Mister_Yogi

Hi fellow RLers. I'm planning to do a ride through 6 gap this weekend; and I came across this thread during my research.

Quick question - coming up from Dahlonega, do you recommend doing the run in one particular direction over the other (assuming I don't have enough time to do it in both directions)?

AtlJimK

Both directions are fun but the original contains the best uphills. Especially the front side of Hogpen.

Mister_Yogi

Thank you good sir! Follow up question if you don't mind - any particular reason for the route selection at the beginning (waypoints 1-6 versus heading up 60 through Dahlonega and starting at waypoint 15)?

AtlJimK

That is the usual meet up point for the ride. No need for you run that section. The other section not listed here and not usually run in the winter is 180 from Vogel State Park to Suches (aka Wolfpen). It short cuts the great section of 60 between Skeenah Gap and Suches though.

TMc993

This Sunday is the Six Gap Century and Three Gap Fifty bike ride ( http://www.6gap.com/images/route-inf...O_YEAR_Web.pdf ). There is a Criterium in Dahlonega on Saturday. The roads both along the route and elsewhere around Dahlonega and points north will be jammed with competitors and wannabes. Not the weekend to take a drive...Just sayin'

Mister_Yogi

Holy smokes man! You just saved me a ton of time! Thank you greatly for the heads up! I'll refocus the route planning more north/northeast, towards Tail of the Dragon and Moonshiner 28.

Mister_Yogi

What do you guys think of this route?


Touches Cherohala Skyway, Tail of the Dragon, and Moonshiner 28

TMc993

If I lived in Marietta, I'd go up 575 and get into the mountains as quickly as possible. You can always run your route in both directions.

Start early. The roads up here are nasty with large groups of Harley-type motorcycles cruising along at 35 MPH on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. Lots of sport bikes too, but they won't slow you down like the touring bikes.

Mister_Yogi

Thanks for the advice. I thought about turning around at the end and doing it in the other direction. However, that makes the trip over 12 hours. A bit much for a single day I think.

TMc993

Or...Run north from Marietta and complete the route across Tennessee, NC and SC down to Walhalla.

Then take 183 from Walhalla down towards Westminister, then 76 up to Clayton and across to Hiawassee, Young Harris, Blairsville, Blue Ridge, Ellijay, Talking Rock, Jasper, and then pick up 575 down at Ball Ground.

That's three hours from Walhall to Ball Ground plus another hour or so to Marietta...Longer than Walhalla to Marietta via I85, but more interesting (To me at least)

Just a suggestion...Whatever route you choose, I hope you have a safe and enjoyable drive.

Mister_Yogi

Hello RL family - anyone know of any events this Saturday that would prohibit a run up through 6 Gap, ToD, etc?

TMc993

Dahlonega's annual Gold Rush celebration runs this weekend. The downtown square will close at 6:00 PM Friday and will not reopen until 6:00 PM Sunday. On Saturday and Sunday, approximately 175,000 (Not an exaggeration) people will drive in for the festival. GA 400 will be jammed north of Dawsonville and most secondary roads in the area will be thick with traffic. Other towns also have festivals during October as well.

Add to that the fact that we are beginning to see trees changing color in the mountains, apple season is in full tilt around Ellijay and there are multiple corn mazes and pumpkin farms running full tilt around the region and you can expect a significant portion of the population of Atlanta to be up here cruising around.

Sorry, but this time of year you can't swing a dead cat without hitting a leaf-looker or festival-goer.