The Saga Continues

Saturday Bugsplat and I decided to ride south to visit Sprewell’s Bluff State Park and to take David to Yoder’s Dietsch Restaurant in Montezuma for lunch and to shop for a Mennonite virgin for his son Jeff. We hooked up in Newnan and I led an uneventful ride to Sprewell’s Bluff near Thomaston. This is a beautiful and remote state park. According to the GPS, the bluffs towered 301 feet above parking lot down at the river level. The road to the bottom was suitably entertaining. There were no amenities at the park other than a gravel parking lot and an outhouse. The silence and the scenery were beautiful. We were joined by the local park constabulary demanding the $3 parking fee. After paying and chatting briefly, we were back on the road toward Yoder’s.

Bugsplat led the way with his traditional explorative nature. We missed the first turnoff and turned around and came back to it after several miles. This road led thru an absolutely uninhabited South Georgia forest and was very relaxing. We again took the wrong road once we were in Montezuma and wound up a few miles from the Iron Angels Campground in Unidilla before we recognized our error and retraced our path. Iron Angels were just not the type of Babes we were helping Dave select.

Yoder’s is perhaps the most visible symbol of the Mennonite Colony in and around Montezuma. The food is divine and the serving girls are all young, demure, submissive, pure, Mennonite teenagers dressed in traditional garb with the bonnets and long dresses. Using the occasional flash of an ankle as a guide we soon made our choice for Jeff but she was going off duty as the lunch rush was over. We walked over to the gift shop to see if they had any Mennonite virgins on sale there but they were not in season. In addition to a wide variety of Mennonite jams, jellies, and other condiments, they had a supply of the little white bonnets the women wear. David suggested I buy one for the bride but it just would not have looked the same after Linda told me where to stick it.

We checked in with Jeff to let him know that the search was a success but he would have to come down while his betrothed was on duty then we hit the road north. We took a break just north of Culloden due to Nod-N-Off getting sleepy. While we were there, a group of bikers pulled in for gas with the State Patrol right behind them. One of the bikers had a young kid too young to ride bitch riding in front of him. The State Patrol detained him and the kid and called for someone to come pick the kid up. The remainder of the return trip was uneventful.

Sunday morning we set on a planned short ride north so we could have an early return. The plan was Burnt Mountain, Suches, Blue Ridge and return. The ride was largely uneventful until we hit cinders and salt put down on Burnt Mountain during last week’s snow. That led to some interesting moments but we adjusted our speed and riding style according and came down to Dahlonega where there was no evidence that the roads had been salted.

There is an intersection in north of Dahlonega that is tricky on the best of days. Imagine a toothpick holding up the top half of 2 "C"s glued back to back. That is this intersection. I am entering from one "C", the pavement is sloped down like the side of a bowl where most traffic goes down the toothpick. I am crossing to the other "C" so I yield to traffic and there is none. At the other "C" there is a yield sign where the older red Ford Ranger is to yield to me. He didn't and I did an emergency stop. Probably would have worked out Okay except there was salt and cinders in the intersection from the recent snow. Locked the rear wheel and crashed on right side at maybe 5 mph. Nothing really hurt except my ego and a little chrome. The main thing I did wrong was assume the guy at the yield sign would continue to yield. When He didn't and I slammed on the brakes I forgot my fake right leg can not feel the force I give it and thus locked the brake. I can plan my braking no problem but tend to skid in an emergency situation.

Anyway, a couple of guys helped me pick up my bike and I was on the way. I will get the dealer to replace the right driving light fixture which was destroyed. I am shopping for right engine guard and right saddle bag guard which had minor road rash but did what they were supposed to do. Also looking for right national cycle hand guard. All of these things are useable and will remain on the bike until I find a deal.

Looking over the scene afterwards I saw several things I had done wrong including becoming complacent because I hadn't seen any salt or cinders for about 20 miles. I compounded the problem by acting abruptly when a degree of finesse was required. Examining the scene afterward I said “Gee they salted the intersection.” Well Duh! What should I have expected?

Bob and I hooked up again in Suches and surveyed the damage then motored on home uneventfully. Even with a crash it was a smashing weekend.