There's No Place Like Home
Trip Start
Jun 12, 2011
1
13
Trip End
Jun 24, 2011
What I did
Rode a bike
Little Rock, Arkansas
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Little Rock!? Where is that in Croatia? Actually, after returning from our bicycle vacations we are reminded how much we love bicycling and how good cyclists have it in Little Rock. Here is a partial list:
- The Big Dam Bridge: The longest dedicated bicycle/pedestrian bridge in the country
· The River/Millenium Trail: a 14 mile loop path on both sides of the Arkansas River
· The Junction Bridge: a bike/pedestrian bridge that connects Little Rock and North Little Rock
· The Two Rivers Bridge: a soon-to-be-completed bike/pedestrian bridge west of the BDB that connects to an additional six miles of trails and Pinnacle Mountain
· The Clinton Center Bridge: soon to be completed eastern edge of River Trail passing in front of Clinton Center
· The Cycling Community: all sizes, abilities, ages, colors etc.
Jet lag woke us up early the day after we returned from Croatia so we went out for a bike ride at dawn. Incredibly, we saw dozens of people riding, walking and running along the trail. As the day wore on, those dozens turned into hundreds of cyclists: serious cyclists in packs, families out for fun, weekend warriors, recreational enthusiasts, tri-athletes in training. We pick up the 8 foot wide trail a couple of minutes from our house. On the Little Rock side, it parallels the river and goes through a municipal park and golf course where it connects to the BDB. The trail that continues west from the BDB probably marked the start of Little Rock's cycling community. The city originally wanted to build a road to divert traffic from a busy commuter route onto the road along the river. Cyclists stopped it by winning a referendum that prevented the city from spending any money to complete the road for motor vehicles. The city licked its wounds, spent the remaining money to complete the road as a bike path and the rest is history.
Crossing over the BDB, the trail becomes a cyclist's dream. The river is always in view on your right with the path sometimes being right along the shore. The path works its way through the Burns Park Soccer complex and the golf course and along the river just below the "Big Rock" that early navigators spotted from, wait for it..., the little rock downstream. On a good day, we can see along the trail deer, raccoons, blue birds, snakes, foxes and, that most wild beast of all, the bicylists. And we are never more than a 20 minute bike ride from either city's downtown.
While the complete loop on the trail gives a 14 mile ride, taking side routes adds both distance and difficulty. At the western edge of the Little Rock side, you can climb River Mountain, a short (.75 mile) and steep hill (13% grade) or Overlook Road, a slightly longer but even steeper hill (21% grade at its steepest). On the North Little Rock side, you can divert along the flat North Shore/Hooper's Crossing route to add a couple of miles, turn into the soccer fields through its over a mile of wooded trails, turn off the trail for the nearly five mile golf course/baseball field/funland loop full of challenging ups and downs. But the most favorite diversion is Fort Roots: a 1.25 mile climb with three (or 4) switchbacks up to the former VA hospital. The climb is steep at the bottom (17% grade for a short bit) and gradually eases up. Lots of cyclists go up and down Fort Roots every day. The pay off is the view from the top looking across the river at Little Rock's skyline. And if the trail is not enough for you, numerous routes, included a well marked 50 miler, take you out of the city into the surrounding countryside. Going east, it's pancake flat; going west is full of ups and downs with some serious climbs, including one that Lance Armstrong did during a race in the '90's.
While the trail brings cyclists of all abilities together, serious cyclists abound. Central Arkansas is home to Competitive Cyclist, a nationally known top of the line bike shop for the hard core, and Orbea USA, the United States assembly location for Orbea bikes and several neighborhood bike shops including Spokes, our favorite. Weekly time trials in the spring and weekly criteriums in the summer challenge even the most hard core. And Little Rock numerous charity and distance rides with the two best being the Tour de Rock in June and the Big Dam Bridge 100 in September.
So we may travel to cool places for bicycling vacations but we do some of our best cycling right at home. To our new VBT friends, join us for the BDB 100 in September (warning: if you like hills, you will love miles 40-65) or the much flatter Tour de Rock in June or just show up for a weekend ride. We'd love to show off our city and its fine cycling.
