Long Ride - Fall Version

The Friday after Thanksgiving is always a good day for a long ride away from the malls. The Silver Comet Trail allowed me to put sufficient distance between myself and distracted drivers.


I wanted to explore a different route across I-285 to get to the Silver Comet. I chose a route that took me into a neighborhood that I knew was hilly. I just didn't imagine it would be granny-gear hilly for so many hills. There were several 100-200m stretches of >15% grade. Of course I got turned around and had to go up and down more than I bargained for. Particular painful were the stop signs at the bottom of the hill. I won't recommend this route.

Besides the hills, what I found striking about that neighborhood was no one was outdoors. I saw four people. All of them were getting in their car. How well could these people know their neighbors? It felt colder than the temperature.

I had wanted to ride at least 60 miles which would have taken me past Hiram. I would go out and see what kind of time I was making against the wind. I reached Dallas, GA after milepost 19, and realized I was only 3.5 miles from the Pumpkinvine Creek Trestle. This trestle was the highest point above the ground and would have an expansive view. I was ready for more miles.

I was surprised to find so much housing in view of the trestle. This was disappointing because the developer was the "trees must go" sort of developer. I guess we don't have to go far to find 3rd-world deforestation. The trestle was still nice.

At this point, I was within striking distance of the Brushy Mountain Tunnel at milepost 31 even though this would take my ride beyond 90 miles for the day. I had not seen the tunnel and I still felt good, so I rode on.

Beyond milepost 27 or so, the trail enters a State Wildlife Management area and the terrain becomes noticeably more contorted. The trail stays at an even grade while the land rises and falls above and below the trail. You'll be riding through a cut in the rock and then 2-3 hundred meters further you're looking down into a deep ravine. This was worth riding 80-90 miles to see. Not even a video would do this justice.




The Brushy Mountain Tunnel is bigger than I imagined. There is room for two lanes of traffic inside and tall vehicles that would have trouble with interstate overpasses would have no height problem in the tunnel.

The outbound headwind did not switch directions for my ride back in, and I had an easy time raising my average speed although I wasn't working as hard. As I came back into Smyrna, I found that I was able to clearly see Stone Mountain about 25-30 miles distant. Days that clear are getting fewer and fewer in Atlanta.