There never will be anything more interesting in America than that Civil War never. -Gertrude Stein CYCLING SHERMAN’S MARCH

will be 60 soon. I’ve been touring but understood. since I was 16. And yet if you sur- One of the finest ways to do this is to fol- prised me with the question “What’s low the historic path of U.S. Army General your single sweetest in-the-saddle William Tecumseh Sherman, the brilliant Imemory?” I could answer without hesita- and brutal Civil War hero who helped lead tion. It was a chilly, quiet Sunday morn- the Union to victory over the Confederacy. ing back in the spring of 1984, riding Riding with Sherman across the South Chattanooga’s Missionary Ridge amidst is like pedaling a four-part play — first, the fragrances of wood smoke and hon- the horrible battles around Chattanooga, eysuckle. Somebody’s going to bottle that ; next, the tough-to-understand someday and make a fortune. series of battles and flanking movements Of course it wasn’t just that the place made on the road to Atlanta, the siege of smelled great, or that it was the first-hour- that city, and its ultimate capture; third, of-a-tour time in lovely weather and a the famed “March to the Sea” from Atlanta place far from home. No, I think instead to Savannah; and finally that war-ending it was the emotional mix of natural beauty piece I’ve not yet pedaled but plan to soon (the gorgeous lushness of the South, espe- — Sherman’s smash-up, war-ending route cially if encountered after a winter up north through the Carolinas and Virginia north), of its sad pull-at-the-heartstrings to Washington, DC. Ride this route with history (evidence of “the War of Northern your eyes and ears open, and with some of Aggression” is everywhere down there, the books I suggest in your bags, and you’ll something I’d learned when living for a know the final, terrible 18 months of the year in Georgia during my army days), Civil War as do relatively few Americans. and my eager anticipation of talking with And just as important, you’ll understand scores of Southerners during the upcom- today’s South. ing ride to Atlanta and Savannah. As my It was to Chattanooga that the routed observant, philosophy-major riding buddy Union Army retreated after its defeat Daryl Schueller remarked near the end of at nearby Chickamauga in September of that tour, “It ain’t only their voices that 1863, the year of major Northern victo- are different.” ries at Gettysburg and Vicksburg. (We’ll One can have a satisfying tour in many be pedaling Chickamauga — that now- sections of our nation by simply looking beautiful, then-horrendous killing field — at the countryside over the handlebars, shortly, but starting in Chattanooga keeps day after day. Like our very best friends, you from having to ride the urban miles however, the South must not only be seen twice.) Casualties on both sides were mas-

History turned to stone. A cyclist walks through Madison Square in Savannah, Georgia, the former site of General Sherman’s headquarters. Story and photos by Dennis Coello sive — 16,000 dead and wounded Union century-old Walnut Street Bridge that troops, 18,000 Confederate losses — and was slated for destruction but saved by a 7^XnXa^c\Idjgh had General Braxton Bragg, the South’s citizens group that raised the money for commanding officer, been more aggressive restoration. Now that the cars are gone, in the days thereafter (as some of his junior people can enjoy the longest pedestrian [dgHZc^dgh*% officers suggested) the Union troops likely bridge in the world. would have had to retreat farther north Missionary Ridge and Lookout into middle Tennessee. Mountain in the distance both loom into Instead, the Union forces had time view as you ride near the river. With the to fortify their positions, and President right maps or just some friendly advice Lincoln sent in General Grant to save the from the locals, you can work your way up town (vital for its railroad and its posi- to Missionary Ridge from downtown and tion on the ) and plan pedal its length past gun emplacements an attack up and over the lofty heights of and explanatory historic markers. You’ll

Missionary Ridge and Lookout Mountain. be cresting the tough geography that the >C8 Grant in turn brought in his erratic, cigar- Union troops traversed under awful fire p o k e s n s s o chewing, red-haired friend Sherman, about and riding the narrow ridge that Rebel o l d f o l k whom one war correspondent wrote: “He troops were defending. I wish you a lovely walked, talked or laughed all over. He morning of little traffic and lots of bird- www.seniorcycling.com perspired thought at every pore … with song, for mother nature and the pleasure Erie Canal - C&O Canal a mood that shifted like a barometer in a of cycling is required to lift the spirits Katy - Lake Champlain tropic sea.” after thinking about so much death. One Florida Keys - Florida Another reporter telegraphed to his edi- can choose not to think about the Civil Amish Country - Allegheny Passage tors, “All his features express determina- War, I suppose, though that’s tough to do [email protected] tion … the concentrated quintessence of in Dixie. And again, just as with friends, 540-668-6307 Yankeedom … He believes in hard war.” there’s no understanding a people if you What he and Grant both believed was don’t know their history. that the road to victory lay in the con- Okay, time to drop down from ridge stant application of the North’s larger height to cross Chattanooga Creek and and better-supplied military against all the begin your climb up Lookout Mountain. South’s forces, all of the time. That, and The creek is at the city’s elevation — 685 total war — whatever was required to stop feet; the top of Lookout Mountain, where the flow of war material from the Deep Under the parapet. A cyclist grabs a musket from her pannier atop Lookout Mountain in Tennessee. you are headed (as were the attacking South to its armies in the field. Thus the Union troops in November of 1863 in successful late-November outbreak from hub and manufacturing base of the entire three different occasions in the past year; what has been termed the “Battle Above Chattanooga south into Georgia would Confederacy. it’s a far different place for us cyclists than the Clouds”), is a whopping 2,393 feet. lead the following spring (once dirt roads But we’re getting too far ahead in the it was back in 1984. There is a 13-mile- Don’t scoff at these elevations, you higher- dried sufficiently to support a 100,000-man story, for first comes some enjoyable riding long Tennessee Riverwalk to ride, with living Westerners. Pumping full panniers army and cavalry and some 254 cannons) in Chattanooga, a place Bicycling magazine inventive and fun-to-negotiate links to the up 1,700 feet of sometimes-steep terrain to the Atlanta Campaign. Atlanta, by named as one of its top 21 cycling cities. huge art museum and nearby downtown isn’t a piece of cake. Well, unless you com- that point in the war, was the major rail I’ve had the pleasure of riding there on streets, plus the option of crossing the pare it to getting up here on foot through a hail of rifle and cannon fire. Know before you go that there are actually a number of routes up Lookout Mountain. I’ve thus far been up three paved approaches plus one great moun- tain-bike climb (the Guild/Hardy Trail, which requires only a bit of pavement riding to reach Point Park at the northern tip and the national park’s small visitor center) and still I haven’t covered them all. Tourist traffic on the narrow, twisting two-lane scenic highway (past famed ) can be tough on summer days and on any weekend throughout the year, so if

12 a d v e n t u r e c y c l i s t j u n e 2008 adventurecycling . o r g a d v e n t u r e c y c l i s t j u n e 2008 adventurecycling . o r g 13 you’re a roadie-only hit it early. It’s a fast Designed to reduce run-off-road accidents, state bike route isn’t signed (except for strips but that the upcoming 2008 map and fun climb that offers fantastic views they unfortunately run us cyclists off the those two I’d spotted) — and won’t be — “… will indicate shoulder widths of four from the top, a host of loop rides along shoulder and onto the road when the because there is “… a new state bicycle feet and greater with the understanding the appropriately named West and East rumble strips stretch clear across the path map due out this summer which will that anything narrower than that would be Brow Roads and, just an hour’s ride to the we’d otherwise happily be on. Where the replace the 2002 map and cue sheets.” rendered unrideable if it has rumble strips south, Cloudland Canyon State Park. strips end a few inches from where the (Until then, the link to the pdf listed in on them.” I also received photos of the new Score a campsite there and you’ll sleep grass or dirt appears (at the far right side “Nuts & Bolts” section, still works.) bike-friendly rumble-strip design which, cool even in summer, marvel at the views of the shoulder) we at least can pedal that She also explained that the state does thankfully, covers a much smaller width of down-canyon when awake, and have a narrow space, though this is where debris not at present have location data on rumble highway shoulders. It’s real progress. perfect place from which to pedal into often collects. Still, that’s better than when Chattanooga (only 20 miles distant) or the strips force us to ride at or even over to Chickamauga in the other direction. the white line, for then we’re not only in You’re going to need a day to figure out the way of passing traffic, we’re also anger- north Georgia’s involved geography and ing motorists who can’t understand why 31st Annual Enchanted Circle Century Bike Tour & Expo plan your own Atlanta attack. Sherman on earth we’re not pedaling on the wide Saturday, September 6, 2008 and his able fellow generals had wet roads shoulder! l Begins in Red River, 8 a.m. Saturday morning in front of Town Hall. and the wily Confederate tactician General While in Atlanta, I tried to visit the l 5 rest stops, 4 sag wagons and EMS driving the circle. Joseph E. Johnston and his roughly 65,000 Georgia Department of Transportation l Starting elevation is 8,750 ft, lowest point 7,000 ft and the highest 9,820 ft on Bobcat Pass. l troops facing them. You’ve got wonderful offices to inquire about this, but wasn’t 25-, 50-mile loop, and a 100-mile tour. l Scenic, high altitude alpine ride. scenery awaiting, muscle-building hills, allowed past the high gates and armed l Takes you through historic Taos, and alongside two of New Mexico’s state parks - battle sites — and battalions of traffic if guards. (I kid you not.) One of the guards The Vietnam Memorial & Eagle Nest Lake, and up on Palo Flechado Pass & Bobcat Pass. you choose the most historic route. made a call inside, then kindly wrote a 20th Annual Top of the World Mountain Bike Race But first comes some very pleasant, and The Confederacy lives. A man in Savannah, Georgia wears his Confederate cap with pride. phone number on a napkin (again, I’m not Sunday, September 7, 2008 poignant, hours at Chickamauga. Getting kidding). I found a phone and, three addi- l Begins at 10 a.m. Sunday morning at the Enchanted Forest XC Ski Area. there, however, can be a chore. On my You’ll pass Mocha Joe’s coffeehouse on — the dreaded rumble strips appear. tional numbers later, I still had located no l 5.5 mile loop, NORBA sanctioned. last trip I discovered a bike route on the your way south out of town and soon will You know these teeth-chatterers, the one who could answer my questions about l The number of laps is based on level of experience. l main drag through St. Elmo (a tiny, nar- cross the Georgia border and onto GA grooves cut horizontally into the shoulder rumble strips or tell me anything about Expect some serious climbs, sharp turns and finish it off coming down “Face Flop Drop”. row valley community east of Lookout 193. The valley opens and the shoulder pavement to warn (or awaken) drifting the “March to the Sea State Bicycle Route To register, go to www.active.com or call the Red River Chamber of Commerce at (800) 348-6444 Mountain), along the two-lane TN 17. widens and all seems fine until — yikes! motorists as their tires rumble over them. 35 — Tennessee to Savannah” sign I’d These events are endorsed by the New Mexico Sports Authority

spotted a few days earlier. (I was mystified For lodging or visitor information call 1-877-754-1708 or visit www.redriverinfo.org by its appearance, for I hadn’t noticed it Nuts & Bolts: Sherman’s March during my first two recent trips of day- and two-day rides, and because, for all my look- When to ride Spring or fall, It will weave between Horn the park. Or you can call up Memoirs (Volume II) by William ing on the third trip, when I had the help of Are you ready for a REAL Challenge? for both seasons’ lovely colors and Mill Creek Mountains to the map in only a few clicks Tecumseh Sherman. my longtime riding partner Sandy Nieweg and to avoid the muggy sum- reunite with the Bicycle Route via www.nps.gov. A U.S. map Cycling through Georgia: once again, we found only two signs along mer heat. The lowland sec- 35 cue sheet route south of appears; tap on the state of Tracing Sherman’s March from the entire 450-mile route!) tions of the trail (closer to the Mount Vernon. You’d have to Georgia, then on Chickamauga Chickamauga to Savannah by Thankfully, Jerry Colley, CEO of coast) can be pleasant even in do an out-and-back from GA and Chattanooga, and next on Sue & William Bailey. (The only Bicycle Ride Across Georgia (BRAG), presents some winter months. 136 to see the Confederate Maps. copy I’ve been able to find was had given me his cell-phone number in Bike-trail information March Cemetery in Resaca. Books Chattanooga – A Death published in 1989 and some of an email exchange we’d had before my to the Sea State Bicycle Route Maps A Guide to the Atlanta Grip on the Confederacy by the suggested roads are now final research trip, and when I called him 35 – Tennessee to Savannah Campaign is available for James Lee McDonough. too busy for comfort, but the in desperation he saved the day by pro- – wwwb.dot.state.ga.us/dot/ purchase at the national park Sherman’s March by Burke Baileys’ notes on what to see viding me with the contact information October 18-23, 2008 Benefitting plan-prog/plan ning/projects/ battlefields and in some book- Davis. along the way are fun to read for Georgia’s State Bicycle and Pedestrian Your participation in the Tour du Rouge bicycle/maps/route_descrip- stores. The Battle of Atlanta and the and still valuable. Coordinator Amy Goodwin. I failed to Tour Details supports American Red Cross Chapters tion/sbr_35_march_2sea.pdf. Riding in Chattanooga and Georgia Campaign by William Road Bike North Georgia by • 538 miles total, average of 90 miles a day along the Gulf Coast from reach her when I called from Atlanta but • Rest stops every 20-25 miles Houston to New Orleans. If you choose to avoid the climbing Missionary Ridge Key. Jim Parham. I emailed her when I returned home, after • Breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks provided • Evening entertainmnet and educational content busier (but far more his- and Lookout Mountain can be To the Sea by Jim Miles 25 Bicycle Tours in Savannah I’d joyfully discovered (through a simple • Double occupancy otel accommodations provided Rider Requirements toric) northern route through confusing, but it’s made much Confederates in the Attic by and the Carolina Low Country Google search of the entire Bicycle Route • “Shelter” experience in Creole • Fully sagged • Nonrefundable registration fee $100 Ringgold and Tunnel Hill, head simpler by the excellent map Tony Horwitz. by Jane & Buddy Kahn. 35) that the full “Tennessee to Savannah” • Mechanical and first aid support • Fundrasing requirement $2500 • Bus trip back to Houston • Personal fundraising website provided south out of Chickamauga on the free “Chickamauga and Marching through Georgia: My bike route is available online as a PDF in • Bicycle transport back to Houston • Fundraising support and guidance provided Battlefield and follow US 27 Chattanooga National Military Walk along Sherman’s Route cue-sheet format. For F orr aadditionalddiittiionall informationiinfforrmattiion gogo totto www.tourdurouge.org w ww..ttourrdurrouge..orrg ororr contactconttactt to GA 95, to GA 151, to GA 136. Park” brochure available at by Jerry Ellis. Amy, a knowledgeable and helpful DDory orry CCaytenaytten aattt [email protected] [email protected] ororr 713-313-16687 13--313--1668 woman, kindly replied at length that the

14 a d v e n t u r e c y c l i s t j u n e 2008 adventurecycling . o r g a d v e n t u r e c y c l i s t j u n e 2008 adventurecycling . o r g 15 So there you have it — a wonderful six- Battlefield, you’ll remember, when those last route, but in all candor, if I had but one page turn-by-turn cue sheet for your entire blasted rumble strips knocked us off chance to pedal the Peach State, I’d stick route but thus far no listing of which course. You’ll need some hours to see the with the other path for its history. highway shoulders are rumbled so that movie and museum at the visitor center The Confederate General Johnston we can avoid them when planning a ride. and to ride the lovely miles past some repeatedly used his smaller forces to pre- Fortunately, the cue sheets most often 1,400 (!) monuments and historic mark- vent Sherman’s army to move through suggest the kinds of lesser-traveled roads ers. Then you’ll have to choose between north Georgia’s narrow mountain gaps. which, when they do have shoulders, are following the actual historic route taken Sherman, with his larger army, again and seldom stripped. by Sherman, the route taken by Daryl and again flanked Johnston out of these posi- Georgia’s cue sheets also exclude the me 120 years later, and by all who make tions, making him fall back time and again Chattanooga area entirely, which is perhaps their way via Georgia’s cue sheets through toward Atlanta. Evidence of these clashes understandable since that city lies just out the towns of Ringgold and Tunnel Hill lie everywhere, in town monuments, on of state. But in addition to the great cycling — or heading due south out of the battle- state historic signs, and in sad Confederate missed by avoiding Missionary Ridge and field to see the neat old historic town of cemeteries (like the one in Resaca). In Adairsville you can visit the very train He walked, talked, or laughed all over. He per- depot that was shelled by Union cannon; at Allatoona Pass you’ll climb a steep spired thought at every pore … with a mood that hillside to stand inside the still-visible earth entrenchments that made up the Red-clay roads and cotton fields. Riding the path of Sherman’s March will help cyclists get a feel for the real Deep South. shifted like a barometer in a tropic sea. quarter-football-field–sized Union “fort.” Amazingly, 5,300 men fought in this tiny Mountain National Battlefield Park. Again, lines. The North lost 3,000 men, the city ringed by such an elaborate set of Lookout Mountain, it’s tough to under- Chickamauga, followed by a few hours hilltop hell-hole. Casualties totaled 1,505. a weekend morning would be best, but South 800. Sherman returned to flanking defenses that in the resulting seven-week stand the entire campaign if these places of lovely ridge-and-valley riding through Bullet holes can still be seen in the nearby that’s tough to manage on a tour. Sherman tactics and Johnston retreated carefully siege (while Atlanta was bombarded daily) aren’t included. (Because of Georgia’s the piney Chattahoochee National Forest house that served as a field hospital. The uncharacteristically avoided his usual again, now out of the low, steep mountains not a single bluecoat breached the line. But detailed directions for the remainder of the before you reconnect with the cue-sheet memories remain. flanking actions and, in late June, flung his into Georgia’s Piedmont of red-clay rolling Johnston was relieved of command after route I’ve used far more space on the “Act route farther south (see “Nuts & Bolts” Speaking of casualties, be very careful troops against Johnston’s main Kennesaw hills. He was ever closer to Atlanta — a the Kennesaw retreat and the less-cautious I” of Chattanooga that they fail to cover.) for the highway numbers of this alternate that you don’t become one when riding We were heading to Chickamauga path). Sandy and I thoroughly enjoyed this toward the not-to-be-missed Kennesaw Don’t miss some of the most beautiful scenery in BREATHTAKING America. A South Dakota bike tour will take your breath away...

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16 a d v e n t u r e c y c l i s t j u n e 2008 adventurecycling . o r g a d v e n t u r e c y c l i s t j u n e 2008 adventurecycling . o r g 17 Stone Mountain (don’t miss the massive grandpappy” distant. as well, for that surrender preserved the carvings in this “largest single block of “Georgia has a million of inhabitants,” wartime homes and gorgeous “squares” granite in the world”) and begin your Sherman declared before he burned the of huge live oaks, bright azaleas, and of winding path through today’s fun-to-visit business bits of Atlanta and started off course the Spanish moss that by itself tells towns of Conyers, Rutledge, Madison, east in mid-November. “If they can live, we us we’re in that unforgettable land of grits- Eatonton, Milledgeville, Sandersville, should not starve.” and-honey. Louisville, Millen, Rocky Ford, Statesboro, Savannah — Sherman’s Atlantic Ocean and dozens more you will feel and smell goal, and yours — was abandoned by Dennis Coello will continue his journey along the transition from red clay to fertile the overwhelmed Confederate army on Sherman’s route up to Washington, DC. lowlands — and hear tales of Sherman’s December 20, 1864. The town escaped You can read that story in a future issue of passage from waitresses and fellow cyclists attack by surrendering itself the very next Adventure Cyclist. More about Dennis can and from men sunning themselves on day. Sherman telegraphed Lincoln “I beg be found at www.denniscoello.com. city park benches. Their ancestors were to present to you as a Christmas gift the around in 1864, a time only one “great- city of Savannah …” It’s a gift to us today,

Fortunately for her, the battles are over. Sandy Nieweg pedals through Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park in Georgia.

General John Bell Hood was put in his Comparative losses today, given our pres- you’re near the shop (it’s on Peachtree place. In repeated, disastrous attacks he ent population being 10 times that of Road, of course) and he or Mike will give lost some 13,000 men. 1865, would be 6,000,000 dead.) you a tip or two on staying alive as you The withering Confederacy could not There’s no better way to experience traverse this capitol city of the New South. replace them. On September 1, the last the Battle of Atlanta — the terrible siege The state’s population has nearly doubled railroad supply line into the city was and its daily cannonade — than to visit since my 1984 tour. cut. Hood had no choice but to aban- the cyclorama in Atlanta’s Grant Park, Sherman had assured President don Atlanta. The Atlanta Campaign was a colorful, detailed painting-in-the-round, Lincoln’s re-election that fall — and thus then complete, with total casualties of 358 feet in length and 42 feet high. It will no compromise with the South to end the some 35,000 Union troops and 31,000 take you a day of pedaling side streets and war — by taking Atlanta. Now he planned Confederate. (The numbers are shocking, all your urban-jungle riding skills to make to destroy the Southern people’s will to but even more so when compared to the it into town safely. James Brookshire, of resist by marching 60,000 of his hardened total population of the day, North and the splendid Peachtree Bikes, rides in from soldiers in a 60-mile swath across Georgia South, of only 30 million. An estimated Marietta (a very pretty town you’ll hit unsupported by rail or other supply lines. 608,000 soldiers perished during the war, after Kennesaw) every day without getting The men would “forage liberally,” as his a full two-thirds of them from disease. killed. But then he’s a local. Stop in when orders stated, and as you ride east past

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