Riding at Lake Oconee Georgia

[Mr. Bloom]

I have a 4 day meeting for a board I serve on at the Ritz Carlton Lodge on Lake Oconee in June. I think this is near Greensboro Georgia...

This is a resort with 5 golf courses and it's a meeting of bank executives(aka "a real nerd herd"). A couple of problems:

• I don't like bankers (ahem...)
• I don't golf

If I bring my bike, are there good places to ride around Lake Oconee?

I've never heard of this area... This would mean driving 9 hours and I don't want to do it unless there's good riding... fortunately, I don't have to choose between driving and flying my $50,000,000 private jet)

[ilima]

There's an outfit called Oconee Outfitters that has sponsored road races in the past. Give them a call.

http://www.oconeeoutfitters.com/

I used to live in Athens, about 30 minutes or so north. There's no shortage of country roads although the drivers aren't trained very well. If you did drive up to Athens there are some organized rides you could join. The Hub has a list on their website.

http://hubbikes.com/page.cfm?pageID=47

Also, you'll be in the Piedmont, so nothing totally flat but some decent rolling hills.

[Mr. Bloom]

Thanks.

Looking at the map, how about the road between Greensboro and Athens...it goes through the Oconee National Forest?

[ilima]

Thanks.

Looking at the map, how about the road between Greensboro and Athens...it goes through the Oconee National Forest?

Don't know offhand. I'm sure I've been on the road before, but it's been a long time. Call the forest and see if anyone there can tell you about the condition of the road. It'd probably be a pretty ride.

June is normally the end of the bearable weather, so that's a plus for your timing. I had friends that tried to wait until July to turn on the AC, but I usually broke down about the first day of summer.

[Pedal Wench]

Mr. Silver, when in June?

One of my favorite routes goes right over the lake - GREAT riding in that area. Look at the Partner's Century route: http://www.spinforkids.org/route.html

Another great ride in that area is the Covington Century route, Tony Serrano, and the Wilson 100, all in that area.

Let me know when you're coming, and I could get a group to ride with you!

[Mr. Bloom]

Cool! It's Thursday June 11 to Sunday June 14 (maybe you can help me talk Silver into coming since our kids will be in Europe). Sunday, we may coordinate timing and plan on getting SilverSon at the Atlanta airport, so that may be tough as well...

I won't have total flexibility in my schedule since I'm there for business, but I'm pressing them to plan their "golfing window" so I'll know when I can plan to ride...

[Pedal Wench]

Well, I'll know in a few days if I'm in Ride The Rockies -- lottery results will be out in a day or two. Of course, if I get in, I'll be out of town that weekend.

There's a route that's almost identical to the one I sent a link to, but I only have a hard copy. PM me your address and I'll mail a copy. Plus, I'll find the other routes in that area.

[Pedal Wench]

Here are a few in that area:

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/1678234

Oh! Here's the one I prefer: http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/692750

There is just one stretch, about 1/4 mile on a busy road, but there's a shoulder, then a left - just be careful crossing. There are route markings for both routes - this one is a circle with an arrow in it, and you can cut off the upper loop to give you a 70-ish loop.

Do a search in Motionbased for Madison, Ga and Rutledge.