Howard A Johnson:
CLASS OF 1962
Laney High SchoolClass of 1962
Augusta, GA
Howard A's Story
Presently, I'm divorced,retired, in excellent health,enjoy traveling and meeting people. Life is great. I'm into cycling now. It's a lot of fun. I just rode the mountains of Helen, Ga. The following is a narrative of that ride:
Fifty-one (51) miles per hour made the trip worth going to. But that's the end of the story. I need to start from the beginning.
When I planned this ride, it was to have fun. I didn't know gaps, grades, etc. But I know, the higher the grade number, the more difficult the climb. This is my second full year riding. I remember last year when I began, I had not rode more than twenty miles, so I still have a lot to learn.
Wednesday, Day One:
My trip to Helen, Ga. was not as eventful as Raj. and the other guys. I flew into Atlanta on Monday, April 18, 2011 and drove, via rental car, to my old home of Augusta. Picked up my bike and arrived in Helen on Wednesday the 20th for the warm-up ride of 20 miles. While waiting for everyone to arrive, we went on a pre warm-up ride of two miles. On the second climb, I could not shift out of the big ring, at the crank, so I had to clip out and turn around. As I started back, I met one group of riders that were following the first group. By the time I met the second group, I was able to shift down so I joined them. By that time, we met the second group that had made a wrong turn in their pursuit, so I led them thru the loop, then back to the lodge. By the time we arrived, the first group had left us behind for the warm-up ride. Although they had a five minute lead, someone said, "we'll catch them down the road." I'm thinking, catch James and that group, sure yea. About three quarters of the way, they were waiting for us so we came in together.
Thursday, Day Two:
This was the Classic Three Ride (76/ 50 no gaps/ 25 miles). When I read the description of the ride, three gap (Neels Gap 7 miles at 5% after riding 21 miles, Wolfpen Gap, 3.5 miles at 6%, and Woody's Gap, 1.5 miles at 3.5% for seventy-six miles with 4,700 feet of vertical gain, I said to myself, "No way dude, you're not that crazy, take the short 50 mile no gap route." Well, since the course was not marked out and you had to remember the turn for the short ride, and I missed the turn, I ended up doing the crazy route. To make things worse, we missed the jug handle turn coming from Woody's Gap and continued down hill for 5 miles until we met a couple of riders returning because they had missed the turn also. So we had to retrace back up the hill, for another 5 miles, to continue our ride to the finish. So instead of 76 miles, that wasn't long or difficult enough, we rode 86 miles. The only thing I could think of as I came back to my room was short ride tomorrow, short ride tomorrow .............
Friday, Day Three:
This was the Soquee River Valley Ride (51/ 28 miles). This time I made sure I didn't miss the turn for the short ride. But , before we got to the turn, we entered Sky Lake Road, which runs downhill for 5 miles. On Thursday's ride, the climbs and descend...Expand for more
s were winding or snake like, so you had to use caution on the descends. But not on Sky Lake Road. Previously, my fastest downhill ride was 45 miles down Summit Ave., in Springfield, NJ. Half way down my descend on Sky Lake, I glanced at my computer and saw 47 miles per hour, I checked the road ahead and took another look, 48 miles per hour, checked the road again, then the computer 49. Still rolling down, but on a straight away now, 49.5, 50, 50.5, then 51 miles per hour. Although my hands were in the ready position, I never touched the brakes. At 25 miles per hour, I stood up on the pedals, threw one fist in the air and gave the loudest shout you ever heard. Talking about a high, I floated the rest of the way down.
Raj, of my many mentors and I made the short turn together. He, D.C. from Ohio, myself and another dude, don't remember his name, were together. We were together until we came to Oakley Mountain Road, which is a 3/4 mile stretch with a10% grade. I had not come down from my high so I hit it hard. As I passed an intersection, I didn't know if I was missing a turn again, so I slowed down and made a u-turn, at that time Raj and D.C. came up and accused me of doing a John? On my first glance back, as I passed the intersection, I didn't see anyone. He's correct in stating that we came in together, but, I didn't see him as the winner through my glaucoma eyes. LOL
Saturday, Day Four:
This was the Mountain Lakes Zig Zag Ride (60/ 42/ 28). Although this ride only had 2,650 feet of climbing, it seemed like it was the most difficult. Maybe tired legs had something to do with it. I chose the 60 mile long option. The first seven miles was Friday's route backward. Again, I missed the turn at Lake Burton Dam Road, no sags or signs to tell you it's a turn, but we only rode about a mile pass before someone came to get us. Lake Burton Dam Road is the first of three high elevation lakes that we passed. It's a short punchy 9% climb about half way in. Then we passed Seed and Rabun Lakes on a slight downhill about 10 miles long. There is a gradual climb in the village of Tiger, then the big one, Glassy Mountain, 2.5 miles at a 5% grade. There was this Sister, don't know her name but called her Thunder Thighs, that rode the entire 2.5 miles standing. Never saw that before. I just made it up with the combination of standing and sitting several times, mostly sitting. That was my last ride, I had to go to Church on Easter Sunday to ask for forgiveness for all of my cursing thoughts those last four days. I dropped my bike back in Augusta and flew back to Newark on Monday.
I had a lot of fun on this trip and I plan to return next year. I met so many friendly riders there, quite a few said they would join us on our New Hope Ride. It's our 120 mile ride from Newark, NJ to New Hope, Pa. in early August.
My goal is to cycle from Bloomfield, NJ to Augusta, Ga. for our 50 year class reunion at Laney in 2012.
Now that I am retired, I just ride.
Ride hard, ride safely. HoJo
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