Heading out from Atlanta to Dahlonega is pretty boring. Highway 400 is your typical commuter slab through the suburbs and up to the outlet malls so there's nothing interesting to report there. Once you turn off onto 19/60 to Dahlonega the roads become a bit more interesting. A few curves here and there, some changes in elevation, but nothing like the mountain passes ahead.
First, I should describe the riding conditions. It was cooler and very windy in the mountains. Figure maybe 60 degrees and the occasional 20-35 mph gust coming out of nowhere. I wore my mesh jacket the weekend before and wisely picked a non-mesh kevlar textile jacket with a liner for this ride. I did wear my mesh pants however since I knew I could rely on my calf-heating blow-dryer of an engine to keep my legs warm.
Upon arriving in Dahlonega I took Highway 60 north to Morganton. This road has more twisties and is somewhat more challenging than Highway 19/129 to Blairsville. I decided to take the latter on my return. The downside to 60 is that the road is covered in "tar snakes" through several sections, not real snakes of course, but this molasses-like gunk that the DOT uses to fill cracks in the road. Since the weather was cool the tar snakes were not all that troubling. But it does take away from the experience since you don't want to encounter a patch of gunk while leaning into a tight turn.
En route to Morganton I ended up riding behind some pokey cars, and if this happens there is little you can do since passing areas are minimal. I just decided to lay off the throttle and take in the scenery. When the opportunity to pass safely presented itself I opened it up only to be welcomed with a big gust of wind blowing across the open area. Whoa.
Another little adventure along the way was when I turned a tight corner only to find that there were two cars and a pair of motorcycles stopped just around a blind turn. Since I always try to ride within my sight lines I was not going very fast at the time. I looked ahead and some kid on a sport bike had somehow ended up with his front wheel in a deep rut on the right side of the road, and his tail was uphill. So it looked like he was originally headed downhill, crossed the centerline and ended up bouncing his front tired into a deep rut on the opposite side of the road. It looked like he was in good shape, just mostly a bruised ego, and the other two bikers were starting to offer help so I rode on. Didn't make sense to add any more congestion to a blind turn. But I have to note that I have seen an accident every time I have ridden these roads, and it is always a young guy on a sport bike. I guess I'm lucky that when I first started riding, the bikes pumped out about 25 HP and had crappy brakes so I was never inclined to try to push the limits. Today's younger riders are hopping on 100-185HP beasts with ABS brakes and they feel invincible. Bad combination.
Anyway, I made it to Morganton and topped off my tank with 2.5 gals after 100 miles of total riding. Right on the money with my typical 40 mpg under mixed riding conditions. I often see as much as 44 mpg highway and maybe as low as 36 city. I decided to head over to Blairsville for lunch and grabbed a bite at Burger King. Eventually I will have to find a local BBQ joint or something more interesting.
The ride back from Blairsville on 19/129 was OK. There were cars the whole way, lots of wind and the leaves have just barely started to change. So I imagine the ride will be more interesting in the weeks ahead.
Overall, it's great riding and so nice to have the K100RS performing smoothly. After all the time I spent restoring it to running condition it is good to see what it is capable of.
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