We generally start thinking of the next trip before we’ve even started on the one in front of us, or at least over camp fire beers. This trip has been in the works since we took a similar trip to Red Top Mountain, it got put on the back burner for a while during our re-attempt, and summit of Oakey Mountain. We all knew that the opportunity would present itself, we just didn’t have any idea that the only time that we would be able to pull it off in the near future would be at the start of what would become a serious cold spell for Georgia.

The traditional minutes before taking off on an epic ride photo. This is the best of three as we were facing southeast on a cold clear winter morning, so we are only kind of squinting. This is also the one where I decided to do something extra goofy with my hand. On my left is Josh Frank of Peachtree Bikes, and on my right Kyle Ary, both veterans to our Georgia Overnight Rides.

It’s been so long since this trip that I’m allready thinking of another…with or without bikes. This trip was so cold that no one felt like pulling the cameras out along the ride un-gloving etc. The ride out was much more pleasant than the return due to our route and the fact that we were still fresh. We stopped for lunch in Lawrenceville and the best bet from our local contact was a Subway…The route offered a couple of miles parallel dirt/off road, but still had us on some busy highways.  As usual the last few miles approaching the park were the most scenic. Coming into Fort Yargo I could immediately tell that we were going to have the park to ourselves, save a few chilled mountain bikers, rangers and a handfull of RV’s were the sole inhabitants, of a very large state park. The ride in to the campgrounds from the entrance alone was about two miles.

We got settled unloaded the bikes and headed straight back out to the liquor/beer store of legends… and it lived up to it’s reputation. Better selection of beer than anywhere I’ve been in Atlanta, other than Hop City. Add to that a good selection of cigars, wine and liquor… well anytime I’m in that area I’ll be back. Anyways I think we left with three cigars,  two six packs that were new to all of us(one of which was a Bells Double Cream Special, one of my top five beers ever), and a four pack of something or other from Oskar Blues. It was a good night and we didn’t have to bring any ice back for the beers.

The yurt itself is noteworthy. Completely element proof, this one even had a heater, it was more like hosteling and less like camping on the inside but of course outside you had isolation, the elements, the view, and the campfire. This also enabled us to cut down on the weight we were carrying(I could have cut down considerably), and made an all ready challenging ride just that much more doable. On the general topic of gear, what we were riding… Comonalities….Steel…Brooks saddles all around, not a tripple to be found(though it would have been nice), lots of layers wool caffeine and beer.

Kyle-Atala from the 70’s? 6 speed mostly Campy with a Sach’s freewheel which had to be carb cleaned at some point due to the low temps freezing up the internals. He ran Michelin Speedium 700×23’s the whole time with no problems even on our small section off road(I bet he could fit at least a 25 in there…) This was also the maiden voyage for his new rear wheel I had just built Velocity Aero’s(I think they bring the build together). A carradice held most of his stuff, but he had to borrow my freight backpack to put his sleeping bag in.

Josh Frank-Bridgestone RB-1, lots of Shimano if i’m not mistaken. New VO headset to replace the tange that had loosened up on him last trip. Oh and he has a fancy little Nitto rack(Marks Rack I believe) and a Rivbag to match.

Me- The same Bilenky that i’ve described in detail before… The only gear change since last time…spd pedals and the Gearne mountain shoes I’ve been using for Cross this year(nice for this distance of a ride).

On the topic of gear there is one little camping necessity that I can never seem to find anywhere that I have been thinking about carrying through the shop for spring when people might be inclined to care about such things…

The next morning we woke up and did it all in reverse, and we took a worse route, and our legs weren’t quite as fresh, and finishing off the morning beers didn’t help either. We made it back to the neighborhood with Josh’s computer clicking over to 130 miles for the ride.

*****