Rapha Continental: Six Gap & Brasstown

Take a look through the photos from the 6 Gap Ride that just went up. I remember this ride well as it was the first one in a succession of many. Gander at the ride profile and cue sheet of the day. The joke that we operated on for the majority of the day was one that Scott Smith our ride host, unleashed upon us.

The first climb was to start roughly around mile 20, but there was so much climbing right out of the town of Dahlogega (pronounced Doll-ah-nega) that we kept questioning Smith. "Is this the start of the climb?" no one in particular said. To which Scott replied "no, we still have some climbing to do before we get to the start of the climb." That is when we knew it was going to be a long day.

That "first climb" came eventually but it was the last one that was the kicker. Brasstown Bald is not something that you want to tackle at the end of a days worth of enormous riding, but it was hard to turn a blind eye to as we cruised by. This climb was one of the features of the now defunct Tour of Georgia, which made it all the more imperative to investigate. And investigate we did.

You will notice as you look through these photos that not only does Ben Lieberson (hands down best climber I've ever ridden with - sorry Graeme) ride away from us, but he does it so convincingly (on film) that I was kind of embarrassed for myself. Which is also why I mentally made my rear wheel explode 40 meters from the top.

This was a great day of climbing and the first day that I got to test out my Rapha Club Jersey in the Misty Blue colorway, which is always a bonus. It was also the first ride for Steve Francisco on his Seven Cycles Rapha Continental bike so look for a few photos of that beauty to show up.

During our travels I also kept a bit of a log on the Embrocation blog, so as we are reminiscing check there as well. The tough thing about all this looking back is that damn if it is not making me miss the sunshine.