Brasstown is kind of bucket list. I haven’t done it in 25 years (for a reason). I’m not sure I’d do it the day before 6 Gap, but like was said before none of the 6 gap climbs compare to it. In some ways, the descent especially on rim brakes is worse than the ascent. It can get away from you quickly and you won’t be able to slow down. So be careful on the descent.
Well, survived the hot weekend.
On Saturday we parked at Vogel State Park and rode up Jack’s gap to Brasstown Bald. BB was a bad idea in hindsight. Made it to the top (parking lot) but had to stop 3 times to not overcook myself. Turns out they don’t allow you to even walk your bike up to the observation deck so that was kinda a bummer. One mean a$$ climb though!
Descending BB needs to be done with some caution! I was on my CAAD10 disc with 140mm rotors f&r, nowhere near enough for that descent. I cooked my brakes somewhere around The Wall section coming down and they lost all friction. Was riding one footed looking for a spot to ditch it when luckily it leveled out enough to come to a stop. Cheated death, lesson learned.
The 6 Gap ride went great, very very organized for the amount of people! I paced myself maybe a little too conservatively because of the heat, finished in 6:30. One thing I noticed, there seemed to be a lot more traffic compared to 2016. And also, it seems the route has become a race course for motorcycles and we were just obstacles on that course.
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Nice work!
I only managed a 5:33 for 6 gaps but I did win the Crit on Saturday so overall it was a decent weekend. I really need to lean up before next year if I want to hit my goal of sub 5:30.
