#8 - Georgia
North Georgia Mountains
In Northern Georgia, not two hours above bustling Atlanta, the land begins to gently tumble and swell. The legendary Blue Ridge Mountains begin here--part of the Appalachian Range that extends all the way to Maine. It seems to be a secret that the Georgian landscape includes such voluptuous assets, and as a result these mountains and the roads winding amongst them are usually quite empty.
We began in Helen, Georgia, or "Alpine Helen" if you really want to feed into the spirit of the town. This turn-of-the-century lumber camp was mostly abandoned in the 1960s until savvy businessmen morphed it into a Bavarian village. The game is a good one, and the German beer and gingerbread trim draw more than 300,000 visitors to the town for the Oktoberfest season. Just two miles south of Helen is Sautee, where we stopped to fondle geological curiosities at one of the many roadside rock shops. There, at the merging of state Routes 17 and 75, you can park and ponder the Nacoochee Mound, a mysterious aboriginal burial site. In 1915, excavation by the Smithsonian Institute revealed 75 skeletons situated in various postures. The Cherokee used this spot as a meeting place to perform ceremonial rites. Oddly, there's a Colonial-style gazebo set atop the mysterious mound--a telling example of how aggressively we planted our own roots in this country.
There are three wonderfully curvy and picturesque roads leading north out of Helen: state Routes 356, 17/75 and 348, a.k.a. the Richard B. Russell Parkway. We recommend the latter as a departure route from Helen. It's like diving off the deep end into a scenic swimming pool. This road offers some gentle sweeping corners, but most of it is challenging, with 25-mph S-curves and plenty of exciting elevation changes. Weeping rock walls on some sections of the road can cause risky moisture runoff. The Parkway is a 24-mile run that ends at Wolf Pen Gap Road (state Route 180). Some say this is the most curvaceous road in Georgia. Turning north on this serpentine highway will bring you to Brasstown Bald Mountain. At 4784 feet, it's the highest point in Georgia. Born some 300 million years ago, the profoundly eroded Blue Ridge Mountains were once as tall and jagged as the younger Rockies. It seems age shortens mountains just as it does people.
You can ride an additional twisty bit to the top of Brasstown Bald, where you'll pay a small fee to park if you want to hoof it up to the mountain's observatory for unobstructed viewing of the graceful, forested landscape below. Brasstown Bald gets its name because nothing grows on its knoll-like top except thick grass. There's no explanation for why some mountaintops in the region are devoid of foliage, but it's fairly common.
Taking the winding state Route 180 south leads you down to Suches, home of Two Wheels Only (TWO), a campground and lodge exclusively designed and maintained for motorcycle enthusiasts. TWO is open from mid-April to early November.
From rural and rustic Suches our route carried us north on state Route 60, another dizzily twisted road, and eventually into Blue Ridge on state Route 76. The 76 east toward Clayton via Blairsville is a long, easy ride with smooth, wide, gently arching road surfaces, allowing a break from calculating cambers and complex corners. Kudzu, a creeping vine brought to the South from Japan to control roadside erosion, grows rampant along the road, shrouding whole forests and turning power poles into spooky specters. Once past Hiawassee near the North Carolina border, we cut south on state Route 197, which bends around the shores of jewellike Lake Burton, playground for Atlanta's well-to-do. Elaborate boathouses hint at the magnificence of the estates tucked in the rolling hills that rise from the water's edge. Batesville is a charming place to stop, and the general store serves fantastic pecan pancakes. Behind the old store is the Winston Church Hill House, a "Bed and Biscuit" established in 1867.
From Batesville it's a short jog back to Helen on state Route 356, or you can continue down scenic 197 into charismatic Clarkesville, the oldest resort town in Northern Georgia.
The fact is, you can't make a wrong turn when you're riding in the Chattahoochee area. Road surfaces are generally excellent, though soft, sloping shoulders common to this region don't allow much room for error. It's quiet there in northern Georgia, almost quiet enough to hear frenzied industry lapping at the Appalachian forests. Thankfully, the Chattahoochee Park boundaries create tangible distance. Along with the scars of the Civil War and the ghosts of the Cherokee Nation, this motorcycle playground will remain a refuge for years to come.
Hot-Weather Riding Tips
It's hard to say what's worse--riding in intense heat or intense cold. In cold weather, you at least have the option of bundling up. Plus, when you're freezing your behind off, you're often in a heightened physical state that mimics clarity. Heat is thick and heavy. It makes you feel sleepy, or worse, like you're slowly suffocating.
Most neophyte riders are surprised to learn that stripping down is the worst thing you can do when riding in hot weather. Besides being irresponsible, riding with skin exposed will quickly dehydrate you. The sweating process is designed to cool you by building a film on your skin, which is cooled by air moving across it...but not tearing across it at highway speeds. The moisture is gone before it can do its job. Covering sweaty skin with apparel that allows for controlled air circulation has the same effect as a swamp cooler. It regulates your body temperature while protecting you from sunburn (a classic way to ruin a tour) and the fatiguing effects of heat and turbulence.
When it's really hot, you can exaggerate this air-conditioning process by wetting your clothes every time you stop for gas. Most of the time wetting a long-sleeved cotton shirt is the way to go. If you cool your torso, where most of your body's blood supply is at any given time, it will quickly lower your overall body temperature. A drenched cotton bandanna worn around the neck has a great cooling effect, too. Ideally you want a jacket that's ventilated, but not so airy that the moisture on your skin dries before it has a chance to thoroughly cool you.
It's really important to monitor your physical status on hot rides. Heat exhaustion and heat stroke are real dangers. The former occurs when your core temperature reaches 102 degrees, and the latter if it hits 105. If you start to feel even slightly dizzy or sick to your stomach, you need to stop immediately. The best way to avoid heat exhaustion is to drink plenty of water--more than you think you need. The evaporative effect makes it impossible to tell how much fluid you're losing.
In the worst of conditions, leaving a couple of hours before dawn can get you to your destination before peak heat gets to you. Do whatever it takes to cool your heels. Like extreme cold, serious heat will slow your pace, but it doesn't have to ruin your ride.
Don't Miss:
European pastries at Hofers Bakery in Alpine (706/878-8200).
Season:
Year-round.
Road Notes:
Lots of stray animals in this woodsy area; shoulders are often narrow, though grassy runoff is cleared and gradual.
More Info:
A good site is www.ngeorgia.com. Detailed information and a schedule of events for TWO can be found at www.twowheelsonly. com or (706) 747-5151.