Saturday, November 13, 2021
Chief Ladiga Trail
Bay Springs Country Inn & Marina is situated on an arm of Weiss Lake, known as “The Crappie Capital of the World.” It was dark when we arrived last night at 5:00 p.m., so this morning I took a walk around the grounds and checked out the lake while drinking my coffee. Next time, we need to bring our fishing poles!
Bay Springs Country Inn & Marina
Weiss Lake and our motel's marina
We looked around Centre for a few minutes on our way out of town, then drove half an hour south to today's biking trail. After picking up a trail map at the Eubanks Welcome Center in Piedmont, we continued east a few more miles to the Borden Springs trailhead of the Chief Ladiga Trail.
Jana and a Big One
One of each, please
Good things come in threes
The Chief Ladiga Trail is a 33-mile rail-trail running from Anniston, Alabama, to the Georgia line, where it meets up with the Silver Comet Trail, which then continues for another 62 miles to Smyrna, just outside of Atlanta. Together, the trails offer riders 95 miles of wide, flat, paved biking path, with some pleasant scenery along the way.
Chief Ladiga trailhead at Borden Springs
As we unloaded our bikes, we met a guy who was riding the entirety of both trails today, round trip - 190 miles!!! Wow. Tom and I were also doing a one-day ride here, but we chose just one prime section and took our time.
Jana and Tom on the Alabama-Georgia line
Creek crossing
Beautiful day
From Borden Springs, we rode east to the Alabama-Georgia border, then turned around, bypassed Old Yeller (our trusty ancient SUV), and continued to the outskirts of Piedmont before calling it a day, ending with a ride of 22.3 miles. Hopefully, we can come back sometime and ride some more!
Chief Ladiga Trail
Biking through cotton country
Made it this far
After hot showers back at the motel, we went for dinner at Tony's Steak Barn and Meat Market in Centre. With a name like that, you know it's good! They had a special tonight on New York strips - our favorite!
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