Well, a ride down the Virginia Creeper Trail is nothing like that. Except for the part where you're zipping hell-bent down a mountainside, white-knuckling your mountain bike around blind curves, and praying your knobby tires grip the gravel underneath.

The 17-mile downhill ride along the Virginia Creeper Trail ó a former railroad route ó is exhilarating. Whether Greenville resident Hincapie feels the same in his lengthy forays in the French countryside is another matter. The reality is, you can do this family-friendly ride and you don't need eight months of exhaustive training with world-class teammates to prepare.

Right now is the perfect time to experience probably the easiest mountain ride on the East Coast. The fall colors in the southern Virginia mountains are nearing their peak, and it's still warm enough to take the ride without feeling the full effects of the coming cold.
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Driving nearly three hours to Damascus, Va., may be the most difficult part of this ready-made adventure. It's either that, or taking the 21-mile ride uphill, around hairpin curves, in the shuttle van that will deposit you and your bike ó top-quality rentals are available from a handful of bike companies here ó at Whitetop Gap, an elevation of 3,500 feet.

From there it's all downhill. Well, the last three miles of the trip are pretty flat, so you might have to pedal some, but for the most part, it's easy does it the entire way.

One could probably finish the ride in a hurry, but there's no reason for that. About three dozen bridges along the way give way to open vistas of the surrounding mountains. There are several places to stop and get a drink, take photos, and even get lunch on the way down.