Dateline: Hiker hostel, dahlonega, ga

stayed around.

Chilly AM. XG by myself & horse leftovers. Drove out of xg about 200 yds and there was the TH for the long route to Bull mtn. I could have riden from camp. Waited awhile soaking up the sun and rising temps that will thaw the frozen mud. red GA clay greasey stuff, adds a thick patina to the Turner.

Rode up nice ST to bike TH where I rode from frst time. a truck was in parking lot. Headed up. Using spin every now & then. Works well on flats & slight uphill but once angle steepens the legs just slow down. Up higher the ground was still frozen & several ice puddles. Rider passed me going down during my climb. Some slippery spots. Downhill zoom. Front brake sqealed on uphill but once started using on downhill the squeal died, the brake performed well except for squal that appears to be because the pads won’t retract from the rotor far enough. The new part might be here Thurs so this problem can be put behind me. Down on lower section the freeze thaw was more bothersome.

Hung in sunshine @ TH and worked on bike a bit even degreasing the chain.

Stopped @ Dahlonega Wheelworks for visit & another taste of the shine. I believe that it smells like Tequila, more like Mescal. Jon gave me a ride for tomorrow.

Off to Hiker Hostel for shower & sleep in parking lot.

Obama is on. Leaving.

Dateline: Just W of Dahlonega, GA, weak internet access.

Windy during the night @ the hostel parking spot, a bit exposed.

Bid good bye to Lee.

Drove to Ellijay, found post office & retrieved reshipped Thomson, GA mail & Formula brake parts. Lots of stuff including Boeing 401k loss of  funds. read it before dinner and my stomach stressed.

Did wash waiting for Cartecay bike shop to open @ 12:oo to learn if they would fix my brake. Found shop, visited short while, wrench said he could work on it later this afternoon. decided that Dahlonega wheelworks will be the better shop and redrove the 40 miles back. The shop repair area was open. Jon, the owner has mutton chops like Geoff kabush, the Canadian mtn bike racer. Zak, his wrench said he could repair my brake. Jon said Zak knows brakes. Zak does know brakes. He rebuilt the master cylinder w/ the parts I had and the stopping power on front brake will send your fillings out of your teeth. BUT, he told me he broke a screw that holds guts together but thought the brake would work. I called Formula, Charlie again, who said big no no, brake will loose fluid and fail. Ordered more parts to be shipped to bike shop.

Shop has a cooler in the show room that looks like a den for people to hand on the couch & watch dvds etc. The cooler is stocked w/ what he calls Love offerings, he has yet to stock the fridge, people bring it in. I mentioned I was seeking ‘shine and he said check out the maybe 2 qt Mason jar. I did, and I sipped 2 small shots of $250 shine. Very smooth and sensory numbing from 190 proof alcohol.

Drove back out to camp spot just b4 gravel road to Springer Mtn TH. Hikers are arriving to start their thru hike already, but then it is almost the first of March.

Yesterday on the back road to Bull mtn and where I am tonight I saw an old flat bed truck right alongside road covered in Kudza a rapidly growning vine. If it doesn’t move for short time it gets grown over w/ vine like green in the Puget Sound.

Plan to ride Bull mtn again to test brake.

31 degs @ 10:00 PM

Just before crawling into bed last night a semi pulled in & parked about 200′ from me and let the engine run all night. Otherwise the bright all night unecessary parking lot lights eliminated a need for a night light.

Entered address of high school classmate into gps & nailed it. Debbie had her first horse @ the same place we had our horses for several years. Made contact @ 40th HS reunion summer of ’07. She & her husband have a horse trailer sales / service business. Brief conversation as she was pressed for time (she said). Looked @ some of the trailers. Several had human quarters as part of the trailer. How great for horse people: they get to sleep in smell of manure. Lots of $. Us bikers are outspent.

Bought another bottle of Old Pulteney single malt Scotch, aged 12 years for $26. It could have been Junior Johnson’s moonshine for $19.

Drove up rt 81 to Fort Yargo SP and their ST. Overcast cool day. Checked out new shoes. Specialized made 2 noticeable changes: raised tread on sole that now provides 2 non sole bearing points for the Eggbeaters. This will make for a tighter cleat retention. I used old cleats and they were lock tight but released like a greased pig. And they moved the front pieces of leather to further out on toe. Toes will now rub against leather instead of fabric which caused visible pinkies.

Trail goes clockwise on certain days and counter the other. I parked in the non prime TH. I started in what I believed was prescribed counter clock wise. Encountered 2 riders going opposite direction. I thought they were wrong but none of us said anything. A few miles later the trail dumped into the prime TH and I see the CW and CCW arrows on pavement. I was wrong. Turn around & rerode back to van and continued rest of loop plus  rerode original rerode for 17 miles, 2093′ vert in 2 1/4 hours.

Brake still squeals. Researched bike shops in Athens & punched in 1st loc into gps. Ended up downtown on UG campus. No shop. Tried the next one. The wrench & I kaputzed about a solution. None determined. I am focusing on push rod that is stripped. Called Charlie @ Formula and he told me to bleed out a drop of brake fluid as maybe the pads were pushed too far into caliper that will allow essentially overfill of hydraulic system. Will try that tomorrow.

Drove S out of Athens looking for place to sleep near tomorrow’s ride. Found a likely looking bank lot but there were still cars in the lot. I drove down the road looking. I thought I was turning off highway into shopping center but it turned out to be a short road back to a dr’s office and a cul d sac. Just amazing the spots I stumble onto. Tonight’s dark and hopefully no trucks will make up for last night.

At the Park I asked if there were showers. I found the visitors’ center and asked the woman working there. Yes, they have showers but for $10. I balked and she stood her ground. I tried again and she dropped it to my suggested $5.00 because she was there by herself and nobody could tell her not to but that she usually charges the $10.

Showers run the gamet from comfortable homes to just get it over with. The final result is a clean body. I should expend half the effort to clean the Turner.

Couple more GA rides and then to FATS for weekend. Forecacst is for sunny 50 deg days.

Later.