Originally Posted by
SpeshulEd
I want that in my life.
Most of us here have a love/hate relationship with "The Trail."
One the one hand, motorists think we should stay on the trail. It isn't uncommon to hear "Get on the trail!" shouted from a car. Some riders also tend to ride only on the trail and never find the beautiful roads nearby nor experience real road riding. Then there is the bump, bump, bump of expansion joints ever 12 feet in some sections, same scenery every day, dog walkers in the more crowded parts, etc., etc., etc.
On the other hand, many group rides use the trail to get to really interesting placed to ride. Bathrooms every 10 miles or so doesn't hurt.
The real benefit I get is just people. Saturday afternoon I took my fixed gear bike the other way, toward Atlanta and rode just for fun, met some really nice people. Was talking to a guy on a sweet Ritchey Road Logic. Struck up a conversation with a pretty triathlete, stood in a tunnel during a thunderstorm with a guy who grew up right near me, and met a couple from Mumbai, India who had just ridden the entire trail over a two day period - on townie bikes! I also saw two dogs get into a fight at one of the trail heads - that was pretty intense.
Every once in a while I ride the trail to remind myself why I hate it. But then I always come back.
-Tim-