BRAG 2012: Day 7 and The BRAG Awards

Day 7: Cornelia to Tiger, 45 miles
It’s the final day of our journey and we can all agree with one thing–the week has gone by too fast. We are lucky though, as BRAG has saved their best route for the last day.

Views like this all day.

Today, our climbing reaps rewards, and we are treated to spectacular views in the Georgia mountains, as good as anything we have seen in the area. We also get a nice 1000-foot climb on the route that finishes with a screaming downhill down to Lake Rabun.

Does your brook babble like this one?

We make almost a full lap around the mostly-flat lake before ending (on an uphill of course) at Rabun County High School.

382 miles later, all done.

There is a large group of people at the finish line cheering us in, and it’s nice finish to our hilly 382-mile journey.

Fresh and clean every day.

We use our last BRAG porta-potties for 2012 and head for home.

The BRAG Awards
Before we wrap up this year’s festivities, it’s time for (drum roll please), the BRAG Awards as selected by our committee of BRAG experts!

Best hotel: Hampton Inn, Cornelia. Nice breakfast and a 3-story lobby!
Worst hotel: Best Western Winder. The whole place wreaked of cigarette smoke, even in the no-smoking rooms.
Best ride: Day 7, Cornelia to Tiger. What beautiful scenery!
Worst ride: Day 5, Roswell to Winder. Traffic, crazy drivers, hills, more traffic, and 70+ miles made for a long day on the bike.
Best lunch: Nine St. Kitchen, Roswell. We ate outside with chamber of commerce weather.

Lunch at Nine Street Kitchen

Best dinner: 61 Main, Jasper. What a restaurant find in such a small town.

61 Main in Jasper

Best dinner entertainment: Belly dancing at Provino’s Italian. And the Greek band was good too.

Taste of Italy at Provinos.

Best beer value: El Campsino, Cornelia. $8 pitchers of Dos Equis. That’s less than $2 for a 16-oz. glass.

Fajitas for Two at El Campesino.

Best ice cream: Mayfield Dairy at the book store in Clayton. All ice cream is good. This was our reward ice cream for finishing the ride.

Eve gets a reward.

Best dessert: 61 Main, Jasper. Peach blueberry crumble. Chocolate Mocha cake. Carrot Cake. Worth every calorie.

Carrot cake at 61 Main.

Best dinner value: 2 for $20 at Golden Corral. And the food isn’t that bad, either!

Eat all you want–it’s the Golden Corral!

Best appetizer: Chicken Taquitos, Cheeky. Good presentation and perfect for sharing.

Chicken taquitos from Cheeky.

Best interactive dining: Pour your own beer bar, Cheeky. It’s easy to run up a large tab, though.

Beer by the ounce. What a country!

Best rest stop snack: Last rest stop on Day 6. Cold watermelon–yum!
Best climb/descent: 1000 foot climb on Day 7. A 40+ MPH descent to Lake Rabun made the climb worth it.
Best community welcome: Rabun County, Day 7. Signs and cheering locals at the end of the ride.
Best organized effort: Roswell. The police, mayor, and city council were on board, with signs, shuttle busses, safety signs to make us feel welcome. If only the drivers got the memo.
Best photo op: Cannons at Chickamauga National Battlefield.

The perfect place for a photo op stop.

Best joke heard at a rest stop: What food makes a woman lose 95% of her sex drive? Wedding cake!

Thanks for following our adventures this year. Stay tuned and if you are lucky there will be some video released soon. See you at BRAG 2013!

Our next trip is a northern swing thru Wisconsin in July. We will be blogging that one too. If you like this blog, check out our Friday Date Night food blog.