Urban Assault in Franklin

The weather has been very cold lately in Middle Tennessee. While many die-hards enjoy riding in 20-degree weather since the trails are frozen I prefer to wait until the thaw occurs and the trail dries out. With temps in the mid-50's on Friday, 1/15/2010, I took the Mary XC off the ceiling for a ride around Franklin/Cool Springs.

Here is a picture of the Mary XC at an idle construction site:

I am not in the least bit interested in riding roads. However, I commend the City of Franklin in the establishment of several bike lanes that do not make a mountain biker feel like they are placing their lives in the hands of a texting teenager in a Tahoe (alliteration is cool).

The bike lanes make it easy for me to get over to the east side of I-65 and ride around some construction sites (most of them idle) and feel like I am doing something other than ride sidewalks. I got 8 miles in rather quickly and would have loved to get more in, but the sun was setting quickly. There are some challenging climbs in Franklin and I am going to continue to ride streets this time of year as the trails dry out and just to get some exercise.

My path is below...note the top speed of 27mph as per the GPS!

Franklin, TN

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