Elements of a ride

To journey on a bike is reminiscent of being a child, wandering through south Nashville suburbs. As an adolescent peddler, we found trails, rivers, forest and urban-blocks with video games and soda's.
Not much has changed today, except that; at times I have to drive to get to my pre-determined destination, where I will then get out and change my clothes and hop on the bike. Suffice to say, I prefer to pedal from the house, with no real destination in mind. And, its even better when I can hit some trails along the way.
The last few nights, I've done just that. With somewhere around 600-forested-acres south of the river, there's a few trails etched out across the rocky terrain. Last night we rode from Bearden, through downtown and back onto the greenway at Island Homes neighborhood. From there, we pedaled through Ijams Nature Preserve and into Meade's Quarry, where we climbed to the top of the ridge. The views were inspiring and the descent was "Pisgah-esque."
The Forks of the River/ Eastern States was the next portion of the loop, made-up of big-ridge singletrack, logging-roads and greenway, its a pedaling paradise.
As the sun disappeared from view, the sky darkened as we rolled under the city-lights of downtown, and onto the porch of the busy Downtown Grill and Brewery. Pizza and beer was exactly the fuel I needed to make the final push through Third Creek greenway and back to Bearden.