Ride the Districts: What It’s Like to Ride in Davidson County
Hi, MiddleTNCyclists!
I have completed my Ride the Districts project in response to the preliminary metro council budget for 2024. I really had no idea how the video portion of this project would come together. Initially, I thought I would do a recap of all the routes that I did, but after riding like 300 miles and shooting every minute on my GoPro, I’ve decided that that would take way too much time to filter through everything and get into the details for each ride and District. And then, I ran into editing conundrums. I have over 300 GB of video from all these rides. It’s a lot.
I also ran into weather problems the week I planned on doing this, a sick cat, starting a new job, and getting busy leading up to GoshDarn — ce la vie. So, I’ve put clips together and decided that a “10 Things You Experience Riding a Bike in Davidson County” is the best format for getting this information out there! I apologize it’s taken so long.
A side note: at a recent event I attended, Mayor O’Connell said Metro had committed more money to Vision Zero projects than ever before. That wasn’t the case in the proposed budget for 2024 & 25. He may have been referencing the commitment for 2023 & 24, but I’m not sure. He left the event before I could ask and clarify! Either way, hopefully, this can bring some attention to the need for better infrastructure.
Links:
- Metro Council Maps
- Citizens’ Guide to the Metro Budget
- Davidson County TDOT Road Map
- Strava Heatmaps
Route Info:
| Route | Date | Distance (miles) | Elevation (ft) | Avg Speed (mph) | Moving Time (hr:min.sec) | MyCarCount | Strava |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3/2/24 | 40.0 | 2,385 | 15.0 | 2:40.26 | ??? | Link |
| 2 | 3/3/24 | 61.6 | 3,466 | 17.0 | 3:37.37 | 435 – Link | Link |
| 3 | 3/6/24 | 70.0 | 4,344 | 16.1 | 4:21.12 | 117 – Link | Link |
| 4 | 3/7/24 | 58.9 | 3,518 | 16.9 | 3:29.27 | 204 – Link | Link |
| 5.1 | 3/17/24 | 19.4 | 1,236 | 16.6 | 1:10.11 | 19 – Link | Link |
| 5.2 | 3/17/24 | 19.4 | 1,496 | 17.2 | 1:07.24 | 118 – Link | Link |
| 5.3 | 3/17/24 | 22.9 | 1,227 | 17.5 | 1:18.42 | 241 – Link | Link |
Before doing this project, I purchased the Garmin Varia RCT715. I highly recommend any Varia or radar device while cycling. In conjunction with MyBikeTraffic.com, you can see how many cars passed by (overtook) me on any given ride. This report will also include some footage from the Varia camera.
Route 5 was originally going to be one big 80-miler day through the Southeastern part of Davidson County and covering the most districts. But after looking at the roads closely and knowing a bit about them, it made the most sense to break it up into three smaller routes. Why? I’m comfortable riding in traffic, if you couldn’t tell from my previous routes. I don’t love it, and I certainly don’t suggest that people do it. But still, there were some roads through these areas that I simply wasn’t willing to ride in order to string these parts of the routes together. From what I checked, I think I missed Districts 8, 28, & 32.
Here is a map with all of the routes laid out together:
Alright. So, let’s get into the overall experience….
10 Things You Experience Riding a Bike in Davidson County
1: Bike Lanes You Don’t Wanna Ride On
The implicit goal of bike lanes is to provide people with another important transportation option. To succeed at this goal, bike lanes must also be inviting and encourage confidence in people with a minimal skill level and experience—especially when most people are going to and from work. Additionally, they must have a viable network of connectivity for the very same reason. Most of Davidson County’s largest and longest bike routes run on TDOT roads, which are truly challenging and can be quite dangerous. Riding on these bike lanes legitimately feels like this meme:
For this project, I rode on bike lanes on Ashland City Hwy, Old Hickory Blvd, Lebanon Pike, Nolensville Pike, Charlotte Pike, Gallatin Pike, Highway 100, Highway 70 South, Bell Road, and a whole lot more. Parts of Lebanon Rd just got an upgrade, but there are still parts that you wouldn’t want to bike on.
And just about all of them sucked. I don’t blame anyone for never wanting to ride on these roads. They were largely unprotected from vehicles traveling at high rates of speed. And they were also often guilty of the next few things…
2: Dirty and Obstructed Bike lanes.
The vast majority of the bike lanes, even beyond our major cycling highways, that I rode were completely filled with road debris, glass, small stones, yadda yadda yadda. They were also filled with parked cars, construction fencing, and signs — you name it! It was pretty ridiculous at times.
Among many of the ones I previously listed, I found other filthy bike lanes on Korean Veterans Bridge, Eulala Dr, Tusculum Lane, and Myatt Drive:
FYI: I did finally get a response from NDOT on the protected bike lane sweeper, Demombroomin’s schedule. Check that info out here.
Let’s look at some parked cars in bike lanes along Murphy Road, Highway 100, Demonbreun Street, Belmont Blvd; and this parking lot festival in East Nashville also prompted twenty cars to park in the bike lane on one side of the street alone. It looked like there were even more on the other side:
And it’s always important to watch for Construction encroaching into the bike lane, which always seems to be happening in the Gulch, Germantown, and in a neighborhood near you! There’s always plenty of other construction debris causing problems for cyclists beyond just bike lanes, too.
3: How have I not talked about safety yet?
Well, I kind of have. Obviously, unprotected bike lanes on state highways and dirty, obstructed bike lanes pose safety threats to cyclists. Davidson County also features a lot of posted “bike routes” that merely boast painted bike icons and small roadside signs. These and the aforementioned failures really offer zero protection to cyclists. Again, roughly 1,250 cars passed me throughout the entirety of these rides. If any of these drivers were not paying attention, they could have easily swerved or drifted into the path I was riding, and I could have been severely injured or killed. People will not be galvanized to adopt cycling as a regular mode of transportation if they are not provided routes that are truly safe and convenient. So, I will say it: paint is not protection.
I completely understand the expenses of building dedicated bike lanes and the challenges of balancing capital projects and a spending plan for an entire metropolitan county. I also appreciate the fact that Nashville already has a fairly good network of greenways (albeit horribly fragmented), which I plan to elaborate on in greater detail. Yet, we must do better. Paint is not protection.
Please see my open letter to Metro Council regarding the proposed Council Budget. In it, I highlight a study on cycling’s impact on “orientation towards the common good” and how the benefits of cycling infrastructure can outweigh the impact of others.
And considering that cyclists are largely unprotected, thank goodness for:
4: There are good drivers.
Nashville drivers get a bad rap, and I get it. But there are good drivers, and I thank all of them! Most drivers give me a wide berth when passing me, and many are generally happy to see me. Below, I highlight a few drivers who did the right thing:
5: Bad Apples (Drivers) Spoil the Bunch
Oh yeah, we have our fair share of these, too. When a driver endangers and harms a cyclist, it nullifies the good actions of every driver who respects and gives space to cyclists on the road. Unfortunately, one bad apple spoils the bunch. I combined the rear-Varia footage below with forward-Go Pro footage to highlight some of the times I found bad drivers during these rides.
Ironically, a driver passed me closely next to a traffic calming sign in Hillwood, and there were additional close passes, drivers sitting in the bike lanes, and drivers blindly turning through stopped traffic. Last but not least, a young man threw a Sharpie at me. I’ve alerted the police, but they seem to literally not care and claim that they cannot read this license plate. They have been entirely inadequate in their investigation.
My question is, this young man clearly saw me and reached for whatever he could find to throw at me. What if he had something much heavier and more damaging within his reach? I could have been severely injured, or the impact could have caused me to crash off the road or into oncoming traffic.
He made it evident that he did not want me riding my bike on Shute Ln. That said, earlier, I talked about how it’s important for the Bike paths to be a viable network, which brings us to…
6: Disjointed and Incomplete Infrastructure.
Hoooooly cow. The number of bike lanes that simply just end and pop up in the middle of nowhere. From the get-go, the pedestrian bridge just dumping into 3rd has always been one of my favorites. But there’s more than I can count. Some other examples:
- South Street just deadends into 8th Ave S
- This good bike lane on San Marcos Drive just ends, too
- The Bike lane on Ocala just ends at Wessex
- There appear to be plans to build a bike lane on South 14th Street, but you can see it just getting thinner and then disappearing.
- The Lebanon Pike bike lane first loses the bollard barrier, then disappears altogether.
Again, regular cyclists know about these all throughout the city. They are everywhere. But that said, there are…
7: Good Bikes Lanes
Some people may have differing opinions than I do, but when they’re clean, and I emphasize when they’re clean, there are some good bike lanes in Nashville:
- Riverside Drive is a strong North/South artery through East Nashville
- Davidson Street does a good job of connecting downtown to the Greenway network, starting in Shelby Bottoms
- 46 Avenue North in Sylvan Park does a great job connecting a lot of the neighborhood together and features traffic calming measures
- 10th Ave S is a quiet option parallel with the 12 South neighborhood
- And the latest project on 12th Ave South takes cyclists safely from the north part of that neighborhood down to the Gulch, with separated and protected bike lanes and bioswales. But as you can see in the video, you still have to be mindful of traffic.
8: Hills are Unavoidable
Davidson County and Middle TN may not have the greater hills and mountains that Chattanooga and Knoxville have, but it is by no means flat in our area. By and large, cyclists have a love/hate relationship with climbs. Many of us relish the challenge, but many also do everything we can to avoid them. While the biggest climbs around Nashville are outside the city center, you can certainly find some in neighborhoods like Blackpool Drive in Cane Ridge, Bay Cove Trail in Bellevue, and Chickering Ln in Forest Hills.
Some of my favorite climbs in the countryside include Hunter Beasley Road, Grays Point Road in Joelton, and Tinnin Road in Goodlettsville. (I hope to do a longer, more in-depth “Hills” video series soon, too — stay tuned.)
But climbing hills also means going downhill! Some, like Lower Walkers Creek Road in Goodlettsville, Poplar Creek Road, and Little Marrowbone Road, can be an absolute blast.
No matter what, you’re almost always going up or down in Davidson County.
9: Great Country Roads
As I alluded to earlier, you can still find great country roads in Davidson County. Most of the best ones are found along the western side of the county. The areas from Bells Bend to Joelton and Goodlettsville are some of my favorite places to get out and ride. There’s a good handful more around Bellevue, too.
Some of my favorites I rode during this project were:
- Lower Walkers Creek, Freeman Hollow, and Baker Rd
- Old Charlotte Pike & Buffalo Rd
- Poplar Creek Rd & South Harpeth Rd
- Hester Beasley Rd
Experienced riders know that no matter how much planning you do, you’ll always run into….
10: Surprises
And this project had plenty of them! Despite spending a number of hours trying to map the best routes possible — balancing road types, conditions, safety, etc. I still ran into a big surprise on Whitlow Mountain Road and Kirby Hill Road. I had no idea going into it that it was a dirt road and a very rough one. Seriously, this was rougher than some of the nastiest stuff I’ve seen in Hickman County. Still, I gave it my best effort (walking up and down the steep bits), resulting in a broken GoPro mount that I 3d printed. Unfortunately, that meant I had to resort to only my Varia radar for the remainder of that ride.
A surprise that nobody ever wants: a flat tire. On my second route, I ended up having to fix a flat tire alongside Neely’s Bend Road. Before I started this project, I had just put brand-new tires on my wheels to help reduce the likelihood of a flat. However, when I changed out my tube, I did not find any debris, thorns, glass, etcetera stuck in it. My guess is that one of the massive potholes on Myatt Drive sprung a slow pinch. Hurray! That said, I was a little surprised that I only ever got this one flat.
I was also just lucky enough to be passing West End Middle School on Bowling Ave, just to be surprised by the first Saturday of the month Tornado warning siren.
A bit later, I was pleasantly surprised to wait through TWO light cycles at Murphy Road and West End Avenue because no other vehicles were waiting to go straight.
Final Thoughts
Well, alright. So there you have it: Ride the Districts & What it’s Like to Ride in Davidson County. It was fun, chaotic, and informative. I wish I had the time and resources to summarize every experience and thought in a cohesive and all-encompassing report. But it would simply be way too massive and long, and I suspect I’d be preaching to the choir for those who watched it in its entirety.
I moved to Nashville in August of 2002. The city looked a lot different. A lot different. And throughout this period of time, I’ve learned that growth can be good and it can be bad. Growth always spawns new problems and challenges — specifically with infrastructure, transit, and the way people move. And Nashville urgently needs to respond to those problems and commit to outpacing and resolving them as they continue to arise. Otherwise, they become untenable and impossible to overcome. It is critical for the vitality of our city.
So please share this with someone who may not regularly experience the joys, challenges, and dangers of cycling in Davidson County. Only through understanding, empathy, and communication will we achieve solutions that work well for everyone. I always want to hear about your experiences, too.
All the best — ride safely!