Best Bike Ride / Urban

If you love biking long distances but have yet to channel your inner road warrior, sometimes a flat paved path is a gift from heaven. You can find that on THE SILVER COMET BETWEEN DALLAS AND ROCKMART. The 15-mile route follows an old railroad corridor along a ridge and through blasted rock and is relatively flat, straight, and completely rustic. Strap your bikes to your car, pack your gear (there are no water fountains along the route), and head 45 minutes to Dallas, Georgia. Park at the Rambo Road Trailhead (or at the Tara Drummond Trailhead lot, if you want bathrooms and water fountains), hop on the trail heading west, and keep pedaling. Along the way, you’ll travel over the 126-foot-high Pumpkinvine Trestle, wind through woods filled with turkeys, turtles, and deer, and pass through an 800-foot-long old railroad tunnel. Pedal past Coot’s Lake to Rockmart, where you can grab some ice cream, or walk around the small city’s Downtown. Stretch, fill up your water, and then pedal back. www.silvercometga.com. less...

In search of epic singletrack? Test yourself on the ASKA TRAILS near Blue Ridge. Originally cut for hiking and later opened to bikes, the narrow steeps, swoops, water bars and stream crossings will have your heart pumping on both the climbs and descents. From Blue Ridge, head southeast on Aska Road for six miles to the Deep Gap parking lot to hit the Stanley Gap Trail, Green Mountain Trail, and our favorite, the Flat Creek Loop. This ain’t date riding. Prepare to be pounded. less...

While YELLOW RIVER doesn’t have the sustained climbs of Bear Creek or Bull Mountain in North Georgia, the creek loop has some short, steep climbs that will have you sucking wind, as well as enjoying some wild whoop-de-dos on the descents. Beware, though: The parking lot will be full early on the weekends, so novice bikers should be aware of the cyclists-in-training zipping by on the left. If you are just starting out on fat tires (or are just want a more leisurely ride), the five-mile river loop provides a nice, flat warm-up, followed by some challenging twists and turns and ups and downs. Rollin’ on the river, indeed. less...

CL’s experts may have eschewed this ride because it goes right past the CL offices, but our readers love cycling on the rolling hills and gentle bends of the Freedom Path jogging trail. More than $1 million has gone into renovating the sprawling paths, which serve as a sort of mini-Spaghetti Junction within Inman Park and Little Five Points. less...

It’s not the most challenging ride around, but the lazy bike path that rings Piedmont Park will give you the nickel tour of Atlanta’s version of Central Park, replete with Rollerbladers, dogs and all the characters that any major city needs. If you’re looking for more of a challenge, try the PATH trail to Alabama, but if you’re looking for an inner-city getaway, pedal your ass over to Piedmont. You won’t regret it. less...