Riding the Silver Comet Trail

I rode a bike a lot as a kid.  We lived in South Jersey, which is fairly flat.  Not "calibrate your level" flat, but no hills that seriously impeded bike riding.  The rural roads had wide shoulders and limited traffic so we could even venture out of our subdivision for longer rides.

When I got out of college and got a job I lived a couple miles from the train station where I caught a commuter train each day.  I thought it would be fun to bike to and from the station instead of drive on nice days, so I went to a local bike shop and purchase a Schwinn Continental 10 speed bike. I rarely used it for that, but did pedal around the area a bit for fun.  I moved, got married, moved a couple times more, had kids and the bike came along, but didn't get used much.

Along the way, I converted the drop style handlebars to the more comfortable upright style and got a cushier saddle.  But, the Schwinn bikes of that era are "lead sleds".  They have super strong welded mild steel frames, crank and steel rims and are very rugged.  Schwinn added a few aluminum parts as a token effort are reducing weight, but the net result is the bike weighs about 40 pounds.  That's a crazy amount for a road bike.

The sad truth is that I have rarely used it.  I would occasionally ride it around the neighborhood, sometimes with my kids in tow and would take it on camping trips to Myrtle Beach to ride around the campground, but that was about it.  Our local neighborhood is very hilly and the local roads have almost no shoulder making biking rather unattractive, so the bike has just hung from the garage ceiling for most of the past 20 years.

Then COVID hit.  The gym closed and I was looking for some fun way to get aerobic exercise that was easy on my knees.  Time to dust off the bike!  Literally...

The tires had dry rot.  One of them was an original from the 1970s.  The brake pads had hardened and needed replacement.  Thank goodness for Amazon.  A couple tires and tubes, brake pads, and some lubrication and shifter adjustment and it was ready to go.  I also added a cell phone holder, a rear view mirror and a bell.  Oh, and a new helmet, too!

New tires on.

Rear view mirror added

The bike was built in April 1980 in Chicago. It had the largest frame make by Schwinn - 26" - prefect for my long legs.

I started out riding in the local neighborhoods, just managing to get up and down the hills.  As my biking skills came back, I ventured out onto some local roads and explored other local neighborhoods.

In the past 20 years, the county and local towns have built some multipurpose, paved trails in parks and greenways.  So, I bought a bike rack for the car, and tried some of them out.  As long as you picked off peak times, they were mostly fun to ride, and some are pleasantly flat!

But, the real attraction for me was the Silver Comet Trail.  It's a Rails-to-Trails trail that runs 60 miles from the west side of Atlanta all the way to the Alabama border.  Is is the former CSX right of way that was abandoned in the early 2000s.  It was once the route of a streamlined passenger train called the Silver Comet operated by the Seaboard Airline Railroad from the Northeast to Birmingham, Alabama.

All of it is paved and, with a few exceptions, is on top of abandoned railroad right of way.  That means there are no grades of any length greater than about 2% (two feet rise for every 100 feet of trail).  It has several trestles and a long tunnel and is generally shaded.  Additionally, there is another 30 mile extension in Alabama, all the way to Aniston - the Chief Ladiga Trail.  90 miles in all, great for summer riding!

Let's go!

I printed out a map of the trail and got the miles between trailheads with parking, then divided the route into sections I could comfortably pedal out and back in an hour or two.  I decided to make the first chunk pretty small since I didn't know if I could trust my 40 year old bike and wasn't sure what other issues there might be.

June 1, 2020.  Put the bike on the bike rack and drove over to the trailhead at milepost 0, Marvell Road in Smyrna, Georgia.  I rode from there up to Floyd Road and back.  Lots of walkers and joggers and cross streets to navigate, but it was pretty easy to maneuver and lots of fun.  Stopped at Floyd Road to have a snack and pedalled back to Marvell.

My second trip over was on June 5th.  I had checked the weather the night before, but failed to check it that morning before heading out.  As soon as I was on the road, driving to the trailhead, a huge thunderstorm struck and continued nearly unabated until I arrived at the trailhead, when is stopped.  I check the radar and it looked okay for the next couple hours, so I decided to chance riding.  I carry a rain jacket, so I was a least somewhat prepared.  The trail was soaking wet, but soon dried out and I had few problems with wet brakes.  The rain had reduced foot traffic on the trail and it was easier to navigate than the first day.  I easily managed the 11 miles out and back with a lunch stop along the way.  No sooner did I load the bike back on the rack, it started pouring.  Good timing!

Riding after the rain

Lunch stop

A trestle on the route

The Trailhead at Hiram

What I hear when I pedal on an old RR right of way

The next day out was June 8, Hiram to Rambo Trailhead.  An easy ride.  The Norfolk Southern mainline from Atlanta to Chattanooga follows along for a bit and crosses at one point.

Now, we're starting to get quite a ways from home and the "deadhead" trip to the trailhead is getting longer and longer.  At the start, it was a 35-40 minute drive.  Now, the trip to Rambo trailhead is 60 miles and an hour and 20 minutes.  But, the trail gets more rural as you go, with fewer cross streets and fewer walkers.

June 11th I pedaled from Rambo to Coot's Lake.  This, so far, is my favorite section.  It passes over a high bridge, through a protected forest, and through a long tunnel.  There are long, steady grades approaching the tunnel, but they are easy to pedal.  The more rugged terrain had lots of cuts and fills as it wound through the forest.

Coot's lake is a really nice place to stop for lunch before heading back.  I would definitely do this section of the trail again!

Peavine Trestle

Brushy Mountain Tunnel

Riding through the tunnel

Me, my bike, the tunnel

Lunch stop at Coot's Lake

Coot's Lake

on the trail

Over Peavine Creek

This was my last section for a while.  I got back out to the trail on July 2nd, tackling a 12 mile stretch that include going by the town of Rockmart, Georgia.  Around Rockmart, and for a ways to the west, CSX is still using the old SAL right of way for an active railroad, so the trail isn't quite as easy to navigate.  There is a nice stretch through Rockmart along a creek, then it passes through some athletic fields, then along a highway for four miles, up and down a couple of small hills.  Finally, the trail runs adjacent to the railroad, crossing it a couple of times and making a couple of excursions into the woods and through some farms.  I ended up at Grady Road trailhead, which was an okay spot for lunch, but I'd have been better stopping a mile back at Don Williams trailhead.  Much nicer and has restrooms.

The stretch along the highway isn't much fun, but the farm and wooded sections were very scenic and the part along the creek in Rockmart was very nice.  In non-COVID times, this would have make a nice trip with a stop in Rockmart to eat lunch.

Winding through Rockmart.  A vestige of the trail's past.

Through the farmland

Along the highway

At Rockmart, the Norfolk Southern mainline turns north toward Rome.  

I did the last two sections in one day, parking and making a round trip, then moving the car to the end of the first section and pedaling the rest.

I parked at the Don Williams trailhead and used the one mile section up to Grady Road to get warmed up so I could tackle the grade of "unexpected hill".  It almost worked.  I managed all but about 200 feet pedaling westbound and all of it eastbound.  The trail follows the railroad tracks until Grady Rd, then takes a "shortcut" over a hill until it gets back to the railroad just before Cedar town.

The view from the top.

At the top of the grade

Still smiling!

The trail winds through Cedartown via a collection of short, new path, side streets, glorified sidewalks until it passes the restored Cedartown train station, now a visitors center.

Both CSX and NS still serve Cedartown, so no proper "rails to trails" here.

Cedartown

Departing Cedartown, the trail, again, wanders around city streets and short, new sections until it climbs up to a main highway.

I turned around at Martin Trailhead.  This is where the trail once again is on top of the old railroad right of way.

I had a quick snack and water break, then pedaled back to Don Williams, then drove back over to Martin to start the second section.  The trail was gently uphill all the way to the Alabama border, which is nice since who wants to pedal uphill on the way home?  This part of the trail has lots of long straight stretches that border farmland.  I saw the most wildlife on these two parts.  Lots of rabbits, a deer that crossed in front of me, a fawn that paced me, about 40 feet ahead for a couple hundred feet, a ground hog and a turkey with some chicks.

I made it!

The last foot.

I had lunch at the border, pedaled back and headed for home.

All in all, I traveled the entire 61.5 mile trail in both directions over 6 days.  Shortest day was the first  - about 8 miles.  The longest was the last - over 32 miles.  It was a really fun adventure!  The bike held up.  I held up. ...I might want to get a  more comfy saddle...

I would definitely do some sections of this trail again.  My favorite part was from Rambo to Coots Lake, over the trestle and through the tunnel, surrounded by forest all the way.

When we get to a post-COVID world, I’ll definitely make some day trips out to ride again.  Patti can shop. I’ll pedal.  We’ll have lunch along the way!