2024 Ride Around Georgia

Anyone that knows me knows if I touch my scoot, expect rain. This ride was no different. We departed Love’s Travel Center around 3:30pm under overcast skies, and perfect temperatures. 10 miles south, on I-95, the rain started. Maker asked if we should don the rain suits, while also stating that he had looked at the weather before we left. It looked to him as though it would be light rain and should be spotty and brief. Trust me when I say that it was NONE of those things. We never got completely out of the rain until we hit Waycross, and there were times that we couldn’t hardly see the road. -1 point to me for not putting on the brand new rain suit I bought for the trip. -1 point Maker for not being a meteorologist.

First leg to St. Marys was all interstate. I-95 wasn’t bad as far as the road surface goes. There were the normal number of idiots in cages and several of our Law Enforcement buddies out and about. Quick, unscheduled, bathroom break at the Pilot Travel Center (2607 Scrubby Bluff Rd, Kingsland, GA 31548) and we were back at it. Finally off the interstate, we were off and running and while more than a little damp, our spirits were high.

The ride from St. Marys to Waycross was fairly enjoyable, mostly light traffic, good roads, but wet yet again. The monsoon continued until we got into Waycross, but never really slowed us down. Stopped at the Friendly Express (1811 S Georgia Pkwy W, Waycross, GA 31503), quick snack, rest rooms, and we were off again. When we started out, we had decided that we needed to keep our stops to around 15 minutes to successfully complete the ride.  This should provide a cushion later in the trip. At this point, we had 1 unscheduled stop that was probably 15 minutes, and this stop which was pretty close to 15. We are doing alright, but not great… Somewhere in here we decided that regardless of if we made it in 24hrs, we were riding, and we both needed this for our mental health.

Waycross to Valdosta… what an emotional rollercoaster this little stretch was. First, let me say this, Georgia had just been hit my Hurricane Helene. In fact, we weren’t sure if we were going to be able to ride. There were questions about the availability of gas, were the roads open? Hell, I didn’t have power restored until just a couple days prior to our departure. The stretch between Waycross and Valdosta was where the eye passed and the devastation we saw was heart breaking. I felt guilty for riding through the area on a “joy ride”, passing people trying to put their lives back together. I also unlocked a new fear, decapitation by road sign. We encountered 2 or 3 road signs that had been blown over so they were leaning partially into the lane of travel. They were “bladed” toward us so you really couldn’t see the sign, only the post. I had to duck the first one, good thing I packed some clean underwear. 0 stars, would not recommend. It was also in this stretch where the sun went down. I had been super excited to finally get to try out my new Denali Electronics D7 Pros. Well, they weren’t working. Notta, nothing… Maker will tell you and I admit, I felt like a little kid whose balloon just popped and my puppy died all at once. Got to Valdosta, made another unscheduled stop at O’Reilly Auto Parts (1100 N Ashley St, Valdosta, GA 31601), hoping it was the fuse… nope… quick troubleshooting isolated the issue to the Cansmart controller (This turns out to be inaccurate, but more on that later. The Cansmart and lights were working exactly as designed). We didn’t have a computer with us, so F’ it, lets ride. Random side note, the amount of shenanigans going on in the parking lot of O’Reilly at 8:45pm on a Friday night, is more than a little alarming. While I was playing swap-a-tronics, Maker took the opportunity to dump water from his boots and put on dry socks. This was the start to what would be a game for the rest of the trip. We stop, Maker would swap wet socks for socks that had dried on his tour pack during the prior segment. Back and forth all the way home. I poured the water out of my boots, yes poured, wrung out my socks (yes it is every bit as disgusting as it sounds), and pressed on.

Valdosta to Bainbridge… This was all new territory for me. Roads were good, traffic was non-existent, Maker and I chatted using our Cardo PackTalk Edge intercoms, passing the miles just enjoying the wind. Time for fuel, oh, quick note, at this point as would continue for the entire journey, every gas stop we had to go inside to get our receipts because the printers in the pumps weren’t working. We fuel up, jump on the scoot, and Maker is waiting patiently in front of me. I turn the ignition and all I hear is Maker yelling “Dude your D7s are on”. I thought he was F’ing with me, but nope, they were on and they were GLORIOUS!!! On our way out, we stopped for dinner at Wendy’s. Our first substantial food since we departed.

Bainbridge to Bremen… The temps had dropped, but were comfortable. It was a perfect night to ride. We had donned the leather jackets, but we were comfortable. Skies were clear, the roads were good, and we had them pretty much to ourselves. Somewhere in this stretch, with Maker and I riding side by side, his Ruby’s and my Denali’s on high, we blinded a sheriff deputy. Sorry officer, we honestly didn’t know you were in the car until we got almost to you. All we could see at that point was him trying to cover his eyes. If he wanted to chase us, he couldn’t, besides we weren’t going “that” much over the limit. Oops.

Shortly after leaving Bremen, we came upon Cedartown. Ever been to Cedartown? Me either. Well here is the thing, I don’t really enjoy riding at night. To many horror stories of motorcycles encountering deer, and hogs I guess. When we left Savannah, Google Maps showed us on Interstates and US Routes. Well, in Cedartown, my wonderful Google Maps decided that US 27 was simply too good for us. Thus started our adventure on what Maker and I refer to as “Bob’s Country Road”. Now, don’t get me wrong, “Bob’s Country Road”, also known as Mountain Home Rd, Freezer Locker Rd, Mill St, and God knows how many other names, its a fine road. I think… in the daytime… when you know it… when you can see it… and all the deer that seem to graze near it. For two monkeys riding at night, with no clue where the hell they are… well Bob’s Country Rd becomes lets use the word concerning. Add some fog to the mix, and it was somewhat uncomfortable… and I think we heard banjos but thats another story. Here is the thing, we could have stayed on US 27 the entire time. On the map, it appears that US 27 was likely longer in distance, but I am betting that we could have maintained our speed, dodged fewer deer and arrived in Summerville at the same time. Regardless, Bob’s Road was the way we went.

We emerge from the woods in LaFayette, GA. Still slightly damp and feeling anxious from our adventures in BFE Georgia, we decide we could use some coffee and a seat that isn’t attached to a motorcycle. As if by divine intervention, that southern staple Waffle House comes into view. We pull in, another change of the socks, restroom, coffee, waffle and some bacon… LIFE IS GOOD!!!!

LaFayette, to Fort Oglethorpe, to Dalton… into Ellijay… ahhhhhh yes, Ellijay. What happened in or about Ellijay you might ask… well let me add to this wonderful tale. For those that don’t know, Ellijay is in the hills… the start of the Smoky Mountains… and where we encountered the heaviest, thickest, and wettest fog known to man. That monsoon we rode in back in the first leg of this trip… the fog droplets were bigger than the raindrops. I still don’t know by what physics these water droplets were able to remain suspended, yet there they were. At this point it is just before dawn, like 6am. Its the coldest point of our journey, and this fog as soaked us through yet again. It was as though we were riding in that same rain storm, but this was just suspended in front of us… mocking us… daring us to continue. Stupid damn fog.  Oh, did I mention my lights, the ones that I was so excited about back in Bainbridge, yeah those lights… they stopped working again. Look, there goes my balloon again, and this children, is why we can’t have nice things. Ok, I might be being a little dramatic… but it was the heaviest, densest fog I have ever encountered and we did get soaked. And outside of my lights not working, we were still all smiles and enjoying our adventure.

So we leave Ellijay, rocket through Blue Ridge, into Blairsville… and onto Clayton… well nope, not exactly. But Scuba, you said that the ride went Blue Ridge, Clayton, Toccoa. Yes, yes I did, so did the IBA, so did Google Maps when we left Savannah… however… Let me share a little think about Google Maps. When you create the route on your computer and send it to your phone, in order to get the phone to actually navigate, you have to edit the stops. A couple of times during the trip, I had to pull up the original map I shared with myself, delete all the stops we had already passed through, and restart the navigation. Somewhere along the way while trying to do that, I fat fingered something and moved Toccoa to the bottom of the list. Thus making our route Blue Ridge, Toccoa, Augusta, and Clayton. Fortunately for our heroes, I had studied this route for HOURS prior to us setting out. As we turned south our of Blairsville, something just didn’t feel right. I knew there was another town in there, but was it before Toccoa or after Toccoa… so onward we pressed toward Toccoa. Fortunately, my bladder decided we needed to stop in Cleveland. When I walked back out to the bike, I pulled up the IBA website and saw Clayton in the list BEFORE Toccoa. Per the IBA rules, you can take ANY route to the towns as long as you complete them in order, with the “spirit” of the ride being to trace the border. Well, we deviate a little from the border, but, we hadn’t gone too far out of our way. We hit US 23, shoot north at half the speed of Mach chicken, hit Clayton, flip around and blaze back down US 23 before shooting over to Toccoa… disaster averted. Hurray!!!

We are blessed with a perfect sunrise and an absolutely perfect Saturday as we hit Toccoa for fuel. Our Saturday could NOT have been a more perfect day. We ride down out of the mountains, into Augusta, all of which is familiar territory… just a great great day. We encountered some traffic issues in and around Augusta. That area was also hit pretty hard by Hurricane Helene. Some downed power lines, traffic lights not working, traffic itself a bit of a hot mess… but all of it manageable. Our heroes ride into the Love’s from which they departed, 22 and a half hours later… victorious.