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A group of Athens-based bicyclists knew they were taking on a hefty project when they recently announced plans to create 30 miles of new bike trails within 30 miles of the city.
As mountain bikers, they weren’t afraid to get their hands dirty with a new challenge.
“We know that a goal of building 30 miles of new trail is pretty ambitious, but so are we,” said Bruce Johnson, vice president of the Athens chapter of the non-profit Southern Off-Road Bicycle Association. “We’re aiming high. It’s not going to be a project that we’re going to complete in a few months, but we’re very committed to this project.”
The organization has already made considerable progress in the last year with a 1.6-mile trail at East Athens Community Park and roughly 3.25 miles of new trail at Hard Labor Creek State Park in Rutledge, where an additional 4.5 miles has already been flagged and is ready to be built.The Athens area already has several options for mountain bikers, including about 10-miles of trails at Heritage Park in Watkinsville, as well as the SORBA-sponsored trails at Paynes Creek in Hartwell and Hawkes Creek Farm in Winterville.
But having more options closer to more people is a positive for bicycling community for economical and environmental as well as overall convenience.
“Instead of having to drive, spend money going to Fort Yargo or some place, you can stay closer in, ride with your kids to the trail and ride to it in town,” said Elliott Caldwell, chairman of the board of directors of BikeAthens, an organization that promotes walking, cycling and the use of public transportation in the city. “As cyclists, we don’t want to have a huge carbon footprint just to go do something recreational, so I think it’s a really nice thing to be able to do.”
There is no set time frame for reaching the 30-mile goal, but SORBA-Athens is doing what it can to speed up the process. Much of the work it has done in the past has been by hand, but four members recently took a training course to use rented machinery, and Johnson said some funds may be used to hire professional trail developers to supplement SORBA-Athens’ work.
But more mileage is better mileage regardless of how long it takes, Johnson said, especially in a city that two years ago was named a bronze-level bicycle friendly community by the League of American Bicyclists.
“Athens has always had a reputation as a bike-friendly town, but there were few opportunities for mountain biking,” Johnson said. “We want Athens to be a destination for mountain bikers long term.”Read more here: http://onlineathens.com/sports/2013-07- … thens-area
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This is awesome for Athens. Buddy of mine lived there for a good while. He said there is a great bike community but there was very little formal trail and most of the local riding was poaching on private land. This should help. 😀 Athens is a really cool town, I almost got relocated there twice but both fell through.
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"CraigCreekRider" wrote
This is awesome for Athens. Buddy of mine lived there for a good while. He said there is a great bike community but there was very little formal trail and most of the local riding was poaching on private land. This should help. 😀 Athens is a really cool town, I almost got relocated there twice but both fell through.
Yeah, they definitely could use it! I lived there for a year, and some of the the best trails right now are definitely "unofficial"
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