Ride Report: MidFall Celebration Night Ride

I sometimes wonder what people must think or how they perceive us.  Have you ever seen a moderate sized night ride?  It’s a treat.  (If you haven’t been on one, you’ve really missed out.)  When the group is coming toward you, you see a collection of bright lights, some high, some low.  They tend to weave and bob, gliding from side to side in relation to each other.  Now sort of clustered together, now strung out in a long line.  If you are out in your yard, or standing by the road, the thing comes toward you, seeming at first to be moving slowly.  Abruptly, the procession seems to speed up.  You may hear a voice or two, but you can’t make out what is being said.  The whole thing passes with sudden speed.  You have a moment when you may perceive that these are people on silent bicycles, reflectors in place, gliding through the night.  Then the group has passed, and you see only the collection of flashing red tail lights, receding into the distance.

I’ve seen some of the reactions.  People will stand and stare.  Sometimes they are obviously startled.  Motorists don’t seem to know what to make of us either.  They slow down.  They are reluctant to pass.  They tend to give us a wider berth.  Do they tell each other about us, the next day or so?  What do they say?

After a somewhat inauspicious day, we had near perfect conditions for last night’s ride.  The temps started in the low 70s, and only gradually dropped into the 60s.  We encountered not one drop of rain.  The sky was mostly clear, with enough cloud to give the rising full moon a lot of character.  We had very little motor traffic to contend with.  I think we might have encountered as many as 15 cars in the entire three hour ride.

The pace was (for the most part) comfortable.  We traveled about 33 miles.  Present were Scott, Bob, Judy, Dan, Chris, Teresa, Amanda, and me.  We got under way a bit late, as I was delayed leaving the shop.  (Thank you all for your patience!)

The route was the star of the evening.  We left Holonville and rode to Concord, then turned back to the west, and intercepted Flat Shoals Road.  It’s a deceptive road.  It leaves the impression that one is going mostly downhill to the Flint River, but there is a surprising amount of climbing along it.  Crossing the big bridge at the Flat Shoals was the first of the promised bridges for the evening.

Leaving the Flint behind, we climbed a stout grade for about a mile and then hit the second of the night’s surprises, a turn onto a dirt road.  This is Covered Bridge Road, but you have to be quick to see the sign.

The impression on Covered Bridge Road, is that you have managed to get well into the middle of nowhere.  There is not much in the way of signs of habitation or commerce.  It’s a long dirt road, with nothing remarkable on it.  Occasionally the road is rutted with “washboard” stutters, sometimes it’s deep in sand, mostly, it’s an almost smooth dirt road.  Three and a half miles of it, mostly downhill, and then, there is an apparent gate looming ahead.  This is the warning before traversing the covered bridge.

We stopped on the long, uncovered wooden span, to allow the group to reassemble.  (Many riders are not comfortable on dirt, and speed will vary, especially at night.)  Then, with a warning to stay off of the “tread planks” we proceeded along the long open span, and through the covered portion.  This is a fun thing on a bike, doubly so at night.

Once through the bridge, we were on pavement again.  I heard someone remark,  “I’ll never complain about rough pavement again!  As long as it’s paved, it’s good!”

From the covered bridge, we intercepted GA-85, and turned north to Gay.  As we rode, the moon was rising to our right, and illuminating the clouds in an amazing way.  It was distracting.  I for one, wanted to watch the moonrise, and found it distracted from my riding.  I don’t think I was alone in this.  The whole group opened up intervals, and grew quite.

At Gay we turned off of 85, and then along wonderful (sometimes a bit rough) pavement, on Mt Carmel Road, to GA-362, and finally, along 362 back to Hollonville.

Just a super nice ride, with just wonderful folk.  And no dogs!