dateline: Hiker Hostel dahlonega, ga

out & back day

Quiet sleep spot. I have found some great urban spots. Thing about them is I live inside the van to give the appearance that it is just parked. Which is ok because it has been too cold to live outside.

Decided I needed groceries and was going to do a wash b4 riding Bull mtn. GPS located an Ingles 20 miles away, no name chain grocery store in town which maybe has been corrected in the updated software. Also found laundromat right near where I slept. I drove the distance in rural Georgia out & back. Noticed remnants of old chicken ranches. Drove back into Dahlonega to laundromat that was closed past its posted opening time.

Temp is in upper 20s, some snow fell in the mountains last night during brief rain shower down in town.

Decided to do ride  and then drive to Ellijay and do laundry.

Drive to TH is down same road as TH for Springer Mtn, Southern terminus of Appalachian Trail. Beat up road to TH @ end of road. A small pick up caught up to me and after awhile of my slower than his driving I left him go by. He is a biker, young man. At the TH he says that a group of riders will be joining him. I ask if I can go along and he says yes. There was a big birthday party for Jeremy at their friends Hiker Hostel last night and those that survived the party are showing up to ride. 6 of us head out w/ the others not seen. We rode loop clockwise up the ST and old overgrown fireroad. Freeze thaw mud down low & in sun, up higher it was a skiff of snow and frost crystals & ice. Our 6 stopped @ start of downhill and we were overtaken by rest of party riders. I attended a small safety meeting and headed down ST. Letting bike go faster. Front brake on application squeals and is less than powerful whether it is glazed pads or loss of brake fluid because of wrong size Oring. Ride out down lower was old logging roads in places eroded away to raw Georgia red mud.

Josh took me under his navigational wing describing where we were and all the other ride variations. At the TH he invited me back to his place where some of the riders were gathering for lunch. He said he owns a hostel. And I could get a shower. I heard hostel and saw that he was an adjusted memeber of the riders so i accepted w/o usual hemming & hawing. He & his wife Lea operate this hostel which is just off the AT. Tonight he drove to gainesville to pick up some hikers starting the AT and will be spending their last night in comfort b4 hiking. Josh & Lea were married some years b4 they thru hiked the AT in ’00. They created their hostel where none existed & have done well.

I saw daffodils in bloom.

Tomorrow is Ellijay and mail w/ brake parts & maybe repair to retore brake to performance I was accustomed to.

Beautiful sunset over GA mtns that are smaller & less rugged than WNC.

Bruce, wore my Pisgah jersey.

Almost @ end of ride I found my powerful spin. I look forward to next ride to see if I can find it again. Felt great but takes way energy.

Date line: Dahlonega, ga

from: gainesville, ga

to: dahlonega, ga

Slept quietly behind the mattress store, overslept really, late getting up to make bfast, clean up & drive to TH. made it a few minutes late but well ahead of majority of volunteers. Project today was to beautify the TH parking lot. didn’t count numbers, maybe 13. I worked on the spreading wood chips. Left pinky is afflicted typing this. Ground frozen early on but blue skies warmed up to 50. Parking lot of maybe 40 stalls almost filled up w/ riders. Good vehicles & great bikes mostly. Riders coming back in showed signs of a muddy ride from freeze thaw mud.

Work pic:

Worked to 12:00 & those that wanted geared up to ride. My group was 8 and shrunk to 4 to just me later. Finished up all trail miles of chicopee. Today ride was 14.0 miles & 1930′ vert. I measured the google earth map and the area we rode in was 1 mile square, again, just 640 acres. Check out the ride data in Google earth to see the trails snaking around. Impressive. Some spots of freeze thaw mud. Trails mostly hand cut, lots of roots but almost no rocks. red mud even in woods.

trail pic:

Trails are on land formerly owned by Johnson & Johnson that gave sold land to city. Dirt bikes used to tear it up, they are banned.

Back to van just after 4, needed to call Daniel @ bike shop to ask for a shower b4 they close. He said yes and I had 30 mins to get to shop & in & out of shower b4 closing. Made it.

Frenzied day, on go all day long meeting others’ schedules. Van got pretty messy from not putting stuff away.

Entered city of dahlonega into gps & drove onward. A college town. Wandered around looking for the perfect urban camping spot. Found a good un.

NGASORBA officers are only ones allowed to close or open the TH gate that has the closed notice if closed on it. The TH is a ways back the road used to get to nature center. I heard tales of riders sneaking around closed gate to ride so the club has its problems w/ controlling poaching.

At 1 of our ride rest stops some other riders joined us, 2 were on Turners. Robin, a SORBA officer was on an older Spot, she had her fork PUSHed. I suggested she do her shock also. The other rider was on the 29er. No, the bikes did not nuzzle each other.

Volunteers were just a bit younger than me. No riders joined our work.

Tomorrow is Bull Mtn. Forecast for tonight is snow.

dateline: gainesville, ga

from: brevard, nc

to: gainesville, ga

19 deg overnight, about 8″ frost line on inside of windshield.

Plan today is to drive to Chicopee, GA to ride their trails. Sunny day. drive twisty rt 64 west, then trumped by rt 106 into GA. Convenient not to have inside rear view mirror for faster drivers to communicate w/ me.

made TH just N of Gainesville. Gate across drive w/ sign stating that if gate is locked, trails are closed was locked. Darn. Drove down dead end lane a short ways and fired up computer to work out plan B when I hear a knocking on van. Open door to man who started asking me about my intent w/ riding was. He said that he was just going to open the parking lot and hence the trails. Goody. Plan B in the hopper.

Guy’s name is Daniel whom I learned later is president of local SORBA chapter and has been involved w/ trails for awhile. He asked about my trip which I shared as he was my first non clerk person conversation. I asked him about a shower recommendation and shortly he offered the bike shop shower where he works. Clean. Just needed to be there b4 5:30 to close shop.

Trails are made for mtn bikes w/ tight twisty, turny use of small amount of land. Roots in hand cut trail. Trails were closed because of freeze thaw mud of which there were several I found being the first bike thru the patches. Going into a corner needing to make the turn on this line and in that line is freeze thaw mud. The front wheel if turned or leaned on the mud slips sideways and looses a bunch of its traction. The rear wheel was tracking true until it hits the mud. The back end needs to be finessed back behind the front wheel that maybe or maybe not out of the mud. Like skiing and looking for an edge to hold. Counter steer betting the slide. Fun stuff. Mostly good flow but there are several over turns that effectively cause slowing. 11.28 miles & 1665′ vert in just over 90 mins. My climbing just sucks as in no wind power and legs then give way. I mostly spin a high rpm in 3rd largest cluster gear & mid chain ring.

Banner @ start of trail stating a trail work day tomorrow, Saturday. Plan to take a shower @ shop, spend the night, & do the work day. Good shower.

Drove back further into town on major retailer divided 4 lane road looking for a sleeping spot while it is still light. Cribbed in behind a mattress store next to a big box store mall. Ah, urban camping again.

Entered the shop address into the gps & arrived less than 10 miles in Gainesville. Nice looking Trek shop. Chat w/ Daniel a bit to learn about him and his trail involvement.

Tomorrow the trail work day and maybe another ride on trail to pick up 2 trails I missed. Then continue to Ellijay into GA mtns.

Bike still flies. The Chris King hub has way more engagement points on the freewheel meaning that when ever the crank (pedal) is pushed forward the chain is instantly engaged and I “shoot” forward. The old hub had was fewer engagement points  therefore there was always slop under the pedal stroke. The bearings are different. Faster wheel for sure.