Sewanee to Orme - 67 miles

The final excursion ride for the 2008 season turned out to be an epic. Joey Holland designed a very interesting course that contained a big surprise, even to him.

We parked at Woody's Bicycles in Sewanee on top of Mount Eagle. Our route took us south off the mountain toward Sherwood, Tn. The descent to Sherwood on highway 56 is about 5.5 miles long, averages about 6% and is fairly straight with a couple of curves. Unfortunately we experienced some strong headwinds, which kept our speed to around 30 mph on the descent.

Sherwood was home to the Gager Lime Manufacturing Company. The remnants of the buildings were constructed in the early 1890s of concrete and have a castle-like appearance. For more information on Gager and its history click here.

Marshall took this photo of the remaining buildings and silos.
















From Sherwood it was headwind all the way into Stevenson Alabama. Not much in this town, in fact we had trouble finding a convenience store. We departed Stevenson on Highway 72 and turned onto County Rd. 75 (Orme Rd.) which took us to the small community of Orme. Orme was in the National news during the 2007 summer drought, when Orme's Mayor turned on the city water supply at 6 pm each evening and turned it off at 9 pm to conserve the little water they had.

OK now it gets hard. We made a right at Orme Mountain Rd. and immediately the grade went to about 18% on my computer. It leveled off to an average of about 7% for the next mile, but the pavement was extremely rough, lots of potholes. I was thinking this is going to be hard since I knew the total climb would be a little over three miles. What none of us knew was the middle section of the climb was dirt/gravel and about 1.5 miles of it. This would have been OK, but the grade was averaging around 8% with sections of 12 to 13%. Standing resulted in the rear wheel spinning, so you just sat leaned forward to keep the front wheel on the ground and did some grinding. Everyone feared that a sideways slip would result in putting your foot on the ground, but any kind of stopping was not an option. With the gravel and grade combination you would never get started again and end up walking. After the big climb the remainder of the ride was on a rolling section of highway 156 into Sewanee.

Looking back down Orme Mountain Rd.

The Big Tree

Marshall Bassett provided this great photo from a 2006 ride. It's a good example of the interesting sights we see during the summer excursion rides. Click on the photo to view a larger version.

Tullahoma to Lynchburg - 41 miles

Another great route designed by Joey Holland. In fact, I think it might be my favorite one of this season's Summer Excursion rides.

This loop route starts at Motlow State Community College in Tullahoma, continues to Lynchburg, down the ridge to Tims Ford Lake and back to Motlow State. The route also includes parts of the old Tullahoma road race course.

After climbing the hill on Hilltop Rd., there is a great descent and downhill runout to Hwy 82. This provides a very fast section which is great for a smooth running paceline. To get an idea of the downhill look at the profile on the route map between 5.5 miles and 9.8 miles. All downhill.

Next comes a nice flat section on New Herman Rd. that takes you through a valley where time seems to stand still. We noticed this area seems to have absolutely no new development.


The next stop was Lynchburg, home of Jack Daniels. We stopped at the courthouse to refill our water bottles. Free cold wet water in a dry county. Lots of nice shops and stores to visit if you are so inclined.

Just outside the city square is the right turn onto Tanyard Hill Rd. As you can see from the profile its quite steep and fairly long. We rode across the ridge and took a left onto Lost Creek, which is a fast plunge down the ridge to Tims Ford Lake. A couple more turns gets you to Hurricane Creek Rd. Another long fast section that goes downhill for about four miles.

Click the map below for a larger version.
To download a pdf of the route and a cue sheet click here.
For a TopoRoute web map click here.

Statesville to Short Mountain - 48 miles

route by Joey Holland

This is a very late post describing a ride that took place on July 8, 2008. Joey, Bart, Frank, Ron and Carl met at the Methodist Church in Statesville on a very hot-windy day in early July for a 48 mile loop ride. Statesville is on Highway 267 about 7 miles south of Watertown. Not much happening in Statesville except for a really nice cave spring that is located just behind the Methodist Church were we parked.

After the ride we all took advantage of the cool water on this very HOT day, cooling off like kids soaking our feet in the spring. Joey pronounced the water quality "good."

The ride took us to Woodbury through the very small communities of Greenvale and Milton. Lots of rollers and dogs. From Woodbury we took Highway 53 to Seals Hollow Rd. This is a great biking road narrow, bumpy with lots of curves, and one good climb that goes up the side of Short Mountain. From there we biked across the upper plateau of Short Mountain and then had the pleasure of a 6 mile descent down Hurricane Creek Rd. A short ride back on Hwy 267 to the spring at the church.

Click here for a route map. The above description is in the counterclockwise direction.

Baxter to Gainboro- 42 Miles

Route and description by Joey Holland

The ride starts with a 10-mile ridge run on the snaking Shepardsville Highway. After about the fifteenth es-curve, we found ourselves in a community aptly called "Nameless."

After a descent of about 500 feet in elevation, we entered Flynn's Lick. Not much happening in Flynn's Lick. The old elementary school has been abandoned, and we thought the church had also. But upon peeping through the windows, we could see that the congregation is still uses this collapsing "meetin' house."

There ain't no easy way to get from Flynn's Lick to Gainesboro, so we took the obvious route on Hwy 53. That's about two miles up and two miles down, landing directly on the town square of Gainesboro. We stopped at the courthouse for water and were greeted by the director of the local chamber of commerce. This distinguished elderly lady was familiar with the annual Avery Trace bicycle race weekend held in the area. Additionally, she said that she was interested in bicycle commuting from her home down the street and was fairly sure that she could get herself a suitable bicycle for about $28. We didn't try to convince her otherwise.

What a beautiful day we were having, but it was made even better with the cool shade we found under the bluffs of the Roaring River and Blackburn Fork Creek. We'd heard rumor that the annual Macon/Smith County team time trial might be contested along the Roaring River. I believe that's a plan we could support.

Instead of the climb up Hwy 135, this year we took Blackburn Fork Road to get out the gorge. I think we all agreed that we'd found paradise up this Blackburn Fork valley. I just wanted to get off the bike and go for a swim.

While I didn't get in the water, we found several local teenage swimmers who had made the hike to the plunge pool of Cummins Mill Falls. Cummins Mill Falls drops 80-feet into the limestone gorge of Blackburn Fork Creek that has been designated a Tennessee State Scenic River. Getting a look at Cummins Falls required a combination of trail riding and hiking. At the brink of the falls, Ron in his bicycling cleats kept getting much too close to the edge for my comfort.

Route Map


Photos and captions by Marshall Bassett

Click on any photo for a larger view

I think the Flynns Lick Missonary Baptist church was very cool and
apparently still very much open for business verified by poking our
heads through the open/broken window


Despite the serenity and beauty of this place, there was a BRUTE of
climb to finish it off...


At least 13% for about a mile, the last of which was SINGLETRACK !
Amazing. I did get a great shot of some waterfall we passed.




By all indications Ron had been at Gainsboro Courthouse before, as he knew all the sessions court judges, but the charges didn't stick, Oh and we found the home of YellaWood!

Beechgrove to Normandy - 41 miles

Route by Joey Holland

The July 1st excursion ride started in Beechgrove and made a big clockwise loop through Normandy, Wartrace and Bell Buckle. There were no sightings of Elvis, but there was a sighting of an Elvis impostor. He needs to work on the hair though.

This ride featured a group photo for the first time. Marshall setup his camera on the Normandy bridge abutment, we posed on the other side of the road, and got to watch Marshall try to run across the road in cycling shoes before the camera timer went off. Not a bad looking group, although John D. was the only one who had the presence of mind to take off his helmet for the photo. Apparently he has more experience in this area. Rumor has it that he had a short career in modeling while living in the Miami area.

Here are the other photos from the ride. As always, click on any photo for a larger view. Photo credit Marshall (Mario) Bassetti.


Bikes are not welcome on Bell Buckle sidewalks


Joey finds a hill (surprise) and Jason catches a hitchhiker


Normandy Lake and Frank having a good time

Here's the map and cuesheet. Click on the map for a larger version, or click here to download the map and a cuesheet.

Ashland City to Harpeth Narrows - 40 miles

Route by Joey Holland

This week's excursion ride started in Ashland City and took us to the Narrows of the Harpeth, Mary Helen's Market, and Indian Mounds. There were several nice climbs and descents on this route. The second descent was great. Fairly long and quite fast. See the profile on the map below for more details of the route. Click here for route map download.

We rode over to White Bluff on Hwy 50. Joey took us on a little detour to the Narrows of the Harpeth, where we took a break and walked down the steps to the narrows. We then attempted to get a view of the Indian Mounds which are on the other side of the Harpeth river. The trees prevented a good look, but we did see the corner of one.

The greeting at Mary Helen's Market was stern with a sign that read, "No bikes or 4-wheelers on the sidewalk." The store wall was full of mounted deer heads, but at least there was "Hot Coffee."

Click on the photos for a larger view. Thanks to Marshall Bassett for taking on the role of "Official Ride Photographer."


Joey and buffalo staredown!


Narrows of the Harpeth and Indian Mound search


No bikes!


Store wildlife



Click on map for larger version.
Click here for map and cuesheet download.

Pelham to Altamont Summer Excursion Tour 43 miles

Route by Joey Holland

Tuesday June 3rd was the first of the Joey Holland Summer Excursion rides. We drove down I-24 to Pelham and parked at the Stuckey's.

The afternoon's ride would be a 43 mile counterclockwise loop climbing to the top of the Cumberland Plateau and then through the communities of Coalmount, Altamont and back to Pelham.

After about 6 miles of flat riding on a one-lane farm road we turned right onto Payne Cove Rd. and started the 3 mile-6.5% climb.

The sound of cicadas was amazingly loud on the climb. The sound from the cicadas being was being filtered by the trees along this climb. It created a very strange low pitched roar, instead of the normal harsh cicadas sound.

A left onto highway 56 took us to Altamont.

Altamont was a very interesting little town. Its the county seat of Grundy county. We toured the old city square, the site of the former courthouse, which according to Joey was burned down under mysterious circumstances.


If you get a chance to do this ride, be sure and read the inscriptions on the stone monuments in the town square. The one pictured is very interesting. It is a civil war monument and quotes General Patrick Cleburne who talks about what surrendering would mean for the future education of southern children.


Then it was down highway 56 to the 3.7 mile-5% descent. What a great descent! The road was smooth, the turns were easy sweeps, and there was little traffic.


Here's a map of the route. Click here to download a pdf of the map and a cuesheet.

2008 Area Century Rides

Please note this is the 2008 list. I will update as soon as new dates become available. For now you can still use the links below to get info on these rides.

5/17/2008
Little River Bicycle Tour
Hopkinsville, KY
http://littlerivercyclingclub.com/

5/24/2008
Clarksville Rotary Annual Metric (CRAM)
Clarksville, TN
http://www.bikethecram.com/

5/24/2008
Horsey Hundred
Georgetown, Kentucky
http://www.bgcycling.org/

5/31/2008
Chief Ladiga Ride
Anniston Alabama
http://www.druidcity.org/

5/31/2008
Tour de Cure 2008
Murfreesboro, TN
http://tour.diabetes.org/site/TR/TourdeCure/TDC194308030?pg=entry&fr_id=5016

6/9/2008
Assault on Mt. Mitchell
Spartanburg, SC
http://www.freewheelers.info/assault.html

6/21/2008
Harpeth River Ride
Thompson Station, TN
http://www.harpethbikeclub.com/index.php/riverride/rr-main


6/21/2008
Cherohala Challenge
Tellico Plains, TN
http://www.smwbike.org/cherohala/ccMain.htm

7/26/2008
W.C. Handy Ride
Florence, Alabama
http://www.handy100.com/

7/26/2008
Blazing Saddles Century
Franklin, GA
http://www.westgeorgiaflyers.org/blazingsaddlescentury.html

7/26/2008
13th Annual Roan Moan
Bakersville, NC
http://www.bicycleinn.com/RoanMoanInfo05.htm

8/16/2008
RUSA 10th Anniversary Ride
Nashville, TN (?)
http://www.harpethbikeclub.com/index.php/ultraevents

8/23/2008
HOT 100
Murfreesboro, TN
http://www.mborobike.com/ridecalendar/hot100.php

8/30/2008
Clarksville Labor Day Classic
Clarksville, TN
http://www.clarksvillecentury.com/default.htm

9/6/2008
Hope on Wheels
Leiper's Fork, TN
http://www.how100.org/

9/14/2008
Bike Ride Across Tennessee
Warriors Path State Park, TN
http://tennessee.gov/environment/parks/BRAT/

9/20/2008
Clarksville Sunrise Century
Clarksville, TN
http://www.clarksvillecentury.com/default.htm

9/20/2008
All You Can Eat Century
Huntsville, AL
http://www.springcity.org/century/

9/21/2008
Bridge to Bridge (Grandfather Mountain)
Lenoir, NC
http://www.caldwellcochamber.org/main.asp

9/27/2008
Ride Across Tennessee (RAT - 157 miles)
Start: Clarksville, TN
Finish: Alabama State line, Natchez Trace Parkway http://www.harpethbikeclub.com/index.php/rat

9/28/2008
Six Gap Century (and 3 Gap 50 miler)
Dahlonega, GA
http://www.cyclenorthgeorgia.com/

10/4/2008
Sequatchie Valley Century
Jasper, TN
http://www.chattbike.com/

10/4/2008
Jack & Back MS-150
Franklin, TN
http://biketns.nationalmssociety.org/

10/11/2008
Smoky Mountain Wheelmen
Loudon, TN
http://www.smwbike.org/

10/18/2008
200K Fall Climbing Brevet (126 miles)
Watertown, TN
http://www.harpethbikeclub.com/index.php/ultraevents

11/29/2008
Turkey Trot Populaire (200K)
Brentwood, TN
http://www.harpethbikeclub.com/index.php/ultraevents

Jordonia 34 Mile Route

This route starts near the intersection of Briley Parkway and Ashland City Hwy. If you live or work on the west side of Nashville, then this route provides an good opportunity to get in an after work ride that includes four good hills. Nothing really big, but they will bump up your heart rate a bit.

Jordonia route map
Map to start location

Gordonsville 49 mile route

Route by Carl Pedersen

A very scenic ride through the Tennessee hills, this route starts in Gordonsville about 50 miles east of Nashville. Shortly after the start you begin a 1.5 mile stair stepped climb up Pea Ridge road to Chestnut Mound Tennessee. A fast descent into the Buffalo Valley provides three more opportunities for some good climbs. From there you ride across the Center Hill Lake Dam and then begin a long slow climb up the ridge with some great views of Center Hill Lake. The start and parking area is at the Gordonsville City Park. See map below.

Gordonsville Route Map
Map to start location

CalfKiller Valley 66 miles

Route by Joey Holland

This route starts in Cookeville goes through Calfkiller Valley and takes a 3 mile climb to Monterey. This is the main climb of this ride, but don't let the single hill fool you. This is not any easy route and contains numerous rollers throughout. A very interesting section is along Sunk Creek Rd., which has a very fast winding descent into a bowl. Apparently water runoff from the surrounding hills leaves this bowl through an underground cave system.

Calfkiller Valley Route Map
Map to start location