Bicycling in the Deep South

After Atlanta we spent three days visiting family and riding bike trails in Georgia and Alabama.

Chattahoochee Riverwalk Trail in Columbus, Georgia

The Riverwalk trail mostly follows the Chattahoochee River in Columbus, then leaves the river and ends at the top of the hill in a residential area of Ft. Benning. (If you've seen the movie We Were Soldiers, you've seen this part of Ft. Benning.)

Columbus sits upon the "fall line" shown above. That's the point where rivers in the eastern US become rocky and are no longer navigable by barges. It's where the coastal plain meets the piedmont, and gave rise to many important cities.

This is a new pedestrian bridge crossing the Chattahoochee connecting Columbus, Georgia, and Phenix City, Alabama.

Below the fall line, the Chattahoochee is tranquil, smooth, and shallow.

One part of the longest bridge along the trail.

Not exactly the usual signs along bike trails!

Chief Ladiga Trail

The Chief Ladiga Trail may be the flattest rail-trail we've been on. It's also paved, making it possible to do our first 50-mile ride (from the trail head near Anniston to the 9-mile marker east of Piedmont). Two days later we started in Piedmont and finished the ride to the Alabama-Georgia state line and the start of the (also paved) Silver Comet Trail.

Milepost 0 on the Chief Ladiga Trail. Although it was about a 150 ft climb from Piedmont, it hardly felt like it was uphill. The downhill return, though, was great!

We rode about 1/2 mile on the Silver Comet -- just enough to get to the Esom Hill trail head near its start.