Whew! What a summer this is.
After our Colavita junior racers returned from Road Nationals in Bend, OR; it was decided that a weekend of training in the mountains of north Georgia would be a very valuable experience for many of our riders. With some cooperation among the parents, we secured the Hiker Hostel for a group of 18 people total, organized car-pools and created a grocery list of necessary items (like Nutella). Some riders decided to go up early, such as Kyle and Dave Deschenes, who spent the week hiking the beautiful area around Dahlonega. Everyone in the group arrived Friday afternoon at the hostel and a small group rode out to do a nice roll through the valley before watching a recap of the Tour and disappearing off to bed.
Saturday morning, we were treated to a wonderful breakfast by the Hostel owner, Leigh, before we headed off for our ride. The advantage to staying at the hostel was that we were able to just ride out of the parking lot on Saturday morning and begin climbing the first three gaps of the weekend. Neel's gap posed as the real eye-opener for the racers who had never been to Dahlonega before, and was a difficult challenge even for those who knew where the top was. JP and Brandon battled it out for the "king of the Mountain" honors all weekend. Eventually everyone made it to the top of the gap and after conversing with a few local riders about Colavita, we descended the mountain to climb Wolfpen gap. Already some riders were beginning to become more confident on the climbs, and Wolfpen offered a great photo-op at the top of the ascent before our riders dropped once more into the valley. Rolling through beautiful countryside was a nice alternative from slogging up mountains and whats more, was that Colavita mom, Diane Blake, was waiting at the end of the road with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches before the final climb. What can we say, shes wonderful. Of course, this quick break lead to another photo-op and then we soon began the short ascent to Woody Gap. Only a few miles away from the hostel, the group left the summit in intervals to safely descend the climb, and after passing an intersection known fondly as "the dead princess" or "the pile of rocks," cooled down in the last mile to the parking lot.
Once everyone had arrived back from the ride, it was quickly discovered that the showers were a hot commodity (the water pressure dropped down so low that it was almost impossible to get any soap off), so we all thought it was a great idea when someone suggested tubing. For $6, you could rent a tube and a shuttle would take you 1/2 mile up stream, where you would jump in and float back down. This hour-long jaunt left everyone feeling fully relaxed after the day of climbing.
Unfortunately for some of our young juniors, it wasn't over yet. The challenge of Brasstown Bald still resided and though many people "chickened out" at the last minute, Colavita girls Zoe Mullins, Autumn Holt and Michelle Blake were still up for the climb to the highest point in GA. Through some struggling and persuasion, each one made it to the top, quite exhausted and celebrating their accomplishment. Great job, Girls!
Sunday morning was somewhat of a slower start than the previous day, with everyone fully feeling the extent of the climbs. Taking the cars, we drove to "Booger Hollow" and began riding Jack's gap, which, incidentally, leads to the base of Brasstown Bald. It became a challenge of willpower from the very beginning. Brandon Forman refused to allow Michelle Blake beat him to the top, while she herself was determined to catch him while staying ahead of Anselm Teather, who was hot on her trail. All three arrived at the summit separately and out of breath. A nice, long downhill lead the group to the bottom of Unicoi Gap, where a large discussion ensued over the origin of the name and whether it meant "One Fish" or not. Either way, everyone manged to make it to the top and savored the last few miles before facing the final act of our climbing trip, Hogpen. Michelle and Brandon were the first to arrive, having talked each other up the whole way, and they were followed soon after by Anselm, Zoe, Tracy and Autumn. The demanding seven mile climb bested Kyle, Dave and Anne Teather who succumbed to it's relentless grade. The mountains were finally over, though some of the juniors tried to push the limits while riding back to the cars, hitting over 50 mph on the way down and then excitedly telling the parents in the parking lot. Hopefully they'll let us do it again next year.
Photos by Michelle Blake and Dave Deschenes
Saturday morning, we were treated to a wonderful breakfast by the Hostel owner, Leigh, before we headed off for our ride. The advantage to staying at the hostel was that we were able to just ride out of the parking lot on Saturday morning and begin climbing the first three gaps of the weekend. Neel's gap posed as the real eye-opener for the racers who had never been to Dahlonega before, and was a difficult challenge even for those who knew where the top was. JP and Brandon battled it out for the "king of the Mountain" honors all weekend. Eventually everyone made it to the top of the gap and after conversing with a few local riders about Colavita, we descended the mountain to climb Wolfpen gap. Already some riders were beginning to become more confident on the climbs, and Wolfpen offered a great photo-op at the top of the ascent before our riders dropped once more into the valley. Rolling through beautiful countryside was a nice alternative from slogging up mountains and whats more, was that Colavita mom, Diane Blake, was waiting at the end of the road with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches before the final climb. What can we say, shes wonderful. Of course, this quick break lead to another photo-op and then we soon began the short ascent to Woody Gap. Only a few miles away from the hostel, the group left the summit in intervals to safely descend the climb, and after passing an intersection known fondly as "the dead princess" or "the pile of rocks," cooled down in the last mile to the parking lot.
Sunday morning was somewhat of a slower start than the previous day, with everyone fully feeling the extent of the climbs. Taking the cars, we drove to "Booger Hollow" and began riding Jack's gap, which, incidentally, leads to the base of Brasstown Bald. It became a challenge of willpower from the very beginning. Brandon Forman refused to allow Michelle Blake beat him to the top, while she herself was determined to catch him while staying ahead of Anselm Teather, who was hot on her trail. All three arrived at the summit separately and out of breath. A nice, long downhill lead the group to the bottom of Unicoi Gap, where a large discussion ensued over the origin of the name and whether it meant "One Fish" or not. Either way, everyone manged to make it to the top and savored the last few miles before facing the final act of our climbing trip, Hogpen. Michelle and Brandon were the first to arrive, having talked each other up the whole way, and they were followed soon after by Anselm, Zoe, Tracy and Autumn. The demanding seven mile climb bested Kyle, Dave and Anne Teather who succumbed to it's relentless grade. The mountains were finally over, though some of the juniors tried to push the limits while riding back to the cars, hitting over 50 mph on the way down and then excitedly telling the parents in the parking lot. Hopefully they'll let us do it again next year. 
