October 27
I was up around 7 and saw the kids off to school, Eric made coffee and omelets for breakfast, and the three of us sat around the table and chatted for about an hour. Eric went out to wash the bike and I packed up for my trip back to TWO. The day was warm and sunny, perfect for riding. I left around 10 and followed pretty much the same route that Eric and I had taken two weeks earlier, with a couple of new roads for variety. I stopped at I 59 to call Lana and Mom, since I knew I would not have cell service later in the day. The weather stayed warm and I ran pretty much whatever speed felt good at the time, which was almost always fast. I came up behind a state trooper once, and settled in behind him, and another passed me while I was still behind the first one. I need a radar detector.
I grabbed lunch at a Shoney’s in some little town where I crossed I 75, then rode on to TWO. It stayed warm all day; I didn’t raise the windshield once. As long as I have my earplugs in, I can keep it down, but without the plugs, the wind noise is pretty irritating. With the windshield up, it is very quiet. I arrived at TWO and checked in, the only other people in the campground were Richard, my old friend from Savannah, and his buddy Neil. They had already set up camp and were headed to Dahlonega for snacks and beer. I decided to stay behind and set up. A guy who was staying in a rental trailer on site came over to check out the FJR. He was up for the 50CC rally that weekend, and said he had been coming to that rally here for years. His name was Randy, he was from somewhere in North Carolina, and had all kinds of bikes.
Richard and Neil at the TWO campground.
After Randy left, I finished pitching my tent and got a shower. Shortly after I got back to the tent, Richard and Neil rode up with fried chicken, wine, cheese, and chips. I like these guys. Richard threw a scrap of chicken skin into the little stream behind our campsite and something hit it on the surface! We looked closer and saw a HUGE alligator snapping turtle! We threw him a few more scraps and decided that this would not be a good place to wade. We ate and drank and lied till about 10, then turned in, anticipating a good day of riding tomorrow.
Stats: 203 miles, moving average 53 MPH, overall average 49 MPH, moving time 3.48, maximum speed 83.7