Car Less Ohio

Bruce and I headed to the Appalachian Mountains of Northern Georgia to ride the “Three Gap Fifty,” which is half of a local club ride known as the Six Gap Century. Our ride was only 38 miles, but included over 5,000 vertical feet of climbing over the three gaps. The vintage Cannondale touring bike that I borrowed from Bruce made the climbs a little tougher than usual for me, but the miles of fast, twisty descents were worth the effort. Two of the gaps had been part of this year’s Tour of Georgia, which was won by Lance Armstrong not long before his record-setting sixth Tour de France victory. There were still many signs spray-painted on the asphalt by fans.

The return trip from Newnan to Alpharetta, Georgia.

I flew down to Atlanta, Georgia to visit with Bruce and Robert, two of my friends from my coast-to-coast cycling trip. Bruce and I rode from his house in Alpharetta down to Robert’s house in Newnan (with a segment on the MARTA train to get through downtown Atlanta more easily). The trip was about 51 miles.

I borrowed Bruce’s old Cannondale touring bike, which had downtube shifters and was a bit too large for me, but worked well enough.

The weather was beautiful all weekend, with unseasonably warm temperatures in the mid-to-high 50’s, and clear, sunny skies.