Watching all the bikes go by
Published Date: September 22nd, 2007
As we sat this morning at one of the outdoor tables at Panera drinking our Starbucks coffee having our weekend staff meeting, we all seemed to notice the number of bicycle riders, runners, and other general exercisers going down Bull Street either through squares or on their way around them. It brought up the question “where are all these people going”. I mean, why run? No one seemed to be chasing them. Why bike? Scooters are quite affordable now. Why visit the squares in such a paced way? We have three trolley tour companies in town and countless other tour vehicles. Then it hit us that these people were (dare I say?) exercising. Yes, many of them were escaping the hectic paces of their Monday thru Friday life and embracing the weekend morning. I decided then to scope out five good trails for the beginning to intermediate cyclist. They are (in no particular order)
- Forsyth Park - if only for the longevity of the circuit. You can literally keep going ’round and ’round.
- Skidaway Island - just drive out and park at the UG Marine Extention Aquarium. The circuit is about eight miles.
- Gwinnett Street - this 2 mile course starts out on the dirt road just off Lynnes Road in the 500 block of West Gwinnett.
- the Talmadge Bridge - it is 1.4 miles across and at a 5.5% grade can be a great workout once or twice over.
- Tybee Island Rails to Trails - just past the Bonna Bella Yacht Club is the beginning of a 6 mile past on the coast of Tybee.
So all you exercise folks. Did I leave anything out? What is your favorite route? How long is it? How difficult? Do tell.
We took our bikes out to the Savannah Wildlife Refuge awhile back, I believe it is 8 miles if you ride through and then back to avoid biking on the main road. The ride is easy, not on asphalt and offers some great views along the way. The only problem is cars kicking up dust as they drive by. I’m not quite sure if bikes are allowed, so I would check in to that before going, in retrospect. It was a fun ride though!
Another loop - out at the Georgia Tech Savannah Campus - it’s a mile around and popular with training road cyclists.