Six Gap ride report and the gas shortage.

[Elefantino]

What a great weekend. Hope all of you in the SE who made it up to Dahlonega had as nice a time as we did.

Great weather. A great night-before-the-race party at Dahlonega Wheelworks. (Those folks rock, by the way. A great shop!) The best prepared, best sagged and best run Six Gap yet. A great new start and finish (unless you hate extra climbing). And we had enough gasoline.

(What would have made it better was a non-skipping chain. Mine gave up the ghost and stretched too far on the second-to-last climb and only allowed me the 53x26 and 53x29 the rest of the way. Great gears for climbing and riding the flats... :crap: )

Those of you who haven't tried Six Gap, try. It's a great, great century. One of the best.

As for the gas ... we filled up below Macon and refilled there on the way back. On Saturday, there was virtually no gas in between. We stopped in Roswell and saw almost a HALF MILE gas line going toward a Shell station. The A Team van (Kia Sedona '02, 80,000 miles) got 20+ MPG with four bikes up and one in the back, plus five guys and all our gear.

The gas lines reminded me of the '70s. Thankfully, for one shining day, I was able to forget what was going on in the rest of this mixed-up world.

I'm going to start saving for next year's trip. Maybe I'll cash in some of my Wachovia stock.

[dauwhe]

Sounds crazy. I had to look up the gas shortage, as it seems to affect only the South right now, due to the recent hurricanes...

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/30/us/30gas.html?ref=us

Glad you had a good ride. I'll have to try some of the mountains there someday!

Dave

[wrestlr]

Fun ride for sure.

I was the kid who said hey and was wearing the Jittery Joe's devo kit at the stop at the base of the turnoff for Brasstown bald. Nice to see you there.
-Mike

[little.man]

Here is a video of the descent down Unicoi Gap taken from 6 Gap on Sunday. And the videographer says, "Yes, I know I should have gotten a ticket."

Warning, if you get car sick, take Dramamine first.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQsQHaMdlPE

Here is a blog with a writeup on the ride.

http://nola_racing.blogspot.com/

I was supposed to go, but crashed a couple of weeks ago and broke my clavicle again. Oh well, can hardly wait for next year.

[WadePatton]

I managed to cover 50 miles in 7:19 last time I was in Dahlonega. But it was off-road and I'm slow. :bike:

Six Gap looks great. Maybe I can catch it next year. A full tank will get me there and home. 7200# truck, 34 gallon tank, for the perfect balance of fuel efficiency and performance I take energy from exhaust and recycle it. Cummins style! ;)

[mvanhorn]

Fantastic video! I go up to that area a couple times a year, and want to do the Six gap next year. The guys at Dahlonega Wheelworks are great. I've been told by the locals that you can hit 60 coming down Hogpen Gap.

Mark

[LegendRider]

The Six Gap Century is a well-organized ride, but you certainly do not have to wait until next year to do it. There aren't many turns and maps are available (PM me if you need one). Plus, there are a few convenient store stops.

The descent off on Hogpen is very, very fast. You need to be careful to balance not going too fast with not applying the brakes so much you overheat your rims and blow a tube (or heat/soften your glue).

[Geoff]

The ride was great again this year. What tics me off is that although my fitness is better I still finish in more or less the same time as years past. Climbed hogpen and wolfpen faster cant quite figure it out. One of the local kids from here finished in 5:15 and he just turned 18 (for me it was 6:30).

[WadePatton]

Hey, are there any significant flat sections on that route? The compressed elevation profile doesn't show any. I have this crazy notion of doing it with one gear. A low one that freewheels.

[LegendRider]

Hey, are there any significant flat sections on that route? The compressed elevation profile doesn't show any. I have this crazy notion of doing it with one gear. A low one that freewheels.

There is a (moderately) flat section in the Suches valley between Wolfpen and Woody Gaps. Otherwise, you're generally going up or down.

[Michael Maddox]

On the OTHER end of the performance spectrum, I pulled out after topping Hog Pen Gap. My lower back turned out to be my weakness, as it was in spasms all along the climb and became unmanageable toward the summit.

So, for me, about 67 miles and 4 gaps for my first attempt at this sort of ride in 20 years. Not bad, some say, but it was a grueling, miserable hour that ended the ride for me. I'm happy that I didn't bonk (I ate very well) and my legs felt great, but I'm still disappointed. I know how to train, now, and I'll definitely be coming back for 2009.

Here I am, fooling around at an earlier rest stop. I really looked like this at the top of Hop Pen, but at least I wasn't airlifted.

[WadePatton]

Hey Michael, you might know some of that bunch I bunked with at the Fool's Gold. They were from Tallahassee--and there were 4 more from T-town there as well. One is the "apebike" guy. Another took 2nd in the 50-miler. Don't have names but was quite impressed with the 2nd place performance from a flatlander--our first climb was 8 miles. Good bunch and I'll request the same bunkhouse as them next time--none of them snored.

[LegendRider]

The descent off on Hogpen is very, very fast. You need to be careful to balance not going too fast with not applying the brakes so much you overheat your rims and blow a tube (or heat/soften your glue).

Is this immodest? I'm quoting myself... Anyway, there was a terrible accident on Hogpen (see above) at Six Gap. A woman crashed badly and is in a coma at a Chattanooga hospital. Last year (or year before), a man died descending Brasstown Bald at the Tour de GA.

[ericspin]

Hey, I am on the mailing list of the Everglades Bicycle Club and they sent out an email about one of thir female members who was badly injured on the Hog Pen descent. No particulars. Anybody know about this and what may have happened?

Sorry, I just saw the last post.

[Elefantino]

IThere was a terrible [crash] on Hogpen at Six Gap. A woman crashed badly and is in a coma at a Chattanooga hospital.
One of my friends, a local brain surgeon, was there when she crashed. There seemed to be a disagreement as to whether her for broke, caushing the crash, or whether she cooked it in one of the corners and crashed, breaking the fork. Anyway, he saved her life, along with others.

On a brighter note, Hogpen is a great descent. But it helps to know the turns and the lines. This year, I think we all did and a couple of us topped 51 mph. I can see, though, that with the right gearing, bike and nerves (mostly the last) it would be easy to hit six-oh. (The first year on the way down I lost a water bottle. Not from a bump, but from the vortex...)

Unicoi was fun, too, particularly because my buddy Peter and I were playing Grand Tour Bike Racer. He was in front and I was trying to pass and we dueled all the way down. It was probably not smart but very, very fun.

And it was good to see another forumite ("wrestlr") atop Jacks. Cool kit!

[Elefantino]

This was on that club's site:

As many of you know, a group of Miami riders went to the Six Gap of Georgia this past weekend to enjoy what started out as a truly wonderful time. On the mountain known as Hogpen, which is the most difficult climb of all, the first two miles of the descent are terribly steep before leveling off a bit and then resuming the descent. It was towards the end of those two miles, that Daniella Izquierdo had her accident. She was soon cared for by two trauma surgeons that happened to be on the ride and then flown to the Erlanger Trauma Center in Chatanooga, Tennessee. We are all blessed to know Daniela and her ever vibrant personality. She is a treasure in our lives and we ask the Lord to help her have a full and speedy recovery.
Many in our community as well as in Georgia have been asking what they can do to help. First and foremost, we ask for your continued prayers and support. Daniela will need all of us in the next few months to help her through these difficult times. A ride will be held on Saturday, leaving from Larios at 7:30 in her name. We will have a prayer service first at 7:15 am and then ride to Bayfront staying all together. In addition, a trust fund is being set up for her at City National Bank to help with her expenses. Checks should be made out to “ITF: Maria Daniella Izquierdo”. If you cannot attend the ride but wish to donate, please mail your donation to Betty Trueba, ITF Maria Daniella Izquierdo, 12905 SW 107 Court, Miami, FL 33176.

[Michael Maddox]

I happened along as she was put on the airlift. Emergency services stopped traffic just short of the summit on the ascent--in the false flat area--to allow the 'copter to land roadside. A friend saw the crash and said it wasn't clear what exactly had happened, but that she was covered in blood and lying in the ditch, with said brain-surgeon working with her.

In a luckier incident, in a group just ahead of this crash also descending Hog Pen, a friend blew a sidewall on a new set of Michelin Pro 3 Race tires. He was moving at 45+, but was able to keep the rubber side down to stop. He decided to end his ride at this point, as he had "used up his quota of luck." Michelin was contacted concerning this sidewall failure.

Maintaining control is paramount on this sort of descent. I've found that some people take this a little TOO much to heart and stiffen up, which makes them respond a bit too instinctively--straightening up in situations where simply leaning and "going with it" would keep them safer. That said, it certainly doesn't take into account the problem of mechanical failures.

I hope she recovers well and that I see her again next year.

[GBD]

To all,
Unfortunately, the injured rider, Daniella Izquierdo, did not make it. She passed away Monday.