Natchez Trace 600K?

[Pedal Wench]

Has anyone ridden much on the Natchez Trace Parkway? I'm thinking about doing a 600K there, and have no idea if it's hilly/flat, boring/gorgeous -- any insight would be appreciated.

Thanks!

[indysteel]

I'm ridden part of it in Tennessee. It was nice, with some rolling hills. I enjoyed it, but I've heard that the southern part of it the Trace is pretty boring, and I have to admit that even the section I rode was pretty monotonous. At least when I rode it (last June on a Sunday morning), there were more cars than bikes, which was nice, and the road surface was smooth. I've read that certain sections have rougher pavement, however.

[marni]

have ridden the part from about 60 miles south of Natchez. Mostly wide open and smooth but with a gradual and insidiously sneaky uphill except of the last 10 miles or so where we got off the trace to go into town which had quite a lot of short not so gentle hills.

Natchez itself has a few hills. The trace is lovely and generally quite wide ohadn the part we rode. The only problem I had was with a couple of big motor homes who insisted that they needed the full width of both lanes and the shoulder and blithely drove me into the grass.

marni

[Pedal Wench]

This 600K starts at Nashville, goes south for 300K (187 miles) and then turns around heads back north, so we'll be mostly on the northern sections. I've heard that it's hillier on that end too.

[Zen]

See what you can find through Adventure Cycling or Women's Tours

[indysteel]

Out of curiosity, I looked at the information about the brevet. One thing I noted is that the stores that are available outside the Trace all close by 9 p.m. I've never done a brevet but wondered if that poses much difficulty.

[Pedal Wench]

I thought that there were water and restrooms available along the Trace, so as long as I have my own drink powder, I'll be okay through the night.

[indysteel]

I thought that there were water and restrooms available along the Trace, so as long as I have my own drink powder, I'll be okay through the night.

I think you're right.

Whatever you decide, good luck and be sure to give us a full ride report. My hat goes off to you ulta-distrance peeps. We don't have any brevets in Indiana; the most I've done is 160 miles is a single day.

[Mr. Bloom]

I'm jealous! I hope you enjoy it.

[sandra]

I live in Mississippi and have traveled the Trace many times. Just a word of warning. Because of the Trace’s narrow lanes, cyclist-vehicle encounters are a bit closer than they are on normal roads. A normal highway road is 24 feet wide, compared to 22 feet on the Trace.

Sadly there have been many deaths of cyclists on the Trace. Be very careful.

[Pedal Wench]

Thanks everyone! The ride is in September - plenty of time for everyone to add it to their schedule! A TE Brevet!

[Jaclyn]

We just did the Louisville KY 600K and it had over 25,000 feet of climbing. We live in flat northwest Ohio, so it was super challenging (even compared to the Ohio brevet series that had hills). Only argument that convinced me to finish was "if we don't do the final 200k now, we'll have to do 600k later."

We rode the entire Natchez Trace two years ago over Christmas holiday. The northern section does have some hills - we found them enjoyable and not overly difficult even on our tandem.

Advantages of the Natchez Trace - very little navigation required (may also be a negative since I find searching for the next turn to keep my attention). Little traffic, few encounters with dogs, pretty if somewhat monotonous scenery. There are restrooms with water and a couple nice campgrounds. I'd feel pretty good about riding in the dark there. And out and backs let you occasionally see a fellow randonneur.

Disadvantages of the Trace - absolutely no services along the road itself. You will encounter dogs on roads to check points.

Let us know what you decide to do. We are thinking of doing the 1,000k which starts on Thursday the day before the 600k.