Biking Athens, GA & R.E.M.'s Murmur Trestle

Music history, college football tradition, Civil War history, it's all here. Allow me to be your tour guide for a bike ride on the North Oconee River Greenway, through Dudley Park, and ending up on the Firefly Trail in Athens, Georgia. The star of this show is that beautiful, rugged Georgia Railroad Trestle, the same one featured on the back cover of R.E.M.'s debut album al those years ago. She's still standing and she's more glorious than ever. And now you get to ride your bike over the top! There's much variety and a lot of interesting sights to see on these Athens trails, including the restaurant that served as the inspiration for another R.E.M. album - "Automatic for the People." I wore my Alabama cap and didn't even get hassled by the nice folks in Athens...how about that?!
I explore, review and rate bike trails on this channel...and hopefully find a little joy in the journey. Thanks for watching!
#JoyfulTrails #AthensGA #MurmurTrestle #NorthOconeeRiverGreenway #FireflyTrail

[@janetprincehair4356]

Our trails are so pretty here, thank you for sharing your thoughts and ride with us. You are more than welcome back even tho you are a Bama fan.😀😀😀😀

[@joyfultrails]

Ha! Thank you very much. I thoroughly enjoyed my day in Athens.

[@alannebel2720]

As usual good video. great humor. I'm from Pa, so as long as you leave Penn state alone I'm good. lol

[@joyfultrails]

"We Are! Penn State!" ... There. How's that?! ha ha

[@PFAM5]

This was great! That buzzer needs to be a regular in videos 😂

[@joyfultrails]

Ha! Thanks, bro. I don't know, we'll see. There's a good trail that runs right up to the base of Neyland Stadium in Knoxville. The "taser" will probably return for that one... 😆

[@billysbikesbrews7183]

Very interesting 🚴‍♂️🤔.. Trestle is impressive.. It’s not that far away.. Thank You 🙂💫

[@joyfultrails]

You would enjoy spending a day there. I was pleasantly surprised by the trails. And there’s no shortage of post-ride watering holes 😏

[@benthompson4444]

Hahahaha. Great video!! Hilarious narration!!

[@joyfultrails]

Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for watching.

[@pedrofernandez8729]

Well done amigo. Inspires me to discover trails near me.

[@joyfultrails]

Thank you, sir!

[@katd6580]

This looks like something to look into from TR.. we try to keep within 2 - 2.5 hours away....

[@joyfultrails]

It would be a pretty full day trip from TR. It's hard to say how many miles of trail I covered in this video, because I don't keep a cycling computer running...and the info that you find on the internet seems to vary a lot. I think I'd be safe in saying you can easily cover 20 miles of trail in the Athens area between Oconee River, Dudley Park, Firefly and the section that goes through the cemetery. Oh - and when you get to the Racetrac convenience store, look over across the 4-lane and you'll see that Waffle House. There's a whole other section of trail that begins beside that Waffle House. You can definitely make a full day of it.

[@mountainsmoore3657]

I rode the trail at Sandy Creek last summer while my wife visited with a childhood friend who is a professor at UGA. I wanted to ride more of those trails, but ran out of time.

[@joyfultrails]

It's worth devoting a full day to it. I think so, anyway. I was pleasantly surprised that there was so much there.

[@mountainsmoore3657]

@@joyfultrails I had about an hour to ride, was it. BTW, what part of Bama are you from? We live in the far NE corner.

[@joyfultrails]

@@mountainsmoore3657 I grew up in Eufaula and Phenix City. Also lived in Evergreen for 9 months.

[@mountainsmoore3657]

@@joyfultrails Phoenix City…I had some friends in college that were from that area. But we went to that “other college” so you may have banished them from your memory, even if you did know them! 😂😂😂

[@joyfultrails]

@@mountainsmoore3657 Ha! I actually have a good friend who graduated from Auburn. He lived here in Greenville for a good while … now has moved back to Auburn. These days I sort of have a grudging respect for Auburn. I hate Georgia and Tennessee more! 😆🏈

[@jamesbice6262]

Great video thanks for sharing and Roll Tide

[@joyfultrails]

Roll Tide!

[@stevec.5010]

Who was that music on the front of the ride?

[@grumpyleavemealoneoldman]

that trestle is gone or being removed by now?

[@joyfultrails]

My understanding is that it was at one time scheduled to be demolished by the railroad, but they came up with a plan where they would preserve the middle of the trestle but add new construction to either end, causing it to now be part of the Firefly Trail. The footage you see in this video is from about 2 weeks ago.