Saturday, Sept. 28 - 8:00 A.M. - Mike's Metric - Buffalo, Creeks, & Ponds! - Harpeth Village Shopping Center, 8080 Hwy 100 at Temple Rd., Nashville 37221 - This Saturday Michael DeRoche has developed an incredible, novel course to the west from Pasquo.  We will start from the parking lot where Trace Bikes is located.  Please park near the McDonald's at the other end of the parking lot from Publix.  This is near the base of the Natchez Trace, but Dr. Michael is starting at the shopping center so we don't have to ride the 2 miles up the Trace to end the ride. 

There are three routes (a Metric, 49 miles, and 35 miles).  All three routes are challenging.  These are beautiful roads interrupted by hills.  McCrory has new, smooth pavement and there is little traffic at 8:00 A.M.  Newsom Station and Buffalo Road are unknown to most and are a fantastic ride.  Pond Creek (backwards) is a 5-mile slightly downhill run and the most fun way to ride this road.  Cedar Hill and Leatherwood are secluded, rural routes with good pavement out to White Bluff.   Lover’s Leap and Craggie Hope make for a slightly downhill run with a couple of rollers on the way back.  Hills separate these.  Take your time and enjoy the roads.  All routes stay together for the first 14 miles. Michael will sweep the long route.

The first rest stop is the same for all three routes at the Shell station on Hwy. 70 just after the right turn at the bottom of Sam’s Creek (mile 28 for the Metric and 49-mile route, and mile 20 for the 35 miler).  The second rest stop is the Mapco or Sunoco on Lubyen Hills Road just before Hwy. 40 in Kingston Springs, where we have often stopped.  This comes at mile 49.5 for the Metric route, mile 30 for the 49 miler, and mile 22.5 for the 35-mile riders if they skip the earlier rest stop.  Here are the cue sheets:

Mike's Metric - Buffalo, Creeks, & Ponds - Long route - 63 miles - GPS

Medium route - 49 miles - GPS

Short route - 35 miles - GPS

A little history that Dr. Michael has provided:  We will ride past Newsom's Mill on Newsom Station Road just before mile 8.  The Newsom family came to Tennessee in the late 1700’s from Virginia (and from England to Virginia in about 1630).  Since they brought 11 family members from Virginia, the were deeded 550 acres for free to settle in the “western wilderness of the U.S” on the Harpeth River.  At the time they came to Tennessee, there were only two States west of the Mississippi, Kentucky and Tennessee.  Free land was given to anyone who would go west and settle.  The Newsoms received a large amount of land because of the large number in their family.

The Newsoms built a mill and quarry on the Harpeth.  The mill was destroyed in a flood in 1808 and rebuilt a little upstream.  A turbine power mill was then built in 1862, during the Civil War (three Newsom men were killed in the Civil War).  There are ruins of the 1862 mill and a local bridge at the site which can be briefly seen on the ride.

The quarry was active throughout the 1800’s.  The railroad ran a special freight train to Newsom Station because so much stone was being sent to Nashville.  One author stated that during the heyday of the quarry and the supporting businesses (train station, post office, stores), Newsom Station may have been bigger than Bellevue.  Every one of us has likely seen stone from the Newsom quarry.  The stones were used to build part of the Capital, Union Station, Hume Fogg High School, the City of Nashville cemetery, and the Customs House.