Georgia Wilderness Society
The Silver Comet Trail
September 22-25, 2025
The SCT and Chief Ladiga rail trails are so convenient that GWS cyclists try to enjoy them every 2-3 years. Nine of us met at the dilapidated but centrally located Beautiful Rock campground near Rockmart and shared a spaghetti and pizza dinner under the crumbling pavilion. The next day most of us rode 33 miles of the Chief Ladiga trail in Alabama but did not try the new section from Weaver to Anniston that is complete but still being improved and has detours. Part of the trail had been recently repaved.
Three of us elected to do out-and-backs from the state line into Alabama, cycling about 20 miles. We endured a shared chili dinner that night and swapped a lot of good lies and trip plans.
The next day we cycled on the eastern section from Van Wert to Smyrna, with most of us doing 34 miles and some cycling to the Brushy Mountain tunnel and the Pumpkin Vine Creek trestle. On both these days we did “O’Neill shuttles”, with some folks driving to the end point with their bikes and cycling back to the start, and two of us taking an extra set of keys and cycling from the start to the truck at the endpoint and driving it back.
At this point we lost some folks from the tour due to a head cold and other travel plans, and at dinner we unexpectedly lost four more to concerns about an ominous weather forecast for the last day. Diehards Curt Cole and Joe Mangum managed to stay dry during a strong late evening storm, and then woke up to find that Dylan was right; “You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows. “The rain forecast for our last day never materialized, and we broke camp and cycled 20 miles on either side of Rockmart, skipping the ugly roadside section around Cedartown. On all three days, work crews were out blowing the trail clear of leaves and debris. We had no accidents or mechanical problems.
There were six e-bikes and 3 real bikes (cycled by real men). Cyclists were Terry Ross, Ben and Anne Thompson, Bob, Carol, Alex, and Julie O’Neill, Curt Cole and trip leader Joe Mangum.
