A bike trip in Alabama and Georgia

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Carol and I said yes when Tim and Maggie asked us to join them on an outing.  They are avid adventure cyclists whom we met at the Saturday NOLA oldster social riders.  They have biked across the country, dipping the rear tire in the Pacific in San Diego and the front tire in the Atlantic at St. Augustine in northern Florida.  Not ones to eschew support, they had a full sag for the continent spanning ride, and their plan for our ride included car shuttles.  For our end to end ride of the combined Chief Ladiga and Silver Comet trails, here are the totals:
1.       Round trip to drive to the trail and back from NOLA: 1000 miles.
2.       Shuttling cars so that we did not do any out-and-back riding: 200 miles.
3.       Biking the trail from Anniston Alabama to Smyrna Georgia: 94 miles.
4.       McDonald’s Fish Sandwiches consumed (group total): 4
Tim, Maggie, Carol on the Chief Ladiga Trail in Alabama


That’s 12.8 car miles per bike mile, a metric that I just made up which sounds like it’s designed to shame. Shame or not, we notched a completed rail-trail end to end ride into the shaft of our bike pumps! Bragging rights. The ride was essentially flat, the elevation gains were minimal (low point about 750 ft. and high a bit above 1100 ft.).  With temperatures in the high 80’s and clear skies, we appreciated the protection of riding almost entirely within the shade of trees, including silk trees in full bloom with their wispy pink flowers.  There was one rain shower, in the middle of our day two ride.  This required stopping to wring out our socks and pour water from our shoes; but aside from a few shivers when the temp dropped to the 70’s during the rain, no significant suffering.  Our day 3 ride was the closest to Atlanta and took place on Saturday.  We ended up riding single file due to the numbers of riders sharing the trail with us, most looked to be racers with all types of fancy bikes and not too much interest in slowing down.  Lots of blacks on bikes, which I love to see.  Near the trailheads, we encountered families, a few dogs, and a smattering of in-line skaters. 

Carol and I did many rides similar to this on our trips cross-country the last 3 years, with our car mileage to bike mileage ratio being close to zero lots of times (riding from our campsite).  On this ride, there was minimal to no social element.  Stopping and using the facilities is done as quickly as possible, and folks are not into chatting for the most part.  Pop-ups or cafes or bike shops along the way are just not visited, which attenuates the fun of exploring these trails. If we had the time, we might have made some room for socializing with physical distancing, but on this trip we had to keep moving to do the shuttles.  Some degree of sadness will be part of every outing for a long time.  We noticed that and accepted it, as we also celebrated our love of cycling, appreciating our opportunity to ride, safely for the most part.
The plaque on the pillar notes that Coca Cola and Rails to Trails both supported this trail. Chief Ladiga of the Muscogee tribe sold half his land to speculators for $2000 in 1832.  This was part of a treaty included in the broader policy of Indian Removal, perpetrated by the Jackson administration.  The area eventually became Jacksonville. 

Entering Georgia at Mile 33, 60 miles to go


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