"We're at the top right Ashlyn"
"No"
What!?. . . You're joking"
"No"
"This isn't funny. . ."
The trip up/ Day 1
We had been planning our trip up to Dahlonega for a couple of weeks and when school finally let out on Thursday, I couldn't wait to just get on the road up there. The Gerbers had first proposed the plan to do some training up in the mountains and we quickly agreed along with the Bragas, Gordons, Jos Chalmers, Will Willis and David Bush. Everyone was meeting at our house around 3:30 and we were planning on getting on the highway around 4. After packing all our stuff into two cars, we met up with the Gerber-mobile at a rest area on the turnpike and started our way north.
Around 7:30 we made it to the Georgia border and then stopped for the night in Forsyth. The next day (my birthday!) we got up for an early breakfast and then went straight to the mountains. Our plan was to do Neels Gap first, followed by Wolfpen Gap and Woody Gap. Any riding after that was weather permitting.
When we reached the starting place for our ride (which happened to be the side of the road) I started looking around the back of the car for my gear bag... and couldn't find it. I asked around the other cars "have you seen my gear bag?" "Nope." Great! I left it at home. Luckily I can fit into most of my mom's riding gear and she was willing to drive the Braga van as a SAG car. *Big Hug Mom!*
So we started off and there were a few rolling hills (it was flat compared to the rest of the ride) before we got to the first gap, Neels. I had no intention of killing myself in the very beginning, so I took my time, riding along with Eddie Braga, who sang happy birthday to me whenever I started going really slow. I even invented a song for myself:
Happy Birthday to me. My present will be: Climbing up mountains, Until I can't even see.
Don't you love it? (I was a little anaerobic at the time...) Anyways. It was too foggy at the top of Neels and we didn't feel safe descending it, so all of us jumped in the cars and drove to the bottom of Wolfpen. I tried to keep up a steady pace up this one but when I finally reached the top, I was so far behind the others I jumped in the car again to catch up. But then the heater got to me, and I just couldn't bring myself to get out again. We were planning on doing even more riding the next day anyways, so why kill myself now? Everyone else still riding decided to do another lap, so my mom drove some of us back to the hotel to check in. Let me tell you, that shower was calling my name.
What a great way to spend your birthday right?
Day 2
I thought the weather couldn't get much worse over night. Ha ha... I was wrong. Little fog yesterday at the top? Alfredo sauce is more like it today. We were sitting in the hotel lobby watching the weather report: even more rain today, low visibility, snow by tomorrow. And to make things worse, overnight Will had gotten a cold from being so wet the day before and was in no shape to ride. The Gordons decided then that they were going just going to go home, taking the sick Willis with them. Now there were only 7 people left in our group. We decided that we weren't going to let the weather keep us down, so at the first tiny break in the rain, we were out on our bikes. I stayed in the car as everyone went back up Neels Gap as a warm up, jumping in with them at the top to spin my legs before we got to the next summit. Jack's Gap wasn't too steep but rather long and at the top we found the entrance to Brasstown Bald. But of course we couldn't ride up it just yet because we had two more gaps to do before coming back to it (whose brilliant idea was that anyways?). Unicoi Gap was next and probably my favorite, especially the descent. But we also came across a head-on car crash on the way down that slowed our progress some. Then it was time to ride Hogpen, in my opinion, the worst by far. It just kept going up and up and up (the beginning of this post is the conversion we had every time we thought it was the top) but finally we reached the summit. I was too tired to feel comfortable descending the slippery mountain, and gazed at the chunks of ice on the side of the road as we drove past. The second time up Jack's gap was also spent in the car, trying to recuperate and summon enough energy to make it up Brasstown Bald. After riding back and forth a couple of times on the road beside the entrance, I decided to just get it over with. The signs at the bottom said: "Ice on road," "Steep Grades Next 3 Miles," and a depiction of a winding road. FUN! I reset my computer at the base to track the miles, and about half way through I thought very seriously of just getting in the car. But I finally made it up to the top and ya know what... it was cold, thick fog and 5:30 in the afternoon. We must be crazy to do this for fun I thought to myself. But now I can say that I climbed Brasstown Bald the day after I turned 14.
Can You?
The Drive Home
I was going to leave this post at the "Can You?" but I just had to add this:
When we left Dahlonega the next morning it was still raining. The weather report we watched was predicting a snow storm rolling right across Georgia. When we were just outside Atlanta, the snow turned to sleet. And then finally in Macon, snow flurries started coming down. I even got to touch some while we were Five Guys for lunch. It was the first time I've ever seen snow! And then when we crossed the Florida border, the sun came out, and the temperature went up 20 degrees.
What a great way to spend your birthday right?
Day 2
I thought the weather couldn't get much worse over night. Ha ha... I was wrong. Little fog yesterday at the top? Alfredo sauce is more like it today. We were sitting in the hotel lobby watching the weather report: even more rain today, low visibility, snow by tomorrow. And to make things worse, overnight Will had gotten a cold from being so wet the day before and was in no shape to ride. The Gordons decided then that they were going just going to go home, taking the sick Willis with them. Now there were only 7 people left in our group. We decided that we weren't going to let the weather keep us down, so at the first tiny break in the rain, we were out on our bikes. I stayed in the car as everyone went back up Neels Gap as a warm up, jumping in with them at the top to spin my legs before we got to the next summit. Jack's Gap wasn't too steep but rather long and at the top we found the entrance to Brasstown Bald. But of course we couldn't ride up it just yet because we had two more gaps to do before coming back to it (whose brilliant idea was that anyways?). Unicoi Gap was next and probably my favorite, especially the descent. But we also came across a head-on car crash on the way down that slowed our progress some. Then it was time to ride Hogpen, in my opinion, the worst by far. It just kept going up and up and up (the beginning of this post is the conversion we had every time we thought it was the top) but finally we reached the summit. I was too tired to feel comfortable descending the slippery mountain, and gazed at the chunks of ice on the side of the road as we drove past. The second time up Jack's gap was also spent in the car, trying to recuperate and summon enough energy to make it up Brasstown Bald. After riding back and forth a couple of times on the road beside the entrance, I decided to just get it over with. The signs at the bottom said: "Ice on road," "Steep Grades Next 3 Miles," and a depiction of a winding road. FUN! I reset my computer at the base to track the miles, and about half way through I thought very seriously of just getting in the car. But I finally made it up to the top and ya know what... it was cold, thick fog and 5:30 in the afternoon. We must be crazy to do this for fun I thought to myself. But now I can say that I climbed Brasstown Bald the day after I turned 14.
Can You?
The Drive Home
I was going to leave this post at the "Can You?" but I just had to add this:
When we left Dahlonega the next morning it was still raining. The weather report we watched was predicting a snow storm rolling right across Georgia. When we were just outside Atlanta, the snow turned to sleet. And then finally in Macon, snow flurries started coming down. I even got to touch some while we were Five Guys for lunch. It was the first time I've ever seen snow! And then when we crossed the Florida border, the sun came out, and the temperature went up 20 degrees.
"So what did you do this weekend?"
"I spent it climbing up mountains on my bike in the rain and cold!"
"Oh. Well, I went to the beach"
