61.5-mile ride to celebrate Silver Comet’s big opening

Cyclists have three weeks to get in shape for a 61.5-mile ride celebrating the grand opening of the longest bicycle path in the country.

The PATH Foundation will host a shrimp boil in a farmer’s cornfield at the Georgia-Alabama state line, where the recently expanded Silver Comet Trail now links with the Chief Ladiga trail and continues to Anniston, Ala.

Hardy cyclists now can travel 95.5 tree-lined miles from Smyrna to Anniston — free of cars, except at occasional road crossings. The route is 17 miles longer than the next longest bike path in the country, which is in Idaho, said Ed McBrayer, PATH’s executive director.

“I think it’s going to be a big boon for tourism all through that area,” he said.

The last gap was paved last month, but workers are still adding landscaping and benches.

The PATH Foundation has been developing bicycle and pedestrian trails in metro Atlanta for 17 years, and started on the Silver Comet Trail a decade ago. The path follows a railroad right of way and is named after the silver train that once plied the route. Construction cost about $400,000 a mile, or roughly $25 million overall, with a third of the money coming from private contributions.

The grand opening is Sept. 27. Cyclists will depart from the Georgia terminus at Mavell Road in Smyrna (behind Nickajack Elementary School) at 7:30 a.m. to arrive at mile post 61.5 in time for the festivities at 2 p.m.

Most participants are arranging a car ride back. Mile 61.5 is about a 1.5-hour drive from Atlanta. Take U.S. 278 west from I-285 and turn left onto the last road before the Alabama line (the sign says Hardin Road, but some call it Esom Hill Road). Turn right where the road deadends at the town of Esom Hill.

McBrayer said both the Alabama and Georgia transportation commissioners will speak, along with other dignitaries. For details, visit the PATH Foundation’s Web site, www.pathfoundation.org.