The following column was published by the Huntsville Times on March 21 , 2010. No part may be republished without the permission of the publisher. The title has been changed to the original submission title.
Have you experienced North Alabama? I didn't ask if you have seen North Alabama. The question was, have you experienced it? When you experience something, you do it with all of your senses. You can see North Alabama from a car but you'll miss many of the wonderful details. You can see something on your television; hear it as well. But you cannot experience a place from inside your house or from a moving metal box.
Experiencing a place involves feeling the wind on your face, sensing the temperature, smelling the flowers in the spring or feeling your temperature rise as you exert yourself climbing. My preferred method of experiencing North Alabama is from the seat of a bicycle. Yes, I'm one of those grown men wearing spandex. Before I go on, I'll answer some of the standard questions male bicycle riders get.
Yes, I do like women and I've been married over 30 years. I walk funny because there are cleats on my shoes, not because of embarrassing chafing. No, the seat is not nearly as uncomfortable as it looks. No, I'm not riding a bicycle because I lost my license.
North Alabama has been blessed with great beauty. For example, we have one of the country's great rivers. As you ride over the Tennessee River on the Natchez Trace you can feel the temperature drop and smell the water. If you stop at Colbert's Landing, you can ride down to the river and hear the water lap against the bank. Further up the Trace, your bicycle may silently come upon grazing deer or wild turkeys crossing the road. They won't be visible from your car, because they run from engine noise.
On Lauderdale County Road 8, east of the Trace you'll glide by Tom Hendrix's wall. If you are in a car, you might drive by, never knowing that you have just passed the largest un-mortared stone wall in the USA. If you see Tom there, he'll tell you that the wall is a memorial to his great-great-grandmother, who walked back to Alabama from Oklahoma after surviving the Trail of Tears.
If you take a winter bicycle ride up Bankhead Parkway to Monte Sano State Park in Huntsville, you'll feel the mountain through your legs as the grade increases and decreases. You'll feel the temperature drop noticeably as you climb, even while your body temperature rises from the effort. If you turn your head to the side, you may see small frozen waterfalls. Maybe you would see this from your car but you wouldn't see the detail or feel the chill while passing these ice formations.
If you really want to feel the mountains of North Alabama, climb Green or Keel Mountain.
With grades of up to 19 percent, you will appreciate the steepness as you struggle against gravity and your falling momentum.You can reward yourself by flying down the slope at up to 50 miles per hour, carving the curves in a way that a car can only envy.
Or you can simply ride. North Alabama has thousands of miles of good (and not so good) country roads where you can follow a stream, appreciate this year's cotton, see a new neighborhood sprout up from nothing or simply enjoy the sunshine and breeze.
If you are nervous about riding on the road, you can experience North Alabama on bicycle trails. The family biking trail in Monte Sano Park is a good start. The trail is a roller coaster on the top of the mountain that will have you appreciating the many plants that grow on the mountain, while perhaps you curse the rocks and roots you cross.
Not up to trying the trails, but nervous about cars? Try the area greenways. My favorite is the Aldridge Creek Greenway, a 3.5-mile paved path from Mountain Gap Road to Ditto's Landing. Enjoy following the stream and be sure to stop at the marina to see the boats. Bring all your senses into play and experience North Alabama by riding a bike.
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