Camping and Riding.  Like Peanut Butter and chocolate – does it get any better?  On a gorgeous, crisp fall morning, Larry and Dan headed toward Cleveland to meet Mel.  The three quickly headed up 75, then westward across Wolf Pen Gap.  The leaves had begun to change color and the day’s brisk winds caused them to rain down at times.  As they headed down the Richard Russell Scenic Hwy in beautiful sunshine, they stopped to admire the view from the always-scenic Hog Pen Gap.  

From there it was south to 19, then back north through Neels Gap to pick up the western half of Wolf Pen Gap.  Soon the annual “True Grits 50cc Rally” would begin and the guys wanted to position themselves at Wildcat BBQ (about 6 mi N of Suches) where they could

Taking advantage of early fall weather, Dan, BobK, and Larry rode a couple areas in the northwest we haven’t ridden in a while – the Ocoee River in SW TN and the Ft Mountain area NW of Ellijay.  Why did we wait so long?

The morning was chilly and the afternoon warm.  In other words, perfect!  The trio zipped up to Ellijay the fast way (Hwy 515), then hopped over to Boardtown Road to Blue Ridge - beautiful and relaxing.  As they arrived in McCaysville, the early morning cloud ceiling was just beginning to lift.  It was cool enough they really hoped those clouds continued rising.  By the time they were riding along the Ocoee river, they were enjoying bright fall sunshine.  And even if they were a tad cool, what about those rafters and kayakers!  After reaching the Lake Ocoee area, Larry missed a turn which took them a few miles N on Hwy 30 at the base of the mountain. When they stopped, they met a couple of friendly hounds in the road sporting radio collars with antennae.

Introduction

Mid-Atlantic Backcountry Discovery Route – a 1060 mile off-road route from the NE tip of TN to the N border of PA/NY.  Well, not all offroad.  It’s an awesome mix of twisty paved backroads and unpaved Forest Service of every type imaginable, all through beautiful Appalachian and Allegheny mountains and valleys!  (here’s a brief article with a much better description and map…  MABDR summary).  The non-profit BDR organization (rideBDR) has created a dozen of these routes in the big-Western states, but this was their first (of only two) east of the Mississippi.  The BDR group makes full GPS tracks available to download and Butler makes waterproof m/c maps to provide additional logistical support.  Dave and Larry have pondered this trip for several years and finally made it come true.  Here’s the high-level story and Dave’s Thoughts.  

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In late July, three riders gathered for… A Great Day in the Mountains! Dan, Dennis and Larry started early to minimize temps and afternoon pop-up shower risk – and it paid off handsomely. They enjoyed a beautiful and, dare I say, cool ride up through the Grandview, Sunrise and Doublehead Gap areas to Van Zandts in Dial for a welcome break. For a day forecasted for mid-90’s in the metro, they weren’t expecting to see 68 degrees in Dial at late morning – though entirely welcome!