North Georgia Dual Sport ride Aug 2017

[klaviator]

It's can be a little hot in Alabama in July and August, Too hot for me to do a long dual sport ride.  I figured it would be a good time to go to Suches, GA and enyoy some of the fun forest service roads there.  So I posted up a ride in Planned rides.  I didn't get much response and I was considering doing something else when Al replied that he and Melony would be there.  Then Brooks (this_guy) also said he would come so the ride was on :)

I headed out Friday morning on my KLR.  Buckeye Doug had posted that he would ride part of the way with me and turn around.  So we met in Gurley and headed off.  I was a nice day and not too hot.  We rode 72 to 35 to 40, rode through Mentone where there was one yard sale after another.  I took a left trying to find some back roads i had ridden before.  I took the wrong left and rode a nice circle ::)

To another back road and got slightly lost before finding my way.  Then it was some fun roads to LaFayette.



We had lunch in LaFayette, than rode to I-75 where Doug headed back. 

I continued on.



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I got to Suches around 5ish and set up my tent and other stuff. 

[klaviator]

After setting up I went and ate dinner at the lodge.  The food was very good as usual.  Then I hung out on the porch for awhile.  There were a bunch of regulars hanging out there.  I recognized and had met most of them before but didn't know any of them well.  One guy had a Vespa 250.  One of the other guys was going to take it for a ride when Bill, the owner of TWoS showed up on his Grom.  Immediately everyone started calling for a race



So off they went down 180.  No witnesses to the race but the word was that the Vespa had way more power down the straights with the Grom quicker in the curves.

After a while it was time to hit the sack.  Everyone else would be getting in late.  It perfect weather for camping, cool but not cold.  There was some rain in the area but it missed Suches.  I was hoping for a little rain to keep the dust down the next day.

[klaviator]

Brooks got there around midnight and no I didn't go greet him.  Al and Melony arrived around 1:30.

I got up early and took a few pics.



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Everyone was up before too long for breakfast.



Did I mention that the food at TWoS is very good?

[klaviator]

Then it was time to ride

We stopped at the Suches gas station.  I had the feeling that this would not be a "normal" dual sport ride.  I'm not sure why I felt that way, just the usual dual sport bikes getting ready to get dirty :o



If you're wondering what kind of dual sport bike that one on the left is, it's a 1979 Vespa PE200 with Knobbies on it :o

We headed down 180 to Copper creek road where I rode ahead to get this pic.



I expected that with the limited suspension on the Vespa, brooks would be going real slow.....

I was wrong.

We did Cooper Creek rd and FS33a and took a break.



We then rode Duncan Ridge which is fairly rough and had a lot of water breaks.  I was shocked at the speed of Vespa through there.

[klaviator]

Then we rode the twisty section of 180 and turned right on 129.  While the Vespa did great in the dirt Brooks said a Vintage Vespa with Knobbies was a handful on a curvy road.

We then rode to Helton Creek Falls.

The lower Falls.



Upper Falls.



Then we continued on.



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[klaviator]

We stopped at the Sunrise Grocery on 180/129.



Then we rode some nice back roads before riding through the Cooper Creek area.  There's bunch of dead end roads I really like but they involve a fairly deep water crossing.  No Problem for a dual sport but after I rode across and back we figured it would not be a good idea for the vespa.  No Problem,  plenty of other roads to ride. 

We stopped at the Cooper Creek store for lunch.



After lunch we rode up 60 to Doublehead Gap to FS58.  We rode up a dead end road off of 58 which was much rougher than I remembered.

We stopped at the dead end.



I got a few pics on the way out.



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Back on FS58.  We stopped because there's a great view of the creek below but my pics don't do it justice.



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We turned off on another dead end road.



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[klaviator]

We rode FS58 to the top, left on FS42 and then turned off on Fish hatchery road.  This lake was just off the road.



Brooks wanted a little more practice doing water crossings so we took a slight detour.



Brooks complained about how poorly his bike handled the curves with knobbies on it but he wasn't exactly going slow going up 60 back to Suches.



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OK, he's not going to win any Moto GP races on the Vespa but he would probably outrun most of the Hayabusa's I have seen in the curves ;D

After a good dinner we hung out.  It was pretty chilly and I put on warmup pants and a light jacket. 



It was a great day from start to finish.  The weather was fantastic.  I doubt it made it to 8o degrees.  The riding was great.  It was really cool seeing Brooks haul ass on the Vespa with it's tiny 10 inch wheels.  Even the food was great. 

Eventually it was time to turn in again.

[klaviator]

As much as I'd like to sleep in when camping, I always get up early.  At least early morning is s good time to take pics.



TWoS really is a nice place to camp.



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We had another great breakfast, then hung out a bit.  Al and melony decided to stay another night.  Brooks went for a short ride.  I packed up and then went to the lodge where I ran into some old friends who live in the area.  By the time I left it was nearly noon and the place was packed with the lunch crowd.



I took a different route back took the road past Fort Mountain.  It looked a bit like rain.



It was rain.

Some time after Chatsworth I took a wrong turn and ended up in Dalton.  Not where I wanted to be but i did find some cool roads to the west of Dalton and found my way to LaFayette where i stopped for lunch.

After that it was my usual route home and that included Hog Jowl RD.



I put on my rain suit a couple of times for about 10 minutes but that was a small price to pay for some unseasonably cool temperatures. 

I rode just over 600 miles for the weekend, 119 of that on the dual sport ride on Saturday.  It was a great weekend.  Thanks Al, Melony and Brooks for coming along and Doug for riding part way with me on Friday. 

[Bamagator]

Fantastic write up, great pics and..... A Vespa keeping up with dual sports.  Now I've seen it all. 

[this_guy]

Great write up Win!  That was a whole lotta fun! Thanks again for leading the ride, it was so a perfect mix of riding.

[Fencejumper09]

That looks like a heck of a trip! Nice write-up and pics as usual!!

[Hammerdown77]

Awesome.

This is a great picture.

Now, you know, when doing such things, you're supposed to yell out, "ADVENTURE!!!"  That's standard protocol, just FYI. 

[klaviator]

Brooks took a pic at Helton Creek Falls.  Anyone see why he took this pic?

[Chitza]

[BuckeyeDoug]

Need a hand in pic for a size reference.......