The Lovely Ladiga

This weekend we will celebrate the Noble Street Festival with lots of bike races for kids that will culminate in the Sunny King Criterium for the serious riders.  If you have never stayed for those races, you have missed seeing some very serious athletes compete in a pretty fast and exciting race.  It is a lot of fun, and an event I always look forward to.  On Sunday, the Cheaha Challenge will take place with its beginning and end in our very own Jacksonville, AL. Riders of all ages and fitness levels will ride from Pete Matthew's Coliseum up to the Square, down to White's Gap Road and then onward and upward to Cheaha Mountain.  It is a grueling race and as much as I love riding my bike, I do not foresee ever being at the same fitness level as these cyclists.  I will most likely be on the square cheering them on, and then hop on my bike and ride our beloved Chief Ladiga Trail.  I thank God daily that we live so close to this beauty, and have shared many great times with friends and family. 

What is the Chief Ladiga Trail?  Rather than accidentally giving false information, here is what is on their website:

The Chief Ladiga Trail extends 32.5 miles from the Georgia state line to Weaver, Alabama. It is a paved recreational trail on the bed of the former Seaboard/CSX Railroad and extends into Georgia an additional 63 miles, making it the longest continuous paved rail trail in the United States.   But it was a trail that took 17 years to complete.
In 1990, both the Calhoun County Commission and the City of Piedmont, Alabama received an Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) enhancement grant to fund the construction of the first 9-mile section through Calhoun County.  Additional ISTEA grant funds were awarded in 1994 to the City of Piedmont, the City of Jacksonville and the Cleburne County Commission.  The National Recreational Trails Fund (NRTF) awarded funds to the City of Jacksonville, the City of Weaver and the City of Anniston in 1997 to construct trail connections or access facilities.  The City of Weaver also received an ISTEA grant in 1997 allowing it to construct 2.5 miles of the trail through Weaver.  The cities of Weaver and Jacksonville opened the trail through their cities in 1998.  The last section to be completed, 9 miles through Cleburne County, was completed in 2007.

What is the Ladiga Trail to me?  It is many many things.  It is a place for me to get much needed exercise without it feeling like exercise.  I first began riding my bike after my good friend Jan Case talked about riding hers.  I started out on my old Walmart bike, and was miserable.  I did not remember this activity being so exhausting when I was younger, but then again, I was younger.  After I invested in a cool men's three speed cruiser, I began riding more and more.  I have put so many miles on that cruiser and have ridden it so hard, that it can no longer be referred to as a cruiser.  Because of the incredible generosity of people I love and who love me, I recently upgraded to a Trek Verve 1 hybrid, and I am in LOVE!  There are days when I ride alone, days when I ride with family, and days when I ride with friends.  I treasure all of those days.  When I ride with friends, we have wonderful conversations that get so animated that we tend to ride harder and faster.  I have begun a ride with full voice, and lost it by the time the ride was over from overuse.  This past November, Betsy Bumpus drove down from Missouri to ride the entire length of the trail with Jan and I, and it was a wonderful experience for all of us.  She had fallen in love with the Ladiga and cycling when she lived here, and it was one of her dreams to ride the entire 33 miles.  I will never forget that fall experience (the pictures above are from that day), and we have all promised that we will do it again soon.  I am thinking an annual event is in the works.

You don't have to love cycling to love the Ladiga.  Each day I ride, I see walkers and runners, skateboarders, and strollers.  I have even seen evidence of horses, if you know what I mean.  People bring their dogs and remarkably all dogs seem to get along with each other as they pass by.  There are other four legged creatures that will occasionally cross my path.  I have seen deer, coyote, a fox, a few goats, and even a couple of beavers.  I was once almost knocked off my bike by a turkey because they fly pretty low, and I will not mention the snakes I have seen, although I will say they were all harmless. 

This time of year is perfect for the Ladiga Trail, and if you suffer from allergies, take a couple of pills and come out anyway.  Any sneezing and runny eyes you may experience will be well worth the memories you will make.