Back Country Church Roads

0 McR Points

Motorcycle Type : Cruiser

A really nice short ride for a Saturday morning -- did this with a couple friends, one of whom was a beginner and he had no problem with it. Road quality is excellent, only Schley Rd could use a repaving and Guess Rd near Durham obviously is much more heavily trafficked and so you have usual city infrastructure (manholes, etc.) to deal with. But 80% of the roads are superb.

Scenery is nice, nothing fantastic really but just a nice relaxing ride through country roads. It's great how you can start right in Durham near Duke and get out of the city so quickly without having to take the highway.

The best part was probably Guess Rd coming out of Hurden Mills, just before hitting Durham. That 15-20 minute stretch has some nice curves, good scenery, really just a treat.

Note as always that grass can collect on the road due to people cutting their grass. Sometimes it collects in a shaded turn, so it can be a little unsuspecting, so watch out for that. Other than that, very little debris, no particularly tricky turns, a very good ride for an amateur. Very low traffic, except for Guess Rd near Durham.

Very few amenities, but it's such a short ride that's really not a problem. There are several gas stations en route, but not much else. Looked like there was a small picnic spot near the pond in Hurdle Mills if that's your thing. There's also Little River Park just off Guess Rd but I didn't stop at either of those places.

The only change I might make is to take some other than Guess Rd back into the city, because you get so relaxed about 40 minutes in and then all of the sudden the traffic hits and it kinda kills the vibe. It's tricky though cuz you gotta get over the eno. I might try getting off at Russell Rd from Guess Rd, then taking Cole Mill Rd across the eno next time.

Overall, definitely recommend for a nice country ride just outside Durham.

2 McR Points

Motorcycle Type : Cruiser

Took note of penelope cruiser's mentioning that Guess Rd is a lousy way of finishing off the ride, and decided to do the route in reverse. Highly suggest this.

Roads are in great condition and traffic is low. Posted speed limit is typically 45mph, wouldn't suggest doing this any short of 60. The road is windy but the only real turn-hugging is at the turns marked with a 35 or 40mph suggested speed limit - ditto on the minimum 60 here.

Hurdle Mills is a great road so I extended that portion all the way to the 86, then took the first left turn (Hawkins) back into farm land to link back up with Schley.

I recommend this as a great 1.5h ride.

Nice bike Ted. I absolutely schley'd it.

6 McR Points

Motorcycle Type : Cruiser

I'm riding a V Star 1100 and really liked the route. I made some minor adjustments based on where I was starting / the reviews I read before making the trip BUT the bulk of the route was the same. First, I decided to do the route backwards and do the Guess Road portion out of Durham first because I didn't want to end the route in crappy traffic on a hot summer day. I started out on Hillsborough Road near Lasalle Street. Went Right on to Cole Mill Road and took Cole Mill for a few miles and turned right on Rose of Sharon Road. From there, I took Rose of Sharon Road all the way until you turn left where it runs into Guess Road and started the route from there. On the back end, I took Pleasant Green Road straight until it turned into Mt. Hermon Church Road which eventually turns into W. Cornwallis which I road all the way to the left turn onto Erwin Road. From there I took Erwin back to the traffic circle and made a right onto Cameron and took that home. This was a great route! I really loved the backroads, its got nice scenery and is pretty empty which makes for a good route to build confidence on for newer riders. The roads near Schley aren't and could be pathed again but that's a small complaint. 95%+ of the ride is on nice smooth roads. The Corn fields, farms and tobacco plants surely remind you that you're in the heart of North Carolina.