jim p

I got to ride part of the silver comet trail yesterday with my relatives and some of their friends. The temp was around 50 degrees so the ride started out a little chilly to me. For the first 10 miles I rode slowly trying to warm up. Or at least that was my excuse.

I saw more bikes and riders than I have ever seen before. There were kids riding with their parents to teams riding inches off each others wheel. There were tandems, recumbents, trikes, bikes with trailers, along with walkers and joggers. It seemed like everyone was courteous and that everyone was just happy to be outside and having a great time.

The hazards of the trail for me were the shadows along the trail, black walnuts laying on the trail, and the tunnels. I don't know if my sunglasses were too dark or exactly what was going on but when I came onto a section of the trail where there was plenty of sunlight and I looked ahead into the shadows I just could not see the trail well enough to see other riders on the trail. This was not a major problem but it was strange having riders just appear out of nowhere on the trail. The black walnuts are dropping from the trees at this time and the trail had a good many leaves on it from the beginnings of fall leaf drop. I was riding along and all of a sudden I noticed that I was in an asteroid field with the walnuts all around. I didn't hit any so I didn't have any problem with them. The black walnuts are hard and round about the size of a tennis ball and I don't know how my 700 23's would have reacted. The tunnels were exciting for me because with my sunglasses I could not look down and see the trail that I was riding on. I had to look at the far end of the tunnel and try to keep my balance and orientation. I met a rider going the opposite direction in a tunnel and it was freaky wondering if I was going to brush against the tunnel wall. I just sort of aimed at the guy and tried to give a couple of feet between us as we passed. I was counting on him being able to see and ride better than me and it worked for both of us.

The portion of the trail that I rode was between Rockmart and Powder Springs. It was my first time on the trail and I had a great ride. This ride is now on my list of fun things to do.

smoore

Now you just have to ride it all the way to Alabama!

BikeWNC

You're supposed to lower your sunglasses in the tunnels to see over them.

Dudelsack 

Where might this trail be (I'll google it anyway, but it's a nice detail in a ride report)? Pics this time of year are good, too.

Add: www.silvercometga.com. It's a pretty cool website.

billydonn

I was thinking that too. It is just east of Atlanta and goes about 90 miles in to Alabama. Very nice most of the way.

El Segundo

Jim, now you need to ride from Rockmart over Mount Trashmore to Cedartown and on into Alabama. Sounds like you had a good time.

RonH

Here's the official website from the folks who built and maintain the trail.
https://pathfoundation.org/trails/silver-comet/

RonH

Here's where the SC Trail "ends". It connects to the Chief Ladiga Trail in Alabama.

From the Georgia side.


From the Alabama side.


No tolls to pay either.

billydonn

Ha! That's the section I did a couple years ago. Mt T is tough on a really hot summer day.

El Segundo

Yeah, it can be rough, I had a "tombay" last June in Cedartown just before climbing Mt Trashmore. Had sprained wrist and road rash knee plus Georgia summer temps of 90+ degrees. Was not fun that day, however the return trip to Alabama two days later was somewhat better.

Definately want to do the ride again.

jim p

I am now wanting to ride the chief ladiga trail because it is a little closer to me than the silver comet. I was talking to a couple of riders and they mentioned that the chief ladiga trail was a little rough since some roots were cracking it surface in places. I know that some of you have ridden on the Chief Ladiga Trail so how was its surface.

I like riding through the country sections of the trail so where would be a good section of the Chief Ladiga Trail for me to try out? I prefer gentle grades to the steeper grades but with mountain bike gearing on my road bike I can handle the steeper grades at a snails pace.

Thanks guys for posting links and explaining where the trail was located. I would suggest that anyone wanting to ride the trail should do some research to learn all that you can about the places where you can get on the trail because these places are not marked all that good. There are mile markers along the trail that help you know where your exit points are if you have a map or list of stops along the trail. Unfortunately I didn't know about the mile markers so I didn't have all this helpful information along with me.

El Segundo

Chief Ladiga is mostly asphalt and in some areas tree roots have caused the pavement to buckle and crack. The damage is only on a small portion of the trail and does not present any big hazard to riding, you just have to watch just like riding on a road. There are not any significant hills to climb, mostly just gentle grades since this was on the main rail line. Lots of nice scenery and some picturesque streams between Georgia state line and Piedmont Alabama.

TomD77

I ride the SC a few time a year and find it as one of the premium rides anywhere.

billydonn

Here's a thread I started back in 2009 on Georgia and the Silver Comet.

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...er+Comet+Trail

If you do a BF search on "Silver Comet Trail" you get tons of hits by the way.

smoore

Anyone want to do it this fall? GA to AL, spend the nite and back the next day?