Hi {{contact.first_name}}, September is when Atlanta riders start looking north. The worst of the summer heat and humidity begins to ease, the afternoon storms back off, and the North Georgia mountains get ready to put on their show. The foliage is coming, the mountain roads are calling, and the deer are starting to move, so ride smart. September is the front porch of the best riding season of the year in Georgia.
Ride of the Month: The Richard Russell Scenic Highway and Suches Loop
The best pavement in Georgia, stitched into one legendary loop
Point it north out of the metro toward Helen and pick up the Richard Russell Scenic Highway, GA-348, one of the finest motorcycle roads in the Southeast, climbing over the Chattahoochee ridgeline through tight sweepers and long views. Drop into Suches, the little mountain crossroads riders call the Two Wheels of Suches, then run Wolf Pen Gap on GA-180 and come back over Blood Mountain on US-19/129. Miles of switchbacks, ridgeline vistas, and Georgia's best curves all in one loop.
Fuel up before you climb, the stations are few and far between up there. Take the switchbacks easy for gravel and wet leaves in the shade, watch for leaf-peeper traffic as the color builds, and give yourself the whole day to enjoy it.
For more mountains, run up to Brasstown Bald, the highest point in Georgia, or chase the waterfalls and overlooks around Tallulah Gorge. Prefer an easier day? The Dahlonega wine country and the roads around Helen give you curves and color without the full climb. All of it is best on a weekday morning before the fall crowds fill the mountain towns.
Early-Fall Safety: Georgia Edition
September in Georgia is a season turning, and the mountains bring their own set of hazards.
- The deer are on the move. Rut season is ramping up on the mountain and ranch roads north of the metro. They are out at dawn and dusk. Scan the shoulders and tree lines, cover your brakes, and never swerve blind across the center line.
- Foliage traffic and mountain gravel. The leaf-peeper season packs the mountain roads with distracted, slow, out-of-town car traffic, and runoff drops gravel and wet leaves into the shaded switchbacks. Give the blind corners easy throttle and a clean line, and be patient behind the cars.
- Morning fog and cool ridgelines. Cool nights settle fog into the mountain valleys at first light, and the ridgetops run far cooler than the metro. Ride with your light on in the gray, and dress for a morning that starts cold up high.
- Short days and metro traffic. Sunset creeps earlier all month, and the low sun sits in drivers' eyes on the way home. Back in the metro, the Connector and the Perimeter never let up, so keep your lane position where you always have an out.
Know Your Georgia Law
- Fault gets split, and there is a hard cutoff. Georgia uses modified comparative negligence with a 50 percent bar. Your recovery drops by your share of the blame, and if you are found 50 percent or more at fault, you collect nothing, so you have to be less than half at fault to recover. How the crash gets documented decides the number.
- Everyone wears a helmet. Georgia has a universal helmet law. Every rider and passenger must wear a DOT-compliant helmet, no exceptions.
- The minimums are modest, so lean on UM/UIM. Georgia requires 25/50/25 in liability and has a high number of uninsured drivers. Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage is your real backstop, and how it is stacked on your policy matters.
- You have two years. Georgia gives you two years from the date of the crash to file an injury claim, with much shorter ante litem notice deadlines when a city, county, or the state is involved. Evidence fades fast, so do not sit on it.
Ride Nation Atlanta
The local chapter is where Georgia riders post weekend miles, call out fresh gravel, deer, and which mountain roads are turning from Suches to Brasstown Bald, and share the shots worth putting your helmet on for. Post where you rode this month and tag us. It is your scene, run by riders who actually ride these roads.
Still Time for the $20,000 BikeWin Giveaway
You are on this list because you entered, which means you are already in the running for 20,000 dollars toward any motorcycle you want, drawn December 10. Got a buddy who would want a shot? The entry page is open and free.
Enter the giveaway
A driver changing lanes into you on the Downtown Connector. Gravel on a GA-348 switchback. A distracted commuter who never saw you on the Perimeter. If you ever go down in Georgia, remember you have to be less than half at fault to recover, so you want a lawyer who rides these roads and fights the fault game hard.