Guest blogger
The middle of August in south Georgia is hot and steamy. But somehow two Saturday’s ago provided a brief reprieve. The temperature was a little cooler, the air not as thick with moisture as usual, and the sun was ensconced by puffy grey clouds. A perfect day for a bike ride! So I loaded up my bike and drove 45 minutes from Valdosta over to Moultrie to ride a rails to trails conversion that runs 7.5 miles along the west side of the county seat of a small farming community. Moultrie, with a population of about 20,000, is the location of the high school where I teach. A Saturday morning ride followed by the high school football game at 12:30 sounded like a nice way to spend the day.
Officially known as the Tom White Linear Park, although only official signage calls it that, locals refer to my destination as “The Bike Path.” I started my ride at the parking lot of the tennis courts next to the diving well. People are often surprised that a town the size of Moultrie has a diving well. College diving programs are not surprised though with Moultrie natives currently on the diving teams at the University of Tennessee, Auburn University, Florida State University, and three at University of Georgia. If you don’t know much about college diving, the SEC is to diving as….well the SEC is to football.
About a block from the parking lot is the bike path. I headed south passing between the back yards of small houses with tree-filled yards. A small garden of blooming flowers provided a nice view along this part of the trail. The trail veers to the left and runs parallel to South Main Street. To the left are the well-kept yards with towering pines in front of houses that are probably 50-60 years old. South Main’s houses give way to small businesses including the delightful Southern cooking of the Magnolia Restaurant. Continuing south you see doctor’s offices and the hospital to the left and the golf course at Sunset Country Club to the right. Next, you come to the only major road crossing as you cross Highway 319 and run parallel to it for the last leg of the trail. As you come up to the highway you see the old rail lines that formed the “rails” part of this rails to trails conversion.
Before riding the trail I assumed that the section near the highway would be a chore. For about a third of a mile it was, as I battled the noise of the highway. Soon though, the trail moved away from the highway and was shielded by trees forming a nice canopy under which to ride. To the left are green pastures with gently rolling hills. The trail rises ever so slightly as you get closer to the airport which is the end of the trail. The airport located at 292 feet above sea level is an inviting place to drop in to refill the water bottle and use the bathroom. The walls of the airport are lined with military memorabilia from the former Navy pilot who manages the airport and pictures of pilots taking their first solo flight after being trained at the Moultrie airport. After refilling my water bottle I headed back north to find the top end of the trail. On the way back north I noticed that people were starting to get out and about on the trial. A few cyclists, a handful of dog walkers, and quite a few walkers/joggers showed that Moultrians enjoy their trail.
Only once did I feel that the trail was crowded though. This occurred when I came upon a group walking four abreast. Before I passed by with a snarky comment, one of the walkers turned around and I saw it was a fellow teacher at my school who also happens to be the wife of the school’s principal. Luckily I had taken the proverbial high road and kept my mouth shut.
As I continued north I passed by my parking spot in order to find the north end of the trail. I passed the high school football stadium where fans were already arriving with food for tailgating in hand and black and gold clad children in tow. High school football is a big deal in these parts! I passed the stadium and heard the whistles of pre-game warm-ups and watched as young kids tossed the pigskin around in the grassy area between the trail and the stadium. The trail ends about a mile north of the stadium just to the northwest of the town square. With a little time to spare before the game I got off the trail at the northern terminus and rode the downtown streets over to a coffee shop across from the courthouse. Beans and Strings coffee shop offers coffee, pastries, and smoothies and is a popular venue for acoustic music. Even though the day was cooler than usual I had worked up a sweat and opted for a refreshing smoothie that certainly hit the spot. From downtown I got back on the trail and in just a few minutes I was back at my car where I loaded up the bike, changed shirts, and walked to the football game.
A day of bike riding and high school football in Moultrie, Georgia was quite enjoyable. The people of Moultrie have a wonderful bike path and I can’t wait to ride it again. Maybe this Friday I’ll do a pre-game ride on the Tom White Linear Park bike path before heading to Tom White Field to watch the Colquitt County High School Packers football team!
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| Airport - Moultrie,GA |
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| Courthouse - Moultrie,GA |
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