an overnight adventure in the N Ga mountains.  Though recent weather had been very wet, our forecast looked hopeful for a great trip.   We enjoyed old favorites like Burnt Mountain, Sunrise Ridge and Doublehead Gap as we wound our way northward.  After a well-earned break at the always-enjoyable Van Zandt’s in Dial, Mel decided to forego the “off-road” trip through the forest to our campsite in Suches.  His brand new knees were beginning to feel the strain (and that turned out to be a good call).

Mel headed down twisty 60 to Suches and warmed up a porch rocker at our night’s destination, Two Wheels of Suches – the Southeast’s original motorcycle campground and lodge.  Larry and Dave began their trek thru the forest and were quickly surprised.  Immediately upon turning right onto FS 58 (Noontootla Creek), they encountered freshly-dumped, foot-thick, baseball-sized gravel – a real handful on their loaded bikes.  Thankfully there weren’t too many rocky sections to negotiate, but… the road grader had been in heavy use and, combined with all the recent rain, created long stretches of soft, rutted mud to negotiate.  By the time they made it to the top of the mountain they were pooped!  Fortunately, the remaining trip across FS 42 and down Gaddistown Road and Hwy 60 were superb - and quick, since the afternoon popups were starting to pop.