Georgia - not a safe ride

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Main Entry: prac·ti·ca·ble http://www.webster.com/images/audio.gif (http://javascript<img%20src=&quot;images/smilies/tongue.gif&quot;%20border=&quot;0&quot;%20alt=&quot;&quot;%20title=&quot;stick%20out%20tongue&quot;%20smilieid=&quot;6&quot;%20class=&quot;inlineimg&quot;%20/>opWin('/cgi-bin/audio.pl?practi01.wav=practicable'))
Pronunciation: 'prak-ti-k&-b&l
Function: adjective
1 : capable of being put into practice (http://www.webster.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=practice) or of being done or accomplished : FEASIBLE (http://www.webster.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=feasible)
2 : capable of being used : USABLE (http://www.webster.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=usable)
synonym see POSSIBLE (http://www.webster.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=possible)
- prac·ti·ca·bil·i·ty http://www.webster.com/images/audio.gif (http://javascript<img%20src=&quot;images/smilies/tongue.gif&quot;%20border=&quot;0&quot;%20alt=&quot;&quot;%20title=&quot;stick%20out%20tongue&quot;%20smilieid=&quot;6&quot;%20class=&quot;inlineimg&quot;%20/>opWin('/cgi-bin/audio.pl?practi02.wav=practicability')) /"prak-ti-k&-'bi-l&-tE/ noun
- prac·ti·ca·ble·ness http://www.webster.com/images/audio.gif (http://javascript<img%20src=&quot;images/smilies/tongue.gif&quot;%20border=&quot;0&quot;%20alt=&quot;&quot;%20title=&quot;stick%20out%20tongue&quot;%20smilieid=&quot;6&quot;%20class=&quot;inlineimg&quot;%20/>opWin('/cgi-bin/audio.pl?practi03.wav=practicableness')) /'prak-ti-k&-b&l-n&s/ noun
- prac·ti·ca·bly http://www.webster.com/images/audio.gif (http://javascript<img%20src=&quot;images/smilies/tongue.gif&quot;%20border=&quot;0&quot;%20alt=&quot;&quot;%20title=&quot;stick%20out%20tongue&quot;%20smilieid=&quot;6&quot;%20class=&quot;inlineimg&quot;%20/>opWin('/cgi-bin/audio.pl?practi04.wav=practicably')) /-blE/ adverb

I take it 'cultural philistine' is too highfalutin as well.

My apologies. I did not realize that what you said was:...and will be leaving as soon as it is capable of being put in practice or of being done or accomplished to do so.

And I'll bet you didn't talk like that before you moved down here.

Oh Puleeeese! Let's stereotype the drivers down there and say that "they must be from the NE." Let me tell you that there are plenty of drivers in the NE (and all over the country, including GA) who shouldn't even be issued a license, while there are plenty of others who have respect for cyclists on the road. I've been to GA and have seen the drivers down there...not much different from any other place in the country. So don't rip on NE drivers. Live up here for a while before you make those statements.
OF is quite right, unfortunately Georgians don't have the market on bad drivers it's a nationwide thing. Hell, in the small town in Florida I live in there are not only bad drivers but bicyclists that insist on riding on the wrong side of the road facing traffic:( Education is on-going thing.

Yeah, Riding here isn't the safest thing and the burbs are better than the true city of atl but your porbably going on the roads most traveled. Some of the best stuff is up in the hills of north georgia but thats far for me at least. Georgia does have some $*@# heads but for the most part people are nice and pay attention.

Reinvigorating an old thread, i know, but I'm in town (marietta to be exact) and I'm looking for some good routes (around 20 miles or so) to get some good, relatively safe exercise. I biked around Kennesaw today and it was alright for parts, but hard to avoid very crowded streets. Anyway, anyone have any fun, interesting routes to recommend? perhaps in and around buckhead, marietta, etc? I'm willing to drive to find good places to ride.

Thanks for any help.

Bruce

Reinvigorating an old thread, i know, but I'm in town (marietta to be exact) and I'm looking for some good routes (around 20 miles or so) to get some good, relatively safe exercise. I biked around Kennesaw today and it was alright for parts, but hard to avoid very crowded streets. Anyway, anyone have any fun, interesting routes to recommend? perhaps in and around buckhead, marietta, etc? I'm willing to drive to find good places to ride.

Thanks for any help.

Bruce
Go to the Big Chicken and turn left.
You've got several choices. Kennesaw Mountain, Silver Comet Trail, etc.
Check out www.atlbike.org (http://www.atlbike.org) They have lots of info.

Chance is right though, the problem is transplants. Now, before you get all bent out of shape, the reason is actually quite benign:

Each area of the US has their own indigenous bad driving habits. They learn to deal with them. For example, when a metro New Yorker visits LA, he thinks the drivers are all nuts, yet the SoCallians numbly ignore it all. Conversely, LA guy rents a car and drives into Manhattan and thinks everyone has lost their mind! We each get very used to our local driving styles. That's the problem. I'm one of about 11 native Atlantans. The other 5 million moved here from everywhere else, bringing their local driving talents with them. We have Bostonians, Canadians, Chicagoians, Los Angelians, Ohioans and Pittsburghians -- all coexisting on our congested roads. It's not Atlanta's fault per se, rather a case of lots of exotic ingredients making a terrible stew!

But don't point a finger at Atlanta and say this place isn't great. That's the root cause of all of this -- if Atlanta weren't such a great place to be in general, we wouldn't have so many millions of folks relocated here. Personally, I love it. I hope to never live anyplace else (and yes, I've been all over).

-Paul
first post!

Here in Georgia, the law is bikes have a right to the road too & must obey the same traffic laws as cars. The drivers here get irritated because they are always in a hurry & don't want to slow down for cyclists. The roads were not built with cyclists in mind so we don't have a lot room to get out of the way or for motorist to go around us. I stick to riding the rural roads during non-peak driving hours. So far, I've not had any problems. Thank goodness.


This is interesting... I am not quite educated on what cyclists have and don't have for rights... is there someone out there willing to educate?

Hi Bruce,

You should come on down to & ride the South Fulton Scenic By-way, also known as Silk Sheets. There is a 26 mile loop, 31 mile loop & a 38 mile loop and lots of other roads in between to make it longer or shorter. Every weekend you will see lots of cyclists out on the trail. There is a website that lists all of the trails, both mountain & road, in Georgia. Just put GA bike trails in a search engine & you should be able to link to it. Good Luck!



Reinvigorating an old thread, i know, but I'm in town (marietta to be exact) and I'm looking for some good routes (around 20 miles or so) to get some good, relatively safe exercise. I biked around Kennesaw today and it was alright for parts, but hard to avoid very crowded streets. Anyway, anyone have any fun, interesting routes to recommend? perhaps in and around buckhead, marietta, etc? I'm willing to drive to find good places to ride.

Thanks for any help.

Bruce

Hey there - I live in St. Augustine (we have some safe, non-sucky riding here), but was looking to weekend in Dahlonega (I loved it's pretty hills during the TdG), and after reading this thread, want to ask, how's that part of the state for riding?

Thanks.

Hey there - I live in St. Augustine (we have some safe, non-sucky riding here), but was looking to weekend in Dahlonega (I loved it's pretty hills during the TdG), and after reading this thread, want to ask, how's that part of the state for riding?
Thanks.
monkey, you'll love that area. Try to pick a weekday so there'll will be less traffic (car and bike). I'm planning on heading up that way in a couple of weeks to try the gaps for the first time.

monkey, you'll love that area. Try to pick a weekday so there'll will be less traffic (car and bike). I'm planning on heading up that way in a couple of weeks to try the gaps for the first time.

If you don't have a good map, try this site: http://www.sadlebred.com/maps/6gap.pdf

Good luck.

Thanks for the Map. I just got my first road bike & I'm looking forward to trying it out.



If you don't have a good map, try this site: http://www.sadlebred.com/maps/6gap.pdf

Good luck.

Here in Georgia, the law is bikes have a right to the road too & must obey the same traffic laws as cars. The drivers here get irritated because they are always in a hurry & don't want to slow down for cyclists. The roads were not built with cyclists in mind so we don't have a lot room to get out of the way or for motorist to go around us.
images/icons/icon3.gifWhat would happen for cyclists if every driver had to log 50 to 100 hours of cycling or moped riding (low powered motorcyles) before they where able to obtain their drivers licence?

The people working on the Surface Transportation Policy Project would probably agree with you about Atlanta - it's rated the 6th most dangerous Metro in the country for pedestrians - with a "Pedestrian Danger Index" of 144.4, and 1.83 deaths per 100,000 people each year.

But don't go to Florida. The four worst metros for peds are Orlando (243.6), Tampa (215.3), West Palm Beach (209.9), and Miami (166.3)...

Memphis comes in at #5.

(from the atlantic monthly, March 2005)
I just moved from New York City to South Florida. In NYC one has to deal with cabbies from the Indian subcontinent who, to a man, earnestly believes in reincarnation and so cannot really grasp why it is you're trying to kill the w*g b*st*rd with your bare hands.
I'm now a bit under 30 miles from the aforementioned West Palm Beach and am more scared to ride than I ever was back North. Helmet, enough blinkie lights to resemble a Paki Festival, mirrors, the whole lot. And in spite of that, I'll probably still end up as a two inch filler on page 27: Cyclist, or what's left of the poor bugger, was scraped off of Congress Avenue yesterday afternoon. The driver, more than old enough to have babysat God when He was a Kid, claims not to have seen the victim.....No charges were filed.

The people working on the Surface Transportation Policy Project would probably agree with you about Atlanta - it's rated the 6th most dangerous Metro in the country for pedestrians - with a "Pedestrian Danger Index" of 144.4, and 1.83 deaths per 100,000 people each year.

But don't go to Florida. The four worst metros for peds are Orlando (243.6), Tampa (215.3), West Palm Beach (209.9), and Miami (166.3)...

Memphis comes in at #5.

(from the atlantic monthly, March 2005)I'm from Miami and yeah, you better watch yourself down here. I ride bike and foot paths when I'm alone and still it's sketchy crossing streets. There are nice places in Florida to ride (gainesville is one) but the metro areas suck except Jacksonville.

The Northwest is very good. I rode quite a bit in Seattle.

Yup, gotta agree with Fish, while the drivers in Georgia really suck, you can't say they come from one area or another. Drivers in Metro Atlanta come from all over the country...I don't know why it is, but it seems that, where ever I'm living at, that's where the worse drivers in the world are. Just when I think it can't get any worse, I move and BAM... yeah, it's worse.

Here is where you can find the GA DOT map: http://www.dot.state.ga.us/DOT/plan-prog/planning/projects/bicycle/maps/index.shtmlI just got one. The one you will receive now is a 2002 map. They will have a new map available in the Spring of 2007.

I'm from Miami and yeah, you better watch yourself down here. I ride bike and foot paths when I'm alone and still it's sketchy crossing streets. There are nice places in Florida to ride (gainesville is one) but the metro areas suck except Jacksonville.

The Northwest is very good. I rode quite a bit in Seattle.
Thanks for mentioning Jacksonville. We have our share of rednecks on the road and several cyclist have become roadkill due to idiot drivers. But if you are assertive when riding, you might survive our roads.:(

It depends where and how you ride in GA or anywhere.

We live in overdeveloped flat South Florida. We belong to the largest oldest club is SFLA and ride every Saturday and Sunday on group rides of 25 -80 riders. We are careful to try and obey road rules. We get very little trouble from idiot drivers of which there are many in SFLA both with in and out of state plates. Most idiot drivers realize that starting trouble with a large group of physically fit people is asking for retribution in spades.

We also ride in North Georgia, the real home of the redneck people. The roads are mostly on mountains (no flat roads) but relatively quiet especially during weekdays between 10-3. Many drivers wave and smile at these idiots sweating up a 3500 ft mountain on a bike, but can't keep up when we are flying down at 40 - 50. I would add that I wouldn't for any money ride in places like Alpharetta or Atlanta metro area. Overdeveloped construction but unlike SFLA no roads worth calling more like cart tracks for yuppies.

So it depends very much on where you ride and who you ride with. In urban areas I think you have to join with other riders for protection.

Spinner123

not surprising to see different viewpoints on GA riding; different people have different experiences. hate to say it, though -- those of you that have had positive experiences in GA are in a disinct minority! after living in GA for several years, my experience is that Foxworthy is right about DRIVING (never mind cycling): "...merge is a PERSONAL CHALLENGE!". Atlanta metro should put up highway webcams -- NASCAR would fall by the wayside as an entertainment medium! and as far as cops who ignore their own laws (saw it in an earlier post), that doesn't surprise me, either. never will forget being investigated not only by the locals, but by an interstate task force, under the ludicrous suspicion of running a theft ring. but i can't be too bitter -- after all, i (6'1",225, caucasian) could easily be mistaken for the guy they eventually caught for it (5'4", 160, jamaican). forget blonde jokes -- do GA jokes! (this one is serious: most guys under 30 consider jail time as a badge of honor!)