The woods are where I love to be. Shocking for any long-time RideApart readers, I know. But the woods and I share something I'd never give up, and that's the tranquility of being apart from the hustle and bustle of everyday life and civilization.
The woods are where I go to re-center myself when life gets chaotic or when the news is just too oppressive to deal with. It's where I got to calm my inner demons, quiet my mind, go for a ride, hike, or hunt, and try to feel more human again. And it helps. At least, I feel like it does.
So whenever others can enjoy that capability of reducing one's stress, through the creation of new trails, routes, or access to public lands, I'm all for it. And I'm especially for the good work that the folks over at Backcountry Discovery Routes do all across the United States, including trail cleanups, advocating for public lands, and building new routes, the latter of which the group recently teased coming to the South East.
And it's coming soon.
The new route finally connects the BDR's east coast routes in one single continuous trail, allowing riders to travel from the Gulf of Mexico (no, I will not be changing that name through some idiotic decree) to Canada. The route, called the South East BDR (SEBDR), is a 1,300-mile trek that connects Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, and North Carolina, with its terminus being the start of the Mid-Atlantic BDR in Virginia.
According to the outfit, "Riders will experience a diverse range of climates, topographies, and the unique charm of southern culture and cuisine. The journey features dense forest roads, scenic overlooks, picturesque lakes, roaring rivers, optional challenging sections, and incredible twisty pavement throughout." They'll also likely experience some alligators, because Florida—definitely a new animal on the BDR Bingo card.
Riders will have access to both paper maps and GPS coordinates once the route goes live on March 1st. What's interesting about the route, and the video above, is that the BDR riders couldn't actually complete the route at the time of filming. When they set off, Hurricane Helene had just blown through, and taken out parts of the trail, at least making them impassable. That said, since filming, the BDR folks found that the route was passable, meaning riders are free to move about the cabin once the route drops in a few weeks.
I love my time riding the Pennsylvania BDR-X route, and this one looks absolutely stunning. Add the fact that you could ride nearly from Mexico to Canada almost fully off-road, and you've got my attention and want for an adventure.
Maybe RideApart should be the first outlet to do the full East Coast BDR? But what bike to take?
