Recreation

It’s easy to kick back of a sunny Saturday, tighten your grip on the remote and tell yourself that there’s nothing out there worth doing that you’ve never done before. The week’s work is done, and it’s time for a beer, right?

Wrong.

Here’s a list of some great outdoor activities that are worth a go in the greater Nashville area. What are you waiting for?

Fly-fishing

Fly-fishing can be a meditative ritual and a truly refreshing escape from city life, and Middle Tennessee is home to numerous reservoirs, tributaries, farm ponds and tailwaters. All offer exceptional fly-fishing conditions. These include the Duck, Elk, Caney Fork and Piney rivers, all of which are within an hour and a half drive from downtown Nashville. According to Jim Mauries, a longtime fly fisherman and instructor at Fly South, “There’s something to catch on a fly rod 12 months out of the year.”

Because casting can be such an obstacle to some people, a modest amount of money spent on lessons will save the novice fly fisherman a great deal of aggravation. Instruction in casting and fly tying, as well as guided fishing trips, are available at numerous locations throughout Nashville including The Flychucker (377-1171), Game Fair (353-0602), Cumberland Transit (327-0557) and Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World (514-5200). At all of these locations, you’ll find expert, helpful staff, as well as a wide range of instructional books and videos.

Disc Golf

In disc golf, you use your arm instead of a club and a disc instead of a ball. The object is to get the disc into a chain-link basket instead of a hole. Unlike its country club counterpart, however, disc golf is extremely affordable.

The Professional Disc Golf Association (PDGA) is the governing body for disc golf in the U.S., and sponsors a professional and amateur tour throughout the country. The local chapter in town is called Flying Disc Drive and it hosts tournaments throughout the year. For more information and complete rules, visit the Web site at www.pdga.com.

Although disc golf can be played with a regular Frisbee, serious disc golfers use round, rubber “discs” which come in different sizes and weights for different uses—similar to golf clubs. Discs can be purchased at Play It Again Sports or Academy Sports for $4-$10.

Local disc golfing aficionado Steve “Rocky” Johnson says that the average course takes about an hour and a half to play. Johnson recommends wearing hiking boots or shoes built for traction and durability, as some of the courses are a bit overgrown. Courses are located at Two Rivers Park, Seven Oaks Park and Cedars of Lebanon. Call Metro Parks for schedule information and directions at 862-8400.

Mountain Biking

If you think mountain biking—with all its trail navigating, rock jumping, and downhill racing—is a sport for those bent on an adrenaline rush, you’re right. And you don’t have to travel very far to find great trails in the Nashville area. The four best are Lock 4, Hamilton Creek, Chickasaw Park in Columbia and Bowie Nature Trail in Fairview—all within an hour’s drive. (The folks out at Bowie Nature Trail request that you call before coming.) For a complete list of safety regulations, visit the International Mountain Bicycling Association’s Web site at www.IMBA.org.

For more information and directions to trails, contact Cumberland Transit (327-2453). If you aren’t ready to make the investment in a new bike and gear, call Music City Rentals at 354-1794 and try it out. When you are ready to make a purchase, check out The Bike Pedlar (329-2453), Nashville Bicycle Co. (321-5510) or Lightning Cycles (368-3051). All of these stores have terrific staff on hand to help you get started in the sport.

Skydiving

Harry Rooks began parachuting in 1958 as an original member of the Army’s elite special ops HALO team. Now Rooks owns and operates Nashville Skydiving, located just off the Tennessee border in Russellville, Ky. The United States Parachute Association together with the FAA governs and licenses professional sky divers and their businesses.

To make a jump, block out an entire day off your calendar to account for travel, instruction and air time. A first jump (from 11,000 feet) will always be a tandem jump, meaning you’ll be harnessed to a professional who will do all the work (while you do all the screaming). The cost is $175.

For those interested in solo jumping, lessons are available for approximately $1,700. Training consists of a series of 10 jumps and critiques after each jump. The students pay as they go.

To get to Nashville Skydiving, take I-65 north to Franklin, Ky. Take Exit 2 and follow signs to Hwy. 100 (toward Russellville). Look for signs to the airport. Call 672-2855 to reserve a time.

Sporting Clays

You haven’t really relaxed until you’ve fired a gun. So when you’re ready to kick back (and feel the kick), Terry Hetrick at The Nashville Gun Club is the man to call. The club is affiliated with the National Skeet Shooting Association, The National Sporting Clays Association, the NRA and The Amateur Trap Shooting Association for both instruction and competition. Different sports include skeet shooting, trap shooting and sporting clays. These vary in target movement and shooter involvement, and all offer different types of challenges.

Voted 2001 club of the year by The National Sporting Clays Association, The Nashville Gun Club is located off Briley Parkway on Exit 25, halfway between downtown and Opry Mills. Every first-time visitor to the club gets free instruction on safety and basic techniques. A round of skeet or 25 trap targets runs approximately $20; a round of sporting clays is approximately $50. For more information, visit the Web at www.nashvillegunclub.com or call 742-5297 and ask for Terry. Or try the Gallatin Gun Club at 824-8307.

Scuba Diving

You know what hobby Jerry Garcia took up as he was trying to quit drugs? Scuba diving. For relaxation and escape, the sport can’t be beat. Bluewater Scuba and Middle Tennessee Scuba and Swim (MTSS), both within 20 minutes of downtown, offer training for beginners and continuing education for more experienced divers. Bluewater Scuba is located on White Bridge Road across from Nashville Tech; MTSS is in the Cool Springs area. Both have indoor pools for instruction.

Rick Heydl of MTSS holds that “the two biggest misconceptions about Scuba are that it is (a) dangerous and (b) difficult. On the contrary, next to bowling, diving is one of the safest sports around.” Although most people associate scuba diving with tropical climates and salt water, there are a number of local sites to improve your skills and see some cool underwater scenery. Martha’s Quarry (close to Lebanon), Mermet Springs in Illinois and Cerulian Springs in Cadiz, Ky., are excellent dive sites if you’re already certified. Likewise, Madison Water Park in Madison, Ala., boasts sunken jet fighters and rockets. All are within two-and-a-half hours by car.

Training is necessary however. Instruction includes a weekend of classes and four open-water dives. The dives can be done at local sites, but MTSS offers monthly trips to Florida and the Caribbean. Call Bluewater Scuba at 356-9340 or MTSS at 771-0002 for more information. Other terrific outlets are Scuba Supply (256-8743) and Neptune Dive & Ski (356-5051).

Paintball

If you want to shoot your boss but avoid the messy legal repercussions, paintball is the sport for you. Paintball fields cater to serious enthusiasts and newcomers alike, with various structures and themes to heighten the experience. Robin Adcock at Nashville Paintball in Lebanon warns first-timers, “You’re going to be hooked, so prepare yourself for a new hobby.”

No lessons are required, but gearing up requires an initial cash investment. Guns range from $79-$500, and that doesn’t include CO2 cartridges, mask and ammunition. Many fields in the Nashville area rent out equipment. If you’re interested in buying equipment, visit HobbyTown USA at 2066 Gallatin Pike, or call at 851-2400. To reserve a time to play, call Nashville Paintball at 444-8988 or visit their Web site at www.nashvillepaintballsports.com. Other locations are Hollow Buzzard Paintball (368-2125) and Oak Grove Adventures (890-4265).