265 Mile North Georgia Mountain Ride!

Two riding buddies invited me to ride with them on their usual Saturday Endurance Ride in the North Georgia Mountains last Saturday. My typical rides are alone, and last about an hour for a total of around 45 miles, so this was quite a challenge. 8 hours and 265 miles round trip! My R3 kept up with their 1000s pretty well, and even surprised them with how fast it accelerates. It got 71 MPG using 90 octane non-ethanol gas, with a boost of 93 non-ethanol at Suches, Georgia (Wolf Pen Gap Store) on Hwy 60.

GA Hwy 60 from Dahlonega up to Morganton (near Blue Ridge) is the best road I've ever ridden on; it makes the local roads where I usually ride look pathetic with their 2-3 good corners in 45 miles of riding. Hwy 60 runs about 35 miles from Dahlonega to Morganton, and has more turns than I could count. One right after another up and down several mountains. It rained a little most of the day, but the road never got wet; just some drops on the windshield and helmet. The ride there was a bit boring, though, with fairly straight roads like GA Hwy 20 from Cartersville; Hwy 108 to Weleska was a bit better, and Hwy 53 had some fun spots, but nothing like Hwy 60.

If you take a few breaks along the way, you will still have energy for Hwy 60, but once back home, I felt totally wiped-out, and felt every one of my 50 years.