50 Mile Stone Mountain To Centenial Park & Back

We will begin promptly at 11:00am from Stone Mountain at the parking lot near Confederate Hall (near the trail to summit the mountain).  To start the ride we will make a loop around Stone Mountain and pick up the path trail after almost making a complete loop around.  We will take the Path Trail outside of the park and parrallel Ponce De Leon heading toward Centenial Park.  This is 95% on the Path Trail.  For the majority of the time you do not need to contend with cars.  That said, you will have some sections (mainly near Centenial Park) that you will be on the road.  These are typically not very crowded on the weekend.  This is NOT the Silver Commet.  Additionally there are many intersections which the Path Trail intersects the road. 

We will pickup another PATH Trail to make a short side trip to Piedmont Park.  IF it is a nice day, this trail will be BUSY.  Once we make the side trip to Piedmont Park (with a break for lunch). We will return to the previous segment and proceed to Atlanta.  In the city we will be on the roads, however with the weekend they are not overly busy and I have never had any issue in the past.  Once at Centenial Park we will take a 15 minute break and then proceed back to the cars.  We will take the PATH trail all the way back to Stone Mountin (No side trip to Piedmont Park) and do another loop around Stone Mountain.  The pace is ~10mph, however with a group we tend to get a slower pace. Additionally with the intersections there are many short rests stops on the way.  There is no significant elevation changes with the largest hills offering only ~250ft of elevation change. 

This ride is not limited to only carbon fiber road bikes.  If you can keep something that resembles a 10mph pace on a mountain bike made of lead; more power to you.  Unlike the Marines, I WILL leave a man behind if you are entirely unfit to maintain something that resembles the pace outlined. 

Once inside the park (Stone Mountain) use the ring road to proceed to Confederate Hall.  There is a parking lot and a bathroom near the trail to hike up the mountain.  We will meet near the bathroom.  I greatly question if you should attend (or driving at all) if you can not navigate to Stone Mountain.  Additionally as an option you can look out the windshield and look for a big hill.  You have a 50/50 chance of it being Stone Mountain.  If it is tree lined you are over in Kennesaw; if it is granite you are in the right place.

You can call me for additional assistance arriving at the meeting point, however expect to be made fun of for not being able to find the parking lot; The GPS coordinates are given!

IF IT IS A NICE DAY, THE MAIN PARKING LOT WILL BE PACKED.  IF THERE IS A SIGN SAYING THE LOT IS FILLED HEAD OVER TO IT ANYWAYS BECAUSE PEOPLE CONSTANTLY ARE COMING AND GOING.