Helen Hog Rally - Day 3 & 4

Friday night there were more festivities at the festival hall. I went over a little before 8:00 as the sun was setting.


The band was good and we had about twenty in our group from the Great South Harley chapter from Newnan. They had me laughing so hard my face hurt. I left around 11:30 and went to sleep soon after that with grand expectations of riding the next day.


After an excellent continental breakfast, I set out for Brasstown Bald, the highest point in Georgia. The road up the mountain was very steep and very twisty. I was sharing the road with quite a few bicycles. I felt kind of bad cruising past them on these steep hills and they gave it all they had to pedal up them. When I got pretty close to the top things went white and I was in the cloud.

These are the pictures from the parking lot on top. It looked a bit like the mist from dry ice floating across the lot.


There was also a path or something that would take you to the summit, but I didn't bother going up any further. This is a view off the mountain - I didn't expect it to get much better if I went higher. I left it for another day.

This is one of the mountain roads and was also one of the straighter lengths.

More scenic shots from the views off the side of the road.

The bike couldn't take my picture so this is what you get.

After going back to the hotel room, I set out Lake Burton and Lake Rabun. On the way out I was able to see about five turkeys hanging out in a field. A little further up the road traffic was stopped for a considerable amount of time. Once it got moving again, I saw the flashing lights and bikes on the side of the road. As I went by, it was obvious that there was an accident. I later found out that something happened between a car and a motorcycle and resulted in a lady hurting her foot/leg. I don't know much more than that. It was a sobering scene and I was glad no one was hurt, but it does impress on you necessity to be aware of everything around you.

The first lake I hit was Lake Burton. There was a nice store and restaurant on the lake where I stopped and walked around for awhile. They had a good spot for motorcycle parking and many were taking advantage of the location.


It is difficult to follow directions on a motorcycle. You have to memorize a few turns then stop and memorize a few more. Somewhere along the way I missed a turn and I don't really know where. This was another lake that I found and it could be Lake Rabun or it could be a different lake. I don't know, but it was a nice spot to stop and memorize the next few turns.



The ride home took me back along the roads that I rode Friday night. Not much to tell that hasn't already been said.

Saturday night they had the closing ceremony, which contained lots of door prizes and recognition of those who put so much energy and time into the rally. There was a very long line of people waiting to get into the building. As we were waiting, I guy was driving down the road in front of us and didn't quite make the turn - he nailed the curb, wobbled back and forth, and quickly took off down the road - it was an awesome recovery. It happened so quick that you weren't sure if he really did that or it just looked like he did. He did do it and took a nice chunk out of his boot in the process.

I knew I had a long ride the next day, so I went back to the hotel, watched a movie and went to bed early.


Sunday morning I got up around 6:30, had breakfast and hit the road. It was a little chilly but things went well. I was making really good time and only got confused at one location. I stopped at a gas station and got things figured out before going on any further.

I noticed that the sky was getting darker and contemplated putting on the rain gear. I felt a few drops and pulled over to suit up. About 100 feet after starting out again, the downpour began. My body felt fine in the rain, but my face took a beating. Heavy rain on your face at 60 really hurts. It felt like you were continuously getting snapped with rubber bands all over your face. After awhile I think my face got kind of numb because I noticed that it didn't hurt so much. However, after stopping for a light I had to go through the process of numbing my face again before it was so painful. At one point, I noted that at least I didn't have to worry about thunder and lightening. A couple miles after this thought I started to see the lightning bolts, hear the rolling thunder and the loud cracks of lightning. As crazy as it was, there was something exhilarating about it - you are right out there with it all. I had to ride through this for about 100 miles.

It took me about four and half hours to get home and I had rode 226 miles. The total tally for the weekend was 658 miles. My bike broke through the 5,000 mile mark and I have almost hit the point where I have ridden 10,000 miles - that will be for another day before too long.

Day 2 at Hog Rally in Helen

Thursday night they had the opening ceremonies which featured the band 'Ratz in the Attic.' They played lots of covers, including lots of classic hits - my favorite was the Jethro Tull. I hung out there until a little after 11:00 and then called it a night.

Notice the good bikers with their reflective gear.

Good for road - bad for pictures

This is the crew that I hung out with. They're a good bunch and we had a good time. I hope to hang with them again this weekend and in the future.

Welcome to Friday morning. I checked the weather and it was calling for rain all day. I ate breakfast and then went back to the room. I was able to meditate in the room for 20 minutes and that was nice. I was concerned about the wasted time in the hotel room, but that grounded me again and all was well. After that I watched a movie and tried to walk into town, but had to turn around when it started raining again.

This is my bike getting wet all day instead of being ridden :) - it's on the right in case you don't recognize it. Gotta get me one of those plastic cover things in the future. She looks kinda sad and pathetic out there.

At about 3:30 I went into town and walked around some. People were venturing out and things were starting to look like a rally again. When I got back to the room I checked the weather and it looked like I had 2-3 hours without rain, so I called Elizabeth to say, 'Aye,' and then suited up. I had a trip planned out, but went in the wrong direction and it turned into something else.

Right in the beginning I was riding and saw two small deer on the side of the road. I pulled over and watched them until the passing traffic scared them away. I wanted to take a picture because they were pretty close, but just enjoyed the moment instead or trying to capture it.

The roads were wet and my pant legs got damp but it wasn't raining - Yes! Things were just beautiful out there. I ended up on a road with lots & lots of twisties and switchbacks. I had opportunities to get some real deep leans in on some of the turns - lots of fun. Some parts of the road also had some heavy banking which was cool. I can't wait for Elizabeth and I to get back up here.

At this point I didn't know where I was but knew how to back track to Helen. I ended up meeting up with a guided tour and followed them until I saw a pull off with a view (above and below). The pictures don't do it justice. The greens were much more vibrant and the clouds more white and defined. It had that after rain feel and was just good. I had to hit the throttle a little heavy after the pictures in order to catch up with the group - because I still didn't know where I was. I caught up and followed them through the mountains of northern Georgia.

Tomorrow's weather looks beautiful and I can't wait to get out there. I love the mountains and these roads are awesome. I hope for some spectacular pictures tomorrow.

Tonight I am going to the festival hall with the rest of the Harley folk at 8:00 to see Rockasaurus as they are celebrating Oktoberfest in August. They are going to have to really impress me with the party real quick (lederhosen, polkas and bar maids w/liter mugs) because I plan on going back to Big Daddy's to see Chris Unck play. I hadn't heard of him before but watched a few of his videos and think it would be good.

Can't wait to ride tomorrow morning....seriously

Road to Helen - GA State HOG Rally 2009

Here is the path. I only took one wrong turn on the way up, which isn't bad considering all the zip zags along the way. I left at 6:30am and got to Helen around 12:00. The trip was a little shy of 250 miles.





Here is the big concern for the weekend. I was being chased by the rain out of LaGrange - it was moving North. I did manage to get to Helen before the rain, but it has been raining most of the afternoon. We will see what tomorrow brings.

It is pretty hilly where I live in Georgia, but when traveling North you reach this point where you come over the hill and see the mountains. This picture gives you an idea but it really doesn't do it justice.

The ride up was a little cool, which was perfect considering I was wearing my leather and had no place to put it if I did want to take it off. I road through a small town called Tate which appeared to have lots of nice things to see. This is a railroad station that they are going to be moving and restoring. There were also some nice houses in town that I didn't get a chance to really look at.

I drove across a bridge and saw a nice stream and decided to stop. There was a parking spot and a wooden path that lead down to the water and continued both up and down the stream. It was a beautiful little find. I hung out here for awhile and had 1st lunch.

I got into Helen and registered for the ralley. Unfortunately, I had to wait until two before I could get the room. I walked around some and then hung out in the room while it rained.

They are having the opening cerimonies tonight at 8:00 and it is 7:52 so I'll be headin' over there now.

Dam Trip on Sunday

I have been studying for about two months for a science test and I finally took it this Saturday. I knew it would be tough and it proved me correct. I don't think I did well and won't find out the results until September 21st. However, I am very thankful that it is over. I studied and put my best foot forward and can move on. This weekend was beautiful (told you I was moving on). The temperature and humidity had dropped and left us with an incredible weekend. We didn't think we would get a ride in, but Elizabeth and I ended up running away for a couple hours Sunday night.


A favorite run of our is around the lake, over the dam and back the other side. We decided to mix it up this time around and go to the dam on the Alabama side, go over the dam, and then turn around and go back on the Albabama side again. Excitement has changed some.



We did find a part of the area that we hadn't explored yet and took a nice walk down along the river below the dam. BTW, my low fuel light had come on about 5-10 miles ago so that was running through my head though I wasn't too concerned at this point.



There were quite a few people down there having barbeque, fishing, and just enjoying the weather.

I'm not sure if you can make it out in the picture below, but I took it at the same time that a fish had jumped in the background. If you click on it, then it should get blown up and you can see the fish in the background. It is above the tallest stump branch that is pointing up.

We saw a bunch of people out in the water wading and saw these buckets on the shore. On our way out, we met one of their friends and he said that they came down from Atlanta to collect snails to eat. He thought they put them in soup or something. They ended up coming out of the river with like 8 buckets.

We went back the same way that we came (I know I already mentioned this) and my bike told me that I had about 25 miles left in the tank. I knew that it took us about 19 miles to get there so it should be fine. I was watching the 'miles left in the tank gauge' as we left and it was going down a mile every 100 feet or so. At this point there was nothing I could do about it so I turned it to read the time.

We made it to the gas station, but I would have probably enjoyed the trip more if I felt sure that we would get home without pushing. Next time I will fill the tank if it is at all sketchy.

Talladega Morning

Elizabeth and I can travel in about a 100 mile radius from our house on our Friday road trips. I think I might try to stretch it out to 150 in the near future. This week we went to Talladega. I've driven by it many times and decided to see what is up there.

On the way up we pulled over in the parking lot of a power company office so Elizabeth could fix her glasses. One of the men working there came out to talk with us. He has a Sportster and is looking at stepping up to a larger bike so he and his wife can take road trips. So often I feel rushed to get where I'm going or to finish what I'm doing and it was nice to have the time to just hang out and chat for awhile. It was a little thing, but added something special to the day.


Once in Talladega, we found The Walk of Fame right near the main square and spent some time looking at the past Nascar greats. This is Elizabeth next to Jeff Gordan's plaque. Others that I recognized were Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt and Dale Earnhardt Jr.



Truth be told, I've never watched a Nascar race and don't really know anything about it. Down the road it would be nice to take a tour of the raceway, but I really don't know anything about the sport so I'm not sure how much I could truly appreciate it.

In the main square is the oldest operating courthouse in Alabama, which was built in 1838.

We were hoping for a nice coffee shop in town but found nothing. Elizabeth had heard that McDonald's coffee was supposed to be rated very high among taste tests. I have had my doubts but decided to put it to the test today - due to lack of other options.


It didn't work out so well. It wasn't horrible, but did not compare to good coffee. In the future, I plan on getting a gps for the bike and this should help in locating a proper coffee house.


Instead of heading back to LaGrange after Talladega, we went North to Oxford. I had ridden up here before because I wanted to visit the Harley dealership. My last visit was during the gas shortage last year (2008) and there was only one gas station with gas. I couldn't find the dealership and it was a long way home with the small Sportster tank, so I had called off the search early. This time we found it and I had a good time looking at the new 2010 bikes and we enjoyed lunch on the picnic tables outside the building. The folks up there were real nice.


Elizabeth and I have really taken to Alabama. The roads we traveled today were beautiful and I love seeing the mountains so close. We took 431 back down to LaGrange and traveled by Cheaha State Park. There was a short area of construction that slowed us down a bit but other than that it was great.

Two more weeks before the Harley rally in Helen, GA. I can't wait!!

Pine Mountain Trail

Dylan took the back seat this time around. We left around 9:00 in hopes of beating most of the summer heat. I left the leather home this time and was very thankful when we made the return trip around 1:00.


The last time we took this hike the road was horrible because of construction. Construction is now complete and the roads were a dream. Newly paved = beautiful ride. We also rode by some fields that had been newly cut and you just can't beat that smell.

Eventually got off of that road and got on another with a lot of airborne dirt/dust and if felt like my face was being sand blasted. After about 10 miles, we found the culprit, which was a road cleaner that was doing far more damage than good.

I was falling behind taking pictures so the crew took a break to wait for me.

The first picture of this is totally washed out. Dylan showed me how to adjust the light coming into the picture and hopefully my future black & whites will be a little more balanced. We'll see...


This is where we park while we take the hike. The view is on one side and the country store is on the other.

Lunch under the flowering tree. I forget the name but Elizabeth knows it and I'll ask her if you really want to know. Unfortunately, the ants were also enjoying the shade and this pretty picture ended up in mayhem with Jessie Ann getting bit in the butt and everyone else vigorously swatting ants off of their persons. I missed out on the fun...as I was taking the picture instead of sitting there.

Sarah Joy took this one and I like it, so, here it is.

Dylan being goofy while I try and maintain the image. My family ride either in front or behind me and they confirm that Dylan is goofy most of the time on the back of the bike.






Finally, a couple more road shots that Sarah Joy took. She has managed to take some nice shots during our outings. We need to get a convertible so that she doesn't have to shoot through the glass.