Hey all I need to do a 4 hour bike ride on Sunday after Country Music on Saturday. Any good bike routes you would like to share?
If you don’t mind a bit of a drive, the Natchez Trace is a great ride - you can go as long as you want, and it’s constant (big) rollers. Take W. End Ave away from downtown for ~45 mins. You’ll know it when you see it; the entrance to the Trace is also right at the Lovess Cafe.
I also did a ton of rides at the Shelby Bottoms greenway, in E. Nashville. The loop is only 15 miles R/T, but it’s fun. Flat & fast, too.
I would also recommend the Trace. it’s a rider’s nirvana. Since you are unfamiliar with the area, you have the added advantage that you can’t get lost! Just head south on the Trace to your halfway point and turn around and come back.
The Trace is great, if you are looking for different routes you can also go to Nashvillecyclist.com and they have reprints of routes that where previously written up in the newspaper. You may have to combine some to get 4hours, but it does include some nice historical details.
joe
Thanks All!!
I am from Indy and any ride will be great new scenery! Sounds like the Trace is the way to go and will help me get in some hills preparing for Kansas 70.3.
Not going to get better than the Trace for a great ride, scenery, hills, and no aggressive traffic. If you want to reduce your drive time, you might start at Belle Meade Blvd (which will be closer to whereever you are coming from) and ride through Percy Warner Park (with some good climbs) out the back to Hwy 100, Left on 100 will take you straight to one end of the Trace right by Loveless Cafe. Will be about 15 miles from Harding Road/Belle Meade Blvd to the Trace or 12.5ish from the park entrance at the end of the Boulevard.
Thanks All!!
I am from Indy and any ride will be great new scenery! Sounds like the Trace is the way to go and will help me get in some hills preparing for Kansas 70.3.
The biggest hill is right there at the start. You can ride it 2 or 3 times if you want before continuing south.
From Hwy 100, when you get on the Northernmost tip of the trace, you head south for about a quarter mile to a tiny little pull-off by the gate (there is a lockable gate there that can be used to close the trace). This is where you will park…park in the grassy median thing there to leave the pull-off open.
Or you can park in the lot of the Loveless Cafe and/or Trace Cycles and ride a few hundred yards to the Trace.
http://www.mapquest.com/maps?city=Bellevue&state=TN&address=8400+Hwy+100
+1 for the Trace. I just moved to Nashvegas temporarily, and when I was visiting a lot last year I did a lot of my IM training on the Trace. Make sure you bring plenty of fluids – there’s NO gas stations or whatnot on the side the ride, just a few park stations which have bathrooms. As well, if you’re doing an out and back, my experience has been that the Trace is a natural negative split – on a two hour ride on the trace I’m typically 10-15 minutes faster on the return.
Park at the Loveless. Great food there, and the Trace Bike Shop (next to it) is a great little shop with super-friendly people.
If you need hill training, there are a lot of big rollers. As well Percy Warner Park has some solid ass-kickers on their loops.
…my experience has been that the Trace is a natural negative split – on a two hour ride on the trace I’m typically 10-15 minutes faster on the return…
Me too. I don’t have a nifty GPS that tells me altitude but I’m guessing we gain altitude over the first 15 or so miles south. If he’s on a 4 hour ride, he may very well descend again before the turnaround negating that. But I’ve only done 2 hour rides on the trace to date.
It also makes a big difference whether you start from Hwy 100 or at the first parking area on TOP of the first major hill.