I woke up at 6:00 and got ready to ride. Was on the bike before 7:00. It was a cold start with temperatures around 40 degrees. Fortunately, I had brought some layers. I tried to wear my half- finger bike gloves, but after a couple of miles I switched to my full-finger gloves.
I didn’t see many people out that early. There were lots of birds singing in the trees. A possum challenged me for the trail – sitting in the middle of the trail looking at me and not moving even though I was ringing my bell. I had to get pretty close to him before he scampered off the trail.
In general, I’m finding that my bike bell is almost useless on this trip. People either don’t hear it (earbuds) or don’t recognize it as a bicycle bell. I’ve had to shout at several people to get around them. Even the wild animals don’t pay attention to the bell.
Ten miles in I came to the town of Jacksonville. Biked right through the Jacksonville State University campus. No college students were out that early. I stopped at the visitor center and read about the town. The visitor center was an old railroad depot, and much of the town’s history centered on their role in the Civil War. Apparently, nothing substantial has happened in Jacksonville since 1865…
Another 10 miles and I was through the town of Weaver and into the town of Aniston, which is the end of trail. They are working to add six additional miles to the trail, but it isn’t quite finished yet. I got there at 8:45 and took a 15 minute break to refuel. I also took off some layers of clothing as it was starting to warm up.
I saw a couple of students when I was headed back through Jacksonville at 9:30.
Another weird thing about this part of the country that I haven’t gotten used to is that when I bike up to an intersection of a road with the trail, the traffic in the road (when there is some) always stops to let me cross over. This is the only place I’ve biked where that happens.
I was complaining yesterday about the debris on portions of the trail. Well today I passed, and was passed by a maintenance worker who had a commercial leaf blower attached to the back of his truck. So, at least the Alabama portion of the trail was cleared for me.
I pulled back into Piedmont at 10:30. The only restaurants that were open were a mile off the trail, so I ate some of the snacks I had with me and kept going.
It’s 24 miles from Piedmont to the next town of Cedartown. The halfway point is the state line that I reached at noon. With the time change back to eastern time, I didn’t get into Cedartown until 2:00. Here are some pictures from that stretch.
I had the desire to bike the 14 miles to Rockmart before ending my day. But my legs were feeling tired and I remember how hilly those 14 miles are. Legs feeling tired. My bottom seconded the motion and I made a hotel reservation in town.
I still hadn’t had lunch, so I got a recommendation for lunch from the lady in the visitor center. A nearby deli. Good sandwich and friendly staff.
I biked abut a mile to the hotel and was in my room by 3:00.
For the day, I biked 65 miles in 5 1/2 hours and climbed just over 1,000 feet. That leaves about 55 miles for tomorrow.
Nice looking ride – Thanks for sharing it