AUDAX 200K IN SOME DETAIL

We will leave Peachtree City from the parking lot in front of Bicycles Unlimited. We will depart at 07:30 promptly.

Initially the pace will be moderate, as it will be early in the day and folks will not have warmed up yet. It seems there is always a bit of shaking down on this part of the trip. We wind through the streets of Peachtree city for about seven miles, and then leave the town behind. At about mile 9 we will be entering Senoia, Georgia. We cruise through the scenic and historic Main Street.

There is an optional stop at 10 miles, just as we depart the town of Senoia. This is a store, with a restroom. We prefer not to stop here, but sometimes it’s necessary.

At this point we are beginning to flirt with rural north Georgia. We continue southward, through gently rolling hill country. The scenery opens to some nice vistas at the edge of farming country.

Between miles 14 and 20 we come to a relatively long, almost flat stretch. We will increase speed here to a solid paceline speed for this stretch. It’s fun and exciting. At mile 20 we turn westward and get into some roller country. It’s a pleasant rural stretch, one that provides lots of good low traffic riding, and pleasant surroundings.

Just before 33 miles, we reach the town of Greenville. We will roll around the large courthouse, and then make our first scheduled rest stop. This is a good place to refill water bottles, visit the “necessary,” and stretch a bit. The stop will be a short one.

From Greenville we will proceed to the town of Pine Mountain, GA. This leg is about 20 miles long. There’s another quick stop at a nice store in Pine Mountain. Then we turn toward the Mountain itself.

We will climb the flank of Pine Mountain. This climb includes the steepest pitch on the ride, a quarter mile at about 6% grade. We follow GA-190 along the spine of the mountain, until it intersects GA-85 Alt. There are several spectacular views as we ride along the mountain, a couple of screaming descents, and several nice climbs. A fast, fun descent brings us to the town of Warm Springs, and lunch.

We will have reservations at the Bulloch House. Lunch is buffet style, country cooking. It’s outstanding. I strongly recommend saving room for desert.

After lunch, we allow a bit of digestion time. This is good time to re-apply sunscreen.

We ride at a controlled pace for the first hour after lunch. Fortunately the first five miles are mostly down hill. Then we begin tackling the rollers on GA-85. These appear to be worse than they actually are. The problem is one of optics. It’s possible to see the road ahead for long distances, and the rollers are seen in their entirety, foreshortened by the perspective.

About 18 miles after the lunch stop we arrive in Gay, GA, for the first of the after lunch stops. This will be a short stop to answer nature’s call and refill bottles.

From Gay, we ride about 20 miles to the rest stop at Digby. On this leg we will turn a bit east and descend to the Flint River. The bridge over the Flint crosses at the famous “flat shoals.” This is followed by a long step climb, and then turn through the town of Concord. A couple of long easy climbs late we arrive at the store in Digby.

From Digby it is only 20 miles to the finish, back in Peachtree City. This last leg is more flat than hilly, and the hills are mostly long low “rollers.” This leg has some long sight ling vistas, and it transits the small and quaint town of Brooks, GA. As we enter Peachtree City, we will form up into a column of twos to ride the final four miles of the four lane Peachtree Parkway in triumph. And, of course, we’ll have a good sandwich snack waiting for us as we finish the ride.

That’s the itinerary. Are you interested?