Atlanta to Nashville

[BillInGA]

This past Sunday I completed Test Ride 2 in preparation for my trip from Atlanta to Denver later this summer.

My planned route was to take US-41 from Kennesaw, GA (NW of Atlanta) to Kingston Springs, TN, just past Nashville. I started shortly after sunrise at 7 am.

We had rain all day Saturday that ended around 4 am, so the roads were damp with the temperature in the low 60's. I was dressed for the weather, so cold was not a problem. The biggest issue I had for the first hour or so was my visor fogging and mist from lingering foggy patches.

The ride to Chattanooga held no suprises and I'm getting familiar with this portion of the route. Heading out of Chattanooga took me up Lookout Mountain overlooking Nickajack Lake - beautiful scenery. By then the sun was fully up; the roads were drying nicely and it was starting to warm up. My first leg ended with a fuel stop in Jasper, TN after crossing over Nickajack Lake.

More nice scenery heading north out of Jasper. My plan was to take US-41 all the way to Nashville. However, I missed a turn in Monteagle and ended up on US-41A (alternate?). Instead of paralleling I-24 just north of the interstate, US-41A took me well west of I-24 around the west side of Arnold AFB through Tullahoma and Shelbyville. More great scenery and probably less congested than going through Murfreesboro and Smyrna.

By the time I was 15 miles outside of Nashville it became obvious that I wasn't going to make any headway on the surface streets. So I hopped on I-24 into Nashville and picked up I-40 heading west for about 10 miles out of town. I turned around about 10 miles short of Kingston Springs, considering my alternate course had already added about 40 miles to my route.

I got back on the freeway and took it back through Nashville down to Murfreesboro, about 30 miles outside of Nashville. From there I got on to US-41 proper. As I approached Monteagle I went up some nice twisty roads into town. I was sorry I had missed these on the outbound leg.

I rode US-41 back to Chattanooga. By that time I didn't feel like going through all the small towns along US-41 on the way back home, so I jumped on I-75 and rode it all the way back to Kennesaw.

Total miles: 540
Total time (including stops): 12 hrs 40 min

I need to wrap this up, but I'll post more comments later regarding route selection, performance, mileage and wind.

[Easy Rider]

Originally Posted by BillInGA

As I approached Monteagle I went up some nice twisty roads into town. I was sorry I had missed these on the outbound leg.

Because of that little stretch, there is very little traffic on 41 proper along there, which is nice.
I took A-41 on purpose last trip and got stuck behind trucks a couple of times. Being behind a LOG truck is nerve wracking; I finally stopped for a bit and let him go.

I'm getting ready for my trip the end of May; got a second bike "bag" yesterday.
Hoping to eyeball some new riders around your area on the way through......although the last GZ rider I met in Atlanta promptly disappeared from the forum right after that !!?? :roll:

[zenbutcher]

Bill: I took that ride from Chattanooga to Nashville on Easter weekend. I, too, had a little mix-up on the route. I had just bought a new GPS for the trip and somehow I messed it up. It ended up taking me through McMinnville. When I came back, I took my original intended route. It was nice to go 2 different ways, however.

This was my first trip of over 100 miles and I loved it. My butt did get a little sore from that crappy GZ seat, but I made due with a couple of stops to rest. I can't imagine taking the GZ to Denver without a seat mod.

Keep us posted! I love hearing about people's rides.

Oh, one last thing... if you get up this way again, try out that old bridge that runs parallel to I24 crossing Nickajack - it's a rush! I forget the highway and bridge name, but I'll post a pic.

As it turns out, all of those pics are from my facebook page. If you're interested, you can scroll through the album and see some pics of my GZ.

[zenbutcher]

hmm.. pics didn't post... oh well.

[alantf]

Originally Posted by BillInGA

As I approached Monteagle I went up some nice twisty roads into town.

By a strange coincidence, I was listening to Johnny Cash's "Monteagle Mountain" on my headphones, while I was reading this. It seems to be the same place, because he mentions I-24 between Nashville & Chatanooga. If the song is anything to go by, I don't think I'd like to ride there
It seems to be a place with a lot of runaway trucks - hence the runaway ramp - & quite dangerous. :??:

[zenbutcher]

LOL @ alan... At first, I though you meant because of the reputation of the "good ole boys" up there on the mountain. Yes, there are some huge runaway truck ramps there! But, I'd be more afraid of breaking down in the wrong person's yard, not the trucks

[BillInGA]

Originally Posted by zenbutcher

Bill: I took that ride from Chattanooga to Nashville on Easter weekend. I, too, had a little mix-up on the route. I had just bought a new GPS for the trip and somehow I messed it up. It ended up taking me through McMinnville. When I came back, I took my original intended route. It was nice to go 2 different ways, however.

This was my first trip of over 100 miles and I loved it. My butt did get a little sore from that crappy GZ seat, but I made due with a couple of stops to rest. I can't imagine taking the GZ to Denver without a seat mod.

Keep us posted! I love hearing about people's rides.

Oh, one last thing... if you get up this way again, try out that old bridge that runs parallel to I24 crossing Nickajack - it's a rush! I forget the highway and bridge name, but I'll post a pic.

As it turns out, all of those pics are from my facebook page. If you're interested, you can scroll through the album and see some pics of my GZ.

As it happens I did cross Nickajack on the old bridge - it's US-41. It parallels the I-24 bridge probably less than a half mile away.

[BillInGA]

Originally Posted by alantf

[By a strange coincidence, I was listening to Johnny Cash's "Monteagle Mountain" on my headphones, while I was reading this. It seems to be the same place, because he mentions I-24 between Nashville & Chatanooga. If the song is anything to go by, I don't think I'd like to ride there
It seems to be a place with a lot of runaway trucks - hence the runaway ramp - & quite dangerous. :??:

I've don't remember seeing any runaway truck ramps, but then I was going uphill. Still, it didn't seem that bad to me. I've seen much steeper grades in the Rockies in Colorado and New Mexico.

[BillInGA]

Originally Posted by Easy Rider

Hoping to eyeball some new riders around your area on the way through......although the last GZ rider I met in Atlanta promptly disappeared from the forum right after that !!?? :roll:

<SarcasticHumor> Scaring off forum members online AND in person! :poke2: </SarcasticHumor>

Seriously, though, I'd be happy to meet up while you're passing through. Maybe burkbuilds and I can escort you from Rossville to Kennesaw. :rawk:

[alanmcorcoran]

540 miles in 12 hours on a GZ is very impressive. Good luck on your trip to Denver. I've been mulling an Orange County to Chicago run, but, other than the novelty aspect of it and the beautiful scenery on I-70, I'm not sure I would actually enjoy that much time on the bike. I did close to 100 miles yesterday just locally, and with wind and traffic - it's a bit exhausting. And I have a much bigger bike with a better seat. The OC to CH is almost exactly 2000 miles each way.

You can go back to your original post, edit, delete the bad links, and try to reload your photo's. Use the small "add an image link to Postimage.org. It should work.