Day Two: Ellijay, Georgia - Franklin, North Carolina

-From Jake's Journal-

01) What was your favorite part of the day?

My favorite part of  the day was the ride itself. We rarely saw civilization. All of the roads were either back service roads or trails. I enjoyed the scenery more today than I have any other day, ever. There’s nothing like seeing this country on two wheels. It was pretty epic.

02) What was the most challenging part of the day?

My most challenging part of the day was also my favorite, seriously. The trails today were extremely technical. They kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time (literally).

03) Did you have any bike problems today?

We really didn’t have many problems as a crew. We never once had to pull over for anyone's bike problems other than mine. We did have to pull over for my luggage strapping issues (which improved later in the week). One of our crew members took a spill and broke his shifter peg so we had a metric bolt that was close to the same size as the thread on the broken peg shifter, so we cross threaded it into place and wrapped the head of the bolt with electrical tape. I had some bike issues bout nothing crazy…. Every time I hit a heavy rut or rock my rear brakes would start to rub. I still haven’t figure out why yet and I’m nervous about it. I’m also going through a quart of oil every few hundred miles and I don’t know why… Its not leaking terribly and my bike is barely smoking. 

04) What’s something you’re glad you packed today?

I was extremely glad I packed my tool roll. When we got to camp tonight I spent a few hours fixing issues and re-tightening all of my bolts. I had to adjust my chain, check fluids, tighten spokes, tighten headlight (still doesn’t work…), prep roll chart, fix rear tire rubbage, and fixed my subframe from falling off…. There was only one bolt holding this on.

05) Is there something you wish you packed today, but didn’t?

I wish I would have packed new suspension, both front and rear. Kidding…..kinda. Really, I wish I would have packed one big bag instead of multiple small bags. It would be much easier to strap one big bag versus multiple small bags.

06) What made today different because you’re on a Harley-Davidson?

Today my day was different being on an HD because I had a better sounding motorcycle than anyone else!  I really noticed and appreciated that. 

07) Where did you travel today?

We traveled from Ellijay, GA to Franklin, NC. We did over 220 miles today, majority being off-road with technical terrain.

08) What were the general vibes from today’s ride?

Overall today’s vibes were pretty good. You could tell that everyone was tired and ready to be finished when we hit our last hour of riding for the day.

09) How are the other rider’s doing?

Most of the riders are doing well and as far as I know, all bikes are still in working order. However I’m writing this and its 11:15 PM and 5 riders aren’t back yet. 

10) Write 5-10 sentences about today’s ride.

So I woke up this morning pretty worn out and dehydrated from day 1 of riding and my lack of sleep from night 1 of camping. I maybe slept three hours last night. We immediately hopped on our bikes at 8 AM to hit our first gas stop. We rode roughly 40 miles to the woods where we spend pretty much the entire day. The terrain was intense! From river crossing to huge puddles to aggressive boulders. The hardest part for me was the rocks/ boulders due to my 50 year old suspension. Today was brutally long but one of my favorite days of riding ever. We ended up getting back to camp around 6:30 PM. I spent the rest of the evening fixing/ maintaining my bike and grabbing a quick bite to eat. We haven’t stopped since 6:30 this morning. Overall I feel stoked, tired, sore, and adventurous. Solid day!