On your next trail trip, should you drive or fly?

So you want to ride the Silver Comet Trail and you're trying to decide whether you should fly into Atlanta, Georgia or drive. With the price of gas, it's no longer assumed that driving will be cheaper. But how do you find out for sure whether tis cheaper to drive or fly?

Should you fly or drive on your next active travel trip?

Now there's a website called befrugal.com that helps you decide. It even figures in such details as airport parking, hotels on the road, and local transportation fees. Unfortunately, it doesn't figure in bike rental or shipping costs; other than that, befrugal is pretty darned thorough.

I just figured out that I'll save a little bit on my upcoming Montana trip by driving instead of flying.

Give it a try and let me know what you think.

On your next trail trip, should you drive or fly?

Destination Trails

In a recent post on the River Mountain Loop Trail blog, RMLTMan wrote an excellent explanation as to why he thought the RMLT was a destination trail. It got me wondering if there is a set definition out there for a destination trail.

Here are some of the criteria for a destination trail:

• length - The trail should be over 20 miles long.
• scenery - The trail should have scenic appeal of one kind or another.
• accessibility - The trail should be maintained so that a wide variety of guests can use it.
• attractions - The trail should have certain characteristics to draw tourists such as tunnels, trestles, wildflowers, spectacular views, a distinct landscape, regional characteristics, historical significance, points-of-interest, unique design or construction, water feature, or some other reason that would attract people to visit the trail.
• nearby attractions - In addition to the trail's inherent attractions it should also other reasons, nearby, to visit the area. (monuments, parks, architectural structures, waterfalls, mountains, etc.)
• facilities - The trail should have at least the basics like parking and restrooms. It is also desirable for it to have water, educational signage, and campgrounds or access to lodging.

Mount Vernon Trail with D.C. monuments

Some examples of great destination trails include:

• Trail of the Coeur d' alenes in Idaho
• Glenwood Canyon Trail in Colorado
• Great Allegheny Passage Trail in Pennsylvania
• C & O Canal Towpath Trail in Maryland
• Silver Comet Trail in Georgia
• Withlacoochee State Trail in Florida
• Longleaf Trace Trail in Mississippi

Of course there are others, but as for the River Mountain Loop Trail?

I absolutely think it is a destination trail, and I will be visiting it within the next month.

Destination Trails

Connecting Rail Trails to make Super Rail-Trails

Super Rail-Trails

Rail trails are fantastic. But how do you turn an ordinary, every-day rail trail (if such a thing exists) into SUPER TRAIL!!!
 It's really quite simple; you just connect two good trails and you get one great trail.  Here are some examples:

C & O Canal trail connects to the
  GAP trail, the Western Maryland Rail Trail,
and the Mount Vernon Trail.

• Silver Comet Trail + Chief Ladiga Trail = Super Trail
• New Santa Fe Trail + Pikes Peak Greenway Trail = Megatrail
• GAP trail + C & O Canal Towpath trail = Mighty Trail

So the next time you're looking for a great rail trail; one you can plan a vacation around...

Check out which trails can be connected to make a super trail.

Connecting Rail Trails to make Super Rail-Trails

Freecross perfect for rail trails

OMG!! Can you imagine this on the Silver Comet Trail or the Tammany Trace trail or... Well watch this video of the Freecross, a cool outdoor elliptical machine and tell me you're not dying to get this on a nice paved path or concrete trail somewhere:



According to the Freecross website, founder Wolfgang Eisenberg started the company as follows:

"A long-time bike enthusiast, runner and fan of the indoor elliptical trainer, Wolfgang Eisenberg (47) had the flash of inspiration back in 2006 to get the elliptical trainer outdoors and onto wheels. "After a back injury, I noticed the strain that biking puts on the lower back, as well as the impact associated with running/jogging. The elliptical was a great solution because of the upright, low-impact motion and great all-around workout. I just thought it would be better outside."

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More information about the Freecross is available at their website.

Freecross perfect for rail trails

Recumbent Bike Blog

Okay, so the term "recumbent bicycle" isn't technically correct since many recumbents have three and even four wheels and bicycle means "two wheels." But I know you're not that picky and neither am I, so I'll continue to generically refer to all recumbents as recumbent bicycles.

There, now that I've got that off my chest...

I just rediscovered a great website/blog. It's www.recumbentblog.com and it is one of the most comprehensive recumbent sites on the web. I especially like the fact that it seems pretty unbiased and straight-forward. As far as I could tell, it's not trying to sell anything or push any particular agenda. It's just a great clearinghouse for information about the recumbent world.

And I'd love to see more of that. I've been a huge fan of recumbents ever since my daughter & I rented a tandem recumbent while riding the Withlacoochee State Trail in Florida. We both had a blast.

Since then, I've ridden recumbents on the Silver Comet Trail in Georgia, the Chief Ladiga Trail in Alabama, and the Longleaf Trace Trail in Mississippi. In every case, they were the most comfortable and relaxing rides I've ever experienced.

If you haven't tried the joys of recumbent biking (there I go again), I highly recommend it. They aren't just for old coots.

Recumbent Bike Blog

New Poll

Check out our new trail poll over in the right column.

We're trying to find out your favorite southern trail. It'll be a tough one, because they're all great. But get off the fence and vote. If you need more information about each of the trails, go to the following web pages to get details and see pictures:

Tammany Trace Trail in Louisiana
Longleaf Trace Trail in Mississippi
Withlacoochee State Trail in Florida
Silver Comet Trail in Georgia
Chief Ladiga Trail in Alabama

New Poll

Sunny Skies on the Trail

Everyone's talking about the weather, but thank God nobody is doing anything about it.

I happen to be blessed w/ great "vacation weather." Okay, I'll knock on wood, but so far, I always have good weather on holidays. And my trail trips are no exception.

For example on my last trip to the Silver Comet Trail in Georgia and the Chief Ladiga Trail in Alabama, it rained the day before I got there and the day I left. But every day on the trail was sunny and beautiful.

On my upcoming trip to the Tammany Trace Trail in Louisiana and the Longleaf Trace Trail in Mississippi, the weather is supposed to be... you guessed it: sunny and beautiful.

I think it's a sign that I was destined to travel and explore trails throughout the world. Mother Nature is giving me her blessing. "Go forth, my son, and discover new trails and report them to the world on trailsnet.com.

Either that or I'm just lucky.

Sunny Skies on the Trail

Trail hoppin'

Sorry... no posts for a couple days while I'm riding the Silver Comet Trail in Georgia and the Chief Ladiga Trail in Alabama.

Happy trails to you.

Trail hoppin'

No Room at the Inn

... even worse... there's not any inns.
I'm trying to find lodging for my upcoming bike ride on the Chief Ladiga & Silver Comet Trails in Alabama & Georgia. Holy cow ... There are slim pickins' near the beginning of each trail, and nearly no pickins' in the middle.

If anyone out there on the ol' cyber trail knows about lodgings in Cedartown, Georgia or Piedmont, Alabama, give me a shout. Of course there are hotels in those towns, but they're not very close to the trail. I hate riding on roads, so I'd prefer something close to the rail-trail.

For information about the Chief Ladiga Trail in Alabama or the Silver Comet Trail in Georgia, visit trailsnet.com.

No Room at the Inn

Silver Comet & Chief Ladiga Trails

Help!!

I'm trying to get to the Silver Comet Trail and not having any luck.

My First mistake was to book my flight into Birmingham, AL instead of Atlanta, GA. I thought I could easily get to the Chief Ladiga Trail from Birmingham airport.

Wrong!!!!!

So now, I've decided to start my rail trail ride on the Silver Comet Trail rather than the Chief Ladiga Trail. A couple of the reasons I made that decision include:
- Easier to get from airport to a hotel near the trail.
- I found a great and very helpful bike shop named SCD Bikes that has recumbent bikes for rent and is located near the Silver Comet Trail.

I tried getting a shuttle or a ride from a local. I called a few people and put an ad in Craigslist. But nothing came of it. So now it looks like I'll have to rent a car. I'd hoped to avoid that. It's a bit of a waste since I'll be on a bike for most of the trip. I'll only really need a car to get from the airport to the hotel and back again.

I think someone would do a pretty good business if they provided shuttle service for trail riders. One of the bike rental shops should consider this as part of their business.

Silver Comet & Chief Ladiga Trails