A Ride Report: Mid-Fall (Samhain) Celebration Night Ride

Sorry for the delayed posting here.  It was a bit late when I got home from the ride.

The Mid-Fall Celebration Night Ride is rapidly becoming one of my favorites.  I love the route and the season.  Having company just makes it that much better. 

Speaking of company…  It was a smaller group than last year.  (More on that in a moment.)  Present at start (and at finish!) were Judy, Chris, Dan, Scott, and your humble correspondent.  So, just five of us, but sound riders all.

I attribute the small turnout to two factors.  The first of these is the dirt road section of this ride.  Last year that came as a surprise to all riders.  This year it was a known given.  I know a lot of folks are leery of dirt road riding.  The fears are multiple.  They are afraid of falling down.  They are afraid of damaging their bikes.  They, and the bike, might get dirty.

Honest, a road bike can be ridden on a dirt road.  Yes it might get a bit dusty, or pick up a touch of mud.  These things can be taken care of with a few minutes of post ride cleanup.  As for the fear of falling, just ride a bit slower.  On this ride, you will not be left behind.  (When necessary, we re-group regularly.)

So, on to the report:

It was fully dark, with a dim red glow on the western horizon as we five pushed off.  We started promptly at 7:30 P.M.  We could all feel the temperature dropping as we waited the start.  I noted that all present had dressed well for the evening, but everyone was anxious to get moving and make some exercise heat.

That said, we rolled out of Hollonville, and set a brisk pace to get warmed up to the evening air.  The ride from Hollonville to Concord was a cruise, with clear sky around us, and the lingering dim glow of the last sunset to our right.

After turning through Concord, we were truly in it.  A quick jaunt on GA-18 took us to the turn for Flat Creek Rd.  This is supposed to be a mostly descending road, down to the bridge over the Flint River.  It sure seemed to me that there was a lot of climbing on that descent.  By that time it was fully and completely dark.

There has, lately, been some development along that stretch of road, and we encountered a small amount of late automotive traffic.  (We were passed by about five cars.)

The bridge over the Flat Shoals was a bit of a disappointment.  With no moon in the sky, and clear sky above, it was totally pitch dark.  So the bridge was a stretch of concrete, surrounded by blackness.  There was no moonlight on the water, and nothing to indicate what we were passing over.

Shortly after crossing the Flint River, we turned off of Flat Shoals, and onto Covered Bridge Rd.  This is the unpaved section of the ride.  The road surface was (mostly) smooth, with little gravel.  Yes there were some “washboard” sections, but they were not long or hard to traverse.  There were a couple of gravel stretches too, but not deep gravel, and the individual stones were of a size that was easily negotiated by road tires.

{NOTE:  Last year I rode my tourist, with its wider, high volume tires.  This year I chose a lighter, more conventional road bike, with 700 X 25s.  I had no problems at all.}

A couple of members of the group were riding a bit more cautiously, so we slowed a bit a couple of times to preserve group integrity.  I should add, this was in no way an inconvenience.  The two “catchup intervals” lasted less than a minute each.  So, no folks, you were not holding the group up!

This dirt road stretch is almost completely dark.  It is very rural, and we encountered absolutely no traffic on it.  It’s very definitely “Sleepy Hollow” country, but we saw no werewolves, zombies, or headless horsemen.  (One of our members did say,  “Pedal faster, I hear banjos.”)

After about three miles of amusing and pleasant dirt, we arrived at the covered bridge.  This is the “longest wooden span covered bridge” in Georgia.  More than half of the bridge is not covered, but is an open wood span bridge, with a cover at the western end.  As we were approaching from the east, we rode the exposed span first, and then the covered section.

Riding through that covered section is tricky.  We stopped for a moment, and I discussed the technique.  Most chose (wisely, I think) to dismount and walk through the covered portion.  I always stop here, and let the group precede me.  This lets them stop on the other side and turn to watch the bridge.  It’s really neat to see it light up from the inside, as a rider approaches.

After crossing the bridge, we just stopped on the road, extinguished our lights, and looked up at the night sky.  It was an incredibly clear night, with cool air and no moon.  The sky was magnificent!  The Milky Way was clearly visible, and I was able to make out several less visible star groups.  (There’s not a lot of light pollution that far out, and the “seeing” was excellent!)

Pavement!  Yay!  After the covered bridge, the rest of the ride seems somewhat anticlimactic.  We were on good pavement (except for the “Georgia Pave” section of Mt. Carmel Rd.) for the rest of the trip.  We even managed a brief necessary store stop in Gay.

I was beginning to feel the dropping temp as we approached GA-362, and other riders had grown silent.  I judged that, while all present could do just about any thing I put before them, all would appreciate getting to warmth a bit sooner.  That said, I took the shorter return option.  We rolled into Hollonville with an official 32.8 miles under our wheels, 2:21:43 rolling time, and an overall of 2:51:00 ride time.

Folks, I thank all of you who came out.  You’re a great bunch, and should be commended on your ability and skill.  It’s a pleasure to ride with each and every one of you.  For those of you who missed this, you missed a truly good ride.