December 9th, less than 200 miles

Billy and I tried to do a ride today but the weather did not shape up as expected.  The forecast was to be warm and overcast.  We meet at Riders Hill but it was a lot wetter than the forecast predicted.  About 15 miles before arriving it started getting damp and misty and upon arrival there were puddles and rain coming down.  We waited around for a while trying to work up the motivation to ride but the weather wasn't showing any signs of improvement.  After it was clear the weather wasn't getting any better we decided to go for it.  We made it to Neel's gap but the weather was so wet and foggy up there that it was NO fun.  We pulled into the parking lot of Neel's gap, didn't even turn the bikes off and decided to call it a day because the ride up was terrible and visibility was very low.  I took a detour on the way home because as soon as I started going south again the clouds opened up to blue sky's and warmed up.  route When I got home it was nearly 70 degrees and sunny in December!  This was about 180 degrees from the weather I was just in an hour or two earlier and 85 miles north.  Oh well, probably would have been completely different riding day if I had gone any direction but North! 

November 11th 240 miles

Today I rode with a group of 3 other people it was myself, Billy, Randy, and Stacey.  This is the first time I've ridden with anyone other than Billy so I wasn't sure what to expect.  Randy and Stacey ride quite a bit and travel with there bikes to TN, NC.  They have put around 10,000 miles on their bikes in a years time which puts the few miles I've logged, around 1,000 miles thus far to shame.  It's also pretty impressive because they haul their bikes on some weekends to locations and then ride from there for a day or two so the mileage is not from interstate riding but actual twisty road riding.

We all met at Riders Hill to start the day off.  After some quick introductions Randy was happy to lead the pack for the day since Billy and I are not in the habit of discussing/planning a route before we ride.  I'm writing this two months after the ride so I can't recall all of the route.  Additionally, I was just following and not giving too much thought about where we were riding but I think this is most of the ROUTE.

August 3rd, 265 miles

Another ride with Billy, since I had Friday off and the weather was nice.  Breakfast at Foothill Grille same as last time then up North.  The route more or less.  I had ridden US-129 AKA"Blood Mountain" the first time venturing up through North GA with Billy a few months back.  The most recent ride we didn't hit that road but came back from Copperhill/McCaysville on GA-60 which was fun but a little restricted due to a jeep we got behind for a large portion of it.  This time I wanted to link them both together.

One of my objectives for the day was to go by Mercier Orchards to pick up some applebutter.  We passed by Mercier Orchards on our last ride but didn't stop.  My wife and I honeymooned up in North GA 6 years ago August 5, so I thought that would be a good momento pick up while riding.  We also got some peaches which rippened up nice a day or two later at home.

You can't go up to North GA without a stop at Riders Hill.

To end the ride we met up with Billy's wife for dinner at one of their local places.  The Bourbon Street Grille  where I had a bowl of Gumbo, Billy had the special of the day Tuna steak over salad, and Missy had dirty Shrimp or dirty rice (I don't remember).

I also wanted to try out a seat pad on this ride with the stock seat.  Tons of people complain about the stock SV seat and I would agree.  It is not bad for about 30 minutes to an hour but much past that and it starts to really be a pain in the butt, literally.  I'm evaluating the following options: stock seat, sheep skin, wood beads (think old school taxi driver) , and a Sargent.  Last time I rode with Billy my butt was hurting by the time I got to our initially rendezous point.  With breaks about ever hour it was/is doable but I'm looking for some more comfort.  I had gotten a sheep skin from IKEA which some people had used with good success.  The results were pretty good but could use some more tweaking.  I didn't secure it at all,  just flung it on the seat and sat down.   This resulted in some movement and fidgeting around while riding.  At the end of the ride my butt felt better than the last ride but I still want to try out some other solutions in hopes of fun 300 mile days and very little discomfort.     

June 22 290 miles

I did a little riding and logged almost 300 miles by the time I got home.  This is more or less the route minus a few spur roads and some minor back tracking.  Met my friend Billy for breakfast at Foothill Grille then we made our way up to Copperhill TN.  Stopped at Horseshoe Bend Park in McCaysville to stretch and chat a bit.  Then we made our way back to Riders' Hill in Dahlonega.   
  Billy was kind enough to give me a rearstand that he was no longer using. This presented a small challenge on how to get it home.  The pictures show the story.  A little trial and error and a hand full of zip ties and it was secure enough to make the 65 mile ride home.  Now chain maintenance should be a bit easier.

Blood Mountain

Maiden voyage

Lookin' good

Work continues

Guess what I got?