A Saturday Ride Over Fort Mountain… Almost

The weatherman delivered this past Saturday: clear skies and cool temperatures as Ed, Mike, Duane and I headed out for a lunch ride to River St. Tavern in Ellijay. Heated gear came in handy for the 48-degree start and it quickly rose into the 50s where it remained until we were well south of Ellijay heading home.

As the Road Captain, I had mapped out a route up Hwy 140 and US-411 through Canton, Waleska, and Fairmount, then the eastward journey on GA-52 over Fort Mountain and into Ellijay. That was the plan anyway.

Who knew there was so much construction on Hwy 140 above E. Cherokee St.? I haven’t been that way for some time and was surprised at all the work going on nearly all the way to Hwy 20. But traffic was reasonable as we made our way northwesterly through Canton, Waleska, and eventually on to US 411. From that point northward, it was open road, few cars, blue sky, and pure joy!

We made a planned hospitality stop in Fairmount then continued on, but this was where my unfamiliarity with my new Road Glide’s GPS short-sheeted our route. Well to be honest, it was operator error. Had I simply headed out from the Marathon station, all would have gone as planned but I inadvertently restarted the route, and the GPS chose US 76 for our eastward journey to Ellijay rather than GA-52. I didn’t notice the diversion being new to that area, so we missed GA-52 and Fort Mountain, but it was still a fine ride across, and we didn’t miss an excellent and vibrant lunch in Ellijay. I had opted for a more direct route homeward as we opened up the bikes on GA-515 and I-575.

Having missed the Fort Mountain Road left me wanting to repeat the effort—perhaps in the opposite direction—at a future date. The ride was 160 miles overall of excellent riding, good food, and a good vibe in downtown Ellijay. Come on out and ride!

Kevin "Kev" Marks