Last Ride of 05

The weather forecast taunted me all week long. Calling for a high of near 60 degrees with no chance of rain I found it increasingly hard not to take Friday off work and go riding. After all, I told myself, it's the last warm day of the year and I won't have many more chances to ride until spring brings warm days and clear skies. And so, answering a perceived call of the wild, I set out Friday morning for a day of riding in the mountains of North Georgia.

This trip had an agenda. Like Dorothy Parker I also hate writing but love having written. And it is that desire to "have written" that led to my desire to be published. However, the realization that I know nothing worthy of print has kept me from submitting a manuscript. Perhaps a travel story would be my ticket. After all, part of the reason I ride is to travel and if I can use motorcycle travel as a vehicle to get published then that's all the better. Some months ago I noticed that Georgia State Road 2 neatly cuts across the top of the State. Beginning near the Alabama border and traveling east the road leads into South Carolina on Georgia's eastern boundary the road covers approximately 170 miles of North Georgia scenery. Perhaps this road would also lead to a publishable story.

This day's ride was to be a reconnaissance mission, a chance to preview the road and see if I could find an angle or hook that would make for an interesting, and publishable, story. Since the winter solstice is quickly approaching my time on the road is limited. Therefore I knew I would likely need to break up this recon mission into two day trips. No problem. All I need is the slightest excuse to take a ride and this trip looked like it would easily allow a follow up trip.

Highway 2 begins at a junction with State Road 193, near the communities of Fantasy Hills and Flintstone, Georgia. I knew from looking at maps that sections of this ride would not provide the type of scenery I usually hunt out for travel. With scenery more akin to metropolitan Atlanta the ride began with a dim thud.

Heading east through Fairview and Ft. Oglethorpe the highway cuts under Interstate 75 and joins Highway 41 for a run into the city of Ringgold which would prove to be my salvation. With the first fifteen miles behind me the road narrowed to two lanes and I could see a lot of green and brown ahead of me.

Further east, after splitting with 41, the highway passes through Varnell, Prater Mill, and Beaverdale before taking a dog leg along State Road 225 into the town of Cisco at the junction with Highway 441.

Once before on a trip I tried to take photographs while riding. While a dangerous technique, I've seen examples in the past an they seemed worth the trouble. And though I still have plenty of room for improvement I was encouraged by the day's attempt.


Due east of Cisco lies the Cohutta Wilderness, a National Wilderness Area void of any motorized travel. A good part of my misspent youth was spent in the Cohuttas, hiking the trails and swimming in the mountain waterfalls of Jack's River.

From Cisco, Highway 2 follows 441 south, once again turning east in the town of Chatsworth. This provides the first twisty stretch of highway 2 as it climbs up Fort Mountain on it's way to Ellijay in the valley east of Fort Mountain. I first rode this stretch of Highway 2 nearly a year ago.

Since the starting point of my ride required a fairly long ride I was cover about 80 miles of State Road 2. However, with nearly a hundred of miles remaining I'm looking forward to my next ride.