BRAG's bike route through area to cover back roads of Wilkes

When BRAG returns in June, it will bring some 1,600 riders to the back roads of Wilkes County. The route has been announced for the upcoming 2009 Bicycle Ride Across Georgia (BRAG), the Friday, June 12, event that will bring some 1,700 bicycle riders and hundreds of their friends through the county for an overnight stay in Washington.

The week-long BRAG covers 381 miles at an average of 54 miles a day. The BRAG 2009 route starts in Hiawassee and goes through North and Central Georgia to Clarks Hill Lake on the South Carolina border.

Friday's Battle of Kettle Creek Ride will take riders from Elberton to Washington for a night's stay at Washington-Wilkes Comprehensive High School. Along the way, riders will visit the Norman community, Tignall, Rayle and the Kettle Creek Battle site.

Riders will cross into Wilkes County on Highway 17 from Elbert County and roll into Tignall at the 27-mile mark of their 63-mile Friday ride. The route will turn right in Tignall at Independence Street, and riders will have a rest stop at Independence United Methodist Church. The route will turn onto Clark's Station Road, turn left on Callaway Road. The riders will take a lunch break at Clifford Grove Baptist Church. Back on Callaway Road, the route turns right on Highway 78 for a short ride through Rayle, turning left on Philomath Road.

From Philomath Road, the route turns left onto Sherrer Road, then left again on Courtground Road. Another rest stop is planned at a home on Courtground Road. As the riders pass War Hill Road, they have the option to take a side trip to the Kettle Creek Battlefield site.

This will be the fourth stay for BRAG in Washington, including 1988, 2001, and most recently in 2006.

Most of the riders and their support people will camp in the halls or on the grounds of the school complex, and Principal Steve Echols and his volunteers are working to prepare for the visit.

Live music and extended shopping hours are planned downtown to welcome the BRAGers, and restaurants and lodging in the city are preparing for a large number of visitors that Friday night.