I drove to Atlanta yesterday and got a hotel room that was on a three mile spur trail to the start of the Silver Comet trail. I guess, technically I was in Smyrna, GA. I tried to sleep in, since I didn’t have a cat trying to wake me up at 5:30 in the morning, but could only manage to sleep until 6:30. Got some bad hotel breakfast and got ready to ride. Was biking by just before 9:00. It felt good to be sharing a hotel room with my bike again! 😀
The temperature in the morning was a perfect 60 degrees, but I had a strong headwind of 15 to 20 mph. Fortunately, I was mostly biking in the trees, so the wind couldn’t slow me down too much.
The spur trail started out as a glorified sidewalk, but eventually turned into a real trail. Lots of stoplights and intersections to navigate, but I was quickly on the Silver Comet Trail.
The Silver Comet Trail was very wide and had a great concrete surface. Lots of people using the trail on a Tuesday morning, but no one slowed me down. Most cyclists were riding road bikes on the trail.
I use my cell phone to navigate, and about a mile into the trail I received an email notification on my phone. I ignored it, but it reminded me that I hadn’t gone into airplane mode on my phone. I was really trying to disconnect while on the bike and be in the moment. I stopped and put my phone into airplane mode and started singing the old King song, “Switching to Glide”.
It felt great to be on the bike again.
The first 37 miles of the trail were a converted rail trail, so the hills were long and gradual. Here are some pictures:
At mile 30 there was the only tunnel on the trail. It was short and lighted.
Stopped for lunch in Rockmart at mile 37 at 12:30. Had a great sandwich at a local deli and was back on my bike within an hour. Here are some pictures from Rockmart:
The trail wasn’t a rail trail for the next 16 miles. It was very hilly with several sharp turns. The trail was also full of debris from the trees. Lots of pine needles, twigs, pine cones, leaves, etc. They really needed to run a blower over it. I’m glad I had my mountain bike for this section.
Cedartown was my original plan to stop for the day, but I got there at 2:30 and I still felt good. So, I decided to keep going to the next town on the trail, Piedmont, which was 24 miles away. I booked a hotel room in Piedmont before I left Cedartown.
About a mile out of Cedartown, the trail went back to a rail trail with long gradual hills and few turns.
After 12 miles, I crossed into Alabama from Georgia and also entered the central time zone. I also switched from the Silver Comet Trail to the Chief Ladiga Trail.
It wouldn’t be a Jim bike tour without a fallen tree across the trail. I hit one just inside of Alabama. It had recently fallen, but there were enough people there before me that a path had formed to walk around it.
Went through a portion of the Talladega National Forest, which was very beautiful.
Made it to Piedmont and my hotel at 5:00 (eastern time). For the day, I rode for 80 miles over 7 hours. With all the hills, I biked over 1,800 feet of elevation.
Got cleaned up and washed my clothes. Then walked to a local restaurant and ate a big plate of food. Stopped at the Family Dollar, which is next to my hotel, and picked up some water and something for breakfast in the morning.