No Bike 3 minutes from the start of Georgia 6 Gap Century!
The Blue Hammers Line up for the start of 6 Gap 2015
That was the reality facing Jon of the Blue Hammers just 3 minutes from the starting horn of the 103 mile Georgia 6 Gap Century Ride. There were a few hundred people waiting behind the starting line in Lumpkin High School, Dahlonega, GA for this year’s 2015 Georgia 6 Gap Century Bike ride. Covering 103 miles with nearly 11,500 feet of elevation, the ride cover’s 6 prominent ‘Gaps’ in the Northern Georgia Mountains. The route climbs up from the beautiful historic town of Dahlonega up the first Gap, Neel’s Gap before descending to SR 19 before approaching the Brasstown Bald Mountain (4784ft) and the deceivingly hard Jack’s Gap. The route then stays close to the Appalachian Trail before ascending Unicoi Gap and the fantastic descent down to the ‘German style’ town of Helen. The ‘fun’ begins as soon as the route then crosses the Chattahoochee River and the long ascent known as The ‘Hog Pen’. Climbing over the Hog Pen, riders are then thrilled with a truly fast descent to the valley before Jack’s Gap again before ascending the 5th and 6th Gaps, ‘Wolf Pen’ and finally ‘Woody’s Gap’.
Missing Bike
The Hammers had pulled up to the high school 45 minutes before the ride commenced. Jon was in another vehicle but his Cannondale Supersix Evo was sitting in the hands of Josh. The morning light was appearing, bathroom visits were out of the way, final checks of everyone’s gear was done and everyone was ready to ride. Luckily for Jon, his bike was in the hands of a guy who was going to be riding the 3 Gap 50 Mile course which didn’t roll out until 8:30am. However still no Jon. Jon was walking the parking lot trying his best to located the rest of the group from a choice of hundreds of vehicles and bikers. Finally it was dangerously close to riding to the start line, and there were already an ocean of bikers waiting to roll.
John’s Missing Cannonade Evo
The Blue Hammers rode down to find Ty and his brother Tom waiting patiently towards the front of the ‘peloton’. They were on a mission and waved across to us. Ty was out to see if he could stick with his brother, who, by all accounts is one strong rider. The Blue Hammers waited and now with only 4 minutes to go, still no Jon. Josh decided to take his bike back to the parking lot to find him, and no sooner had Josh walked away, a nervous looking Jon walked through the sea of cyclists and made his way across to us. It was now 7:28am and the music was playing and the show was about to begin. Miraculously it was all of 1 minute before Jon had gone to chase Josh, retrieve his pride and joy and was sitting next to us on his bike, when the horn blew. Phew!
Orlando to Dahlonega
In 2014, a handful of Team Subaru Riders made the journey from Orlando to Dahlonega on the Friday night before Georgia 6 Gap Century. They rode three of the Gaps on Saturday, rode the 6 Gaps on Sunday and then got in their vehicles and drove all the way back to Orlando right after the ride. ‘Never again’ said Todd Morley who had a 9am meeting on the Monday morning. As a result of that, multiple meetings in B3 Cafe and some great planning and organization, 16 of the Blue Hammers traveled up to Dawsonville, GA, 20 minutes from the start and stayed in a beautiful house in the forest on the Friday before, and departed the following Monday.
The Blue Hammer’s Retreat in the Trees
The accommodation was through VRBO and had a hot tub, lake view, Apple TV, WIFI, full kitchen and all the facilities of a five star, five diamond hotel or resort. Everyone descended upon the house on Saturday and a handful of Blue Hammers rode the scenic roads up to Dahlonega to pick up our packets and transponders for the next day. A great evening, Criterium and Spaghetti dinner was to follow before a ‘relatively’ early night before our mammoth day to follow.
6 Gap Century Ride
Todd, Ty, Jan, Gary and a few others were no strangers to this ride, as they had ridden it in great sunny conditions the previous year. For others, it was their first time, and all they could be thankful for was that for the first time in two days, it was not raining, but still damp on the roads. I felt good as I looked around and saw the rest of the Blue Hammers sporting their freshly laundered clean kits packed with nutrition, bananas and bottles. Everyone had their numbers on their helmets and transponders on their ankles. The first Gap, Neel’s Gap seemed to go on for ever, winding from left to right before a final right hairpin bend and up to the summit.
Jon and James Climbing Neel’s Gap on their Team bikes
My cadence and gearing was perfect. I felt strong and before I knew it I looked behind me and there was Ted. Everyone else was a distant memory. Ted pulled away towards the pass and disappeared into the mist. The descent was great and I kicked my knee out on most of the sharp bends. I hung off the saddle keeping the center of gravity in check as my new S-Works Grifton tires stuck to the road to keep me safe. I caught Ted in the section between Neel’s Gap and Jack’s Gap. We chatted for a few minutes before the strong Todd Morley came flying shouting ‘jump on James’. I jumped on the group of about six riders he was with before I was dispatched off the back as soon as the start of Jack’s Gap climb started.
That was the last I saw of Ted and Todd before I soft pedaled and met up with the strong Dutchman, Jan at the the top of Jack’s Gap. The legs felt heavy. Had I eaten correctly? Yes. Had I stayed up too late the night prior? Not really. Had a drunk too much the night before? No. Had I had enough sleep? Yes. Had I ridden too much on the day before? Probably. Another Gu Vanilla Spice and I started to feel better. My legs were now warm and Jan and I attacked Unicoi Gap with vengeance. We flew up and I decided to stop again to get more fluid. Jan was a distant memory as he continued down into the cold and misty abyss.
The Skies Clear on the Approach to Jack’s Gap
As I stood at the Unicoi Gap, I was overwhelmed with the peace and tranquility I encountered. Even though there were many cyclists standing talking, eating and drinking, many more cycling up to the SAG or over the pass, the gentle breeze flowing through the trees, the sound of the leaves and the slow moving mists across the ‘Gap’ made me feel like I was in another world. Within five minutes, Jon, Gary and Darren arrived on the Gap. They were grateful the climb was over and I was grateful to see them. I made a promise to myself that I was going to finish this ride and stick with them. They could pace me up the climbs if necessary and it would give me the mental boost I needed. After two more honey and Peanut Butter sandwiches we made the fabulous Unicoi descent.
After mile 45 my legs felt strong again and thankfully my low point had passed for good. The infamous Hogpen Gap was next. Jon and Darren pulled away gently and when the start of the actual climb appeared with ’10K to Go’ the fun began. The gradient kicked up sharply and before I knew it I was at a cadence of 50 with no more gears remaining. The half way SAG appeared and with Gary right behind me I threw in the towel and stopped for a rest. Five minutes later we were off and a few more miles before the top finally appeared. One hard climb and not to be underestimated. The Hog Pen descent was not what I had hoped for. It was fast, but rough. After the amazing smooth technical experience of the Unicoi descent, the ride down the backside of the Hogpen was short lived and vibration central. I had in my mind what everyone had told me about the seven mile ascent and five mile descent, but it seemed shorter and less eventful than that. The gorgeous climb of Wolfpen Gap was next!
Wolf Pen Gap
The Wolfpen Ascent was easily my personal favorite. I felt like I was in a ‘Lord of the Rings’ Movie as the gentle cool breeze would whisper to you with every turn you made. It was quiet, surrounded by trees and every so often you would hear the cow bells clanging in the meadows below. Every cyclist that passed me or vice versa would nod and acknowledge each other. It was peaceful with very little vehicular traffic. I set a great tempo and felt good. Jon was right behind me and we were smoothly pedaling up the pass. Eventually I stopped for a quick drink and Jon and Darren continued on. Within a minute, there was Gary and we ascended the rest together. Wolf pen and Woody’s came and went and before we knew it we were motoring back to Dahlonega. Another sign approached. ’90 Miles to Go’ and I turned to Jon and smiled. We were flying at this point with all the elevation behind us now. The Garmin buzzed and beeped with our Century, just three miles to go and we were done!
The Blue Hammers Enjoy a well earned drink. Left to right, Darren, James, Gary, Leif, Jan, Ted and Todd
We turned back into the High School Parking lot and the finish line. Ty had come over the line in just over 6 hours easily within the top 100, including Todd a few minutes behind. Jan and Ted were both next and Jon, myself, Gary and others all came in together around the low two hundred mark. Some welcome beverages out of the cooler box and it was back to our cabin in the forest in Dawsonville.
Summary of Georgia 6 Gap Century Ride
In a word: Great. This was without doubt the best Century Ride I have participated in. The scenery is second to none, the SAGs were very well stocked and serviced by very friendly and courteous volunteers. The route was well thought out and challenging. The riders were all of a generally high level due to the elevation and thus etiquette was great. I did not see a bad descender on the Gaps and everyone gave each other plenty of space. The town of Dahlonega did an awesome job putting on the Criterium and the various vendor stands at the Expo were reasonably priced and friendly. The setup and distribution of the Check In and Transponders was well organized and staffed with again, friendly and courteous people. They were very welcoming.
Dahlonega-Lumpkin County Chamber of Commerce
13 South Park Street
Dahlonega, GA 30533
(706) 864-3711
Bike Setup
My Cannonade Supersix Evo runs a SRAM 130 BCD 53 front crank which was fine but I had a 25-11 on the rear. This is more appropriate for Central Florida Flat riding with rolling hills. My recommendation for anyone else except really strong riders would be to have a 50/34 crank and 11-28 cassette.
Hammers who rode Georgia 6 Gap Century
Ty Turbyfill
Todd Morley
Ted Mayberry
Jan Verkleij
James Lally
Jon Schwartzman
Gary Averill
Darren Hill
Leif Chase
Josh Brown
Jorge Borelli
Great article dude. But would like to add that if you do not want to change to a compact chain ring you can run an 11×30 Shimano and a 11×32 for Sram if you use a extra long B screw. And what great time I had with my fellow Hammers.
Great advice Dogman! We had a blast and you were a big reason it was so much fun – the way you attacked the Hog Pen was magnificent!