TAT-2016 Post 26 – Friday, 18 March 2016 (TAT Day-2)

Day 2 was no disappointment. Started early as usual but we must be getting more efficient because we were on the road by 9 am. The only reason it was 9 was we performed some much needed bike maintenance prior to departure; tire pressure, check oil and oil chains. I actually plugged in our air pump into my newly installed aux power outlet and promptly blew the 3 amp fuse that also powered my GPS. I had to get the tools from Steve and unpack my bags to get to my spare parts plus take off my side panel to replace the 3 amp with a 5 amp fuse. Luckily I had several spare fuses of all sizes.

If you look at the map below you will see that our hotel was in Blue Ridge, GA. We had missed a section of the TAT when we got off the mountain and went directly to Ducktown then on to Blue Ridge. We decided to go do the missed section before proceeding with the TAT to the west so we can clearly say we did the full TAT. That is why there is a big circle around Ducktown. My wife commented on this by saying “who’s navigating since it looks like you are going in circles?”  She had also comment yesterday when I was describing the incident with Woodrow going off the road by saying “You can’t fix stupid.” She usually uses this talking about something I’ve done but now Woodrow is now included.

This big circle added about 35 miles onto the 100 miles we expected to ride to Chatsworth, GA. After completing the circle we started west on the TAT. Great ride with some beautiful scenery. After yesterday’s issues we were driving conservatively but everyone agreed this was the best way to ride; safe but steady. Today’s statistics are:

137.6 miles ridden

9 hrs 6 min total including stops

Average 18.1 mph

The last is important for those planning for the TAT. I’m sure others can ride more aggressively but we seem to be consistently at 15 to 18 mph average. When planning for distance to cover each day this is what we use.

No crashes today which was due to everyone riding conservatively. Yesterday made everyone understand this is an adventure but no one should get hurt doing stupid things.

That being said several things did happen worth mentioning.

Before describing the first event I should state after 8 months we finally have gotten a name for our group: Woodrow’s Pit Crew and Rescue Squad. Woodrow also has the nickname of “Willy High Side” since he will only ride on the lane next to the high side of the mountain after riding off the road yesterday.

The last portion on todays ride took us to the top of one of the highest mountains in the area. It came to a fantastic overview site where we took several pictures below. The problem was the road was steep and had been covered with ping ball to golf ball size gravel. It was terrible going up those steep climbs trying to keep the bike upright in that gravel. This is all on the new route from Sam Correro through Georgia. The problem was when we reached the top of the mountain we found a sign that said the road was closed to through traffic. We talked over what our next move should be because none of us wanted to ride down the road we just came up in that deep gravel. We decided to proceed on the TAT route to see if the road was really closed. Big surprise, the road was closed and we rode about 10 miles on deep gravel to find this out. By this time the two Honda CRFs were about out of gas. We had to unpack our bags just to get to the RotoPax and add the 1-gallon of gas to our tanks. Of course the KLR650 guy had to take pictures of the fuel top off. The irritating thing was we were only a mile from the main highway when we reached the locked gate. We then rode back up the 10 miles to the top of the mountain not sure how we were going to get to our destination, Chatsworth, GA. As we neared the top we came upon another motorcycle rider from the local area that told us how to get off the mountain and to our waiting motel and bar. I’m advising Sam of this road closure so no one else has this problem. The locked gate was located at: N34 49.542 W84 34.956.

The second incident was during our ride to the top of the mountain on the rough roads. Of course it had to be Woodrow who had the problem. He stopped me on the uphill climb and said the RAM mount holding his iPhone ,which was attached to his front hand brake fluid reservoir, was loose. When I looked at it I found the screws were loose and fluid was leaking down the front. All the tools were with Steve and he had ridden well ahead of us. I said keep an eye on it and we will tighten the screws at the first opportunity. A little later Woodrow once again stops me and said the cap had come off. We then had to backtrack a few hundred feet looking for the parts. We found the top but not the screws. We finally used Duck Tape and tie wraps to put the top back on until we could get off the mountain and get some screws at a hardware store. This worked and we finally made it off the mountain and to Ace Hardware where the salesman came out to the parking lot with a container of metric screws to find the right ones; 23centsa each for 2.

Some high points:

1          We came upon several mules/donkeys (we don’t know the difference) in a fenced area and stopped to get their pictures. Several ran over to the fence expecting some treat I guess but all they got was their picture taken.

2          What we thought would be a short and easy day turned out to another extended adventure due to unforeseen issues.

We learned two very important facts today:

1               If it is loose, stop and tighten it immediately.

2               If the sign says the road is closed then the road is closed and find another way to go.

One more important fact is that during this time of year the Forest Service does controlled burns and they close roads without much notice.

Some items to carry with you on the TAT:

1               DucTape

2               Tie raps

3               Tow strap (20’ to 30’) to pull bikes up the steep slopes when they go over the side.

Day 3 is planned to go to Trenton, GA or on to Kimball, TN depending on what happens along the route. We made reservations at both sites so we can make sure we have a bed tomorrow night. We will cancel whichever one we don’t use.

Good Night.