In November 2012 I had to travel to Atlanta for work, so I took off a couple of
days and did some riding within a reasonable driving distance. My first ride
took me to
Franklin, NC. My second ride was the famous
Six Gap Century in Dahlonega, GA
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| Dahlonega, GA |
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| The Route |
The Six Gap Century was an easy choice for me. I've heard a lot about the ride and I've had this ride in the back of my mind for a while now. My only regrets were that (a) I couldn't ride this in the warm summer months and (b) I was running short on time, so I didn't get to add in the Brasstown Bald climb. Aside from that, it was a perfect ride. It's a good mixture of a challenging route plus great scenery. Traffic was relatively calm and there was plenty of sunshine.
I would definitely recommend this route to anyone who is visiting Atlanta. The cue sheet is posted on the event website and it's easy to follow. As a bonus, the Dan Henrys were still clearly visible while I was riding. I rented a bike from
CycleWorks, which is in between the ATL airport and Dahlonega. I was pleased with the experience. They have an easy online reservation system, the bike was solid, the people were nice, and the price was right.
Hogpen Gap was easily the most difficult climb of the day. It has a few short downhill sections where you think the climb is over, but it's not. I'd love to try it in the heat of the summer.
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| Runaway truck ramp- different from the one's I'm used to on US 50 near Carson City. |
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| Rental Bike |
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| Rental Bike |
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| Camera malfunction |
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| Camera malfunction |
Update: I rode across Georgia as part of my ride across the country in 2015. Here are the relevant days:
21,
22,
23. You can find more pictures plus the Strava links to the route.
