Atlanta

A company is interested in hiring me in Atlanta. Do I have a snowball's chance in Georgia of logging any road mileage without getting killed by a car? Is there anywhere safe to ride in Atlanta?

If you ride in Atlanta, please give me some insight.

Thanks

 

I used to live in Atlanta. The traffic there is a total nightmare. You will be completely stressed out by the time you get to work. Good luck.

 

I live in Atlanta, and it is entirely possible to get out on the roads. You do have to be more conscious of when and where you ride though, as you would in most high-traffic cities. Depending on where you live, there is the Silver Comet Trail (on the west side of Atlanta) that goes from Atlanta to the GA/AL border--on weekends this is busy for the first few miles with runners and walkers, but then it gets nice. Its also pretty flat. There is also Stone Mountian park (on the east side) that is great for riding at any day of the week at any time, and also good in the mornings on the weekends. There are also many group rides out here--some start in or at the edge of town, and some are a little ways out of town. The GA mountains are only an hours drive away, to the northeast there are some hilly areas of mostly farm country with little traffic, and there are beautiful, mostly flat, quiet country roads to the south as well. I used to ride from my house in northeast altanta out to Stone Mountain park every afternoon at about 3:30pm, and had to be on some roads with fairly heavy traffic, and I have never been hit yet, and really haven't had any problems.

Some websites:
www.bikesbl.org
www.gtcbike.org
www.bicyclesouth.com
www.freeflite.com
www.outback-bikes.com
www.l5flyers.com
www.roswellbicycles.com
www.saddlebred.com
just a few I can think of...there are plenty more....

Jeff

 

Thanks so far. The position would actually be north of Atlanta in the Sandy Springs area north of I285. Is the traffic going to be that bad up there? Are there decent places to go MTB riding up in that region as well? (For clairification, by region, I mean at most a 10 min drive and not an hour or more away.)

 

Even if you live to far to ride the whole trip you can always ride to the closest MARTA station. The trains and some of the buses can carry bikes. Or it might be all of the buses now, I have not been to Atlanta in a few years.

 

I don't ride mtb at all, but I have heard of a few parks that are set up for or allow mtb's up GA400. Not sure how far up GA400 they would be, but I know I have heard of at least one up that way before.

The Sandy Springs area can be busy at certain times, but like I said, you just have to be careful about when you try to head out. Most streets in Atlanta can be ridden before 10am without much or a problem on weekends. On weekdays, you would obviously want to avoid rush hour and most major streets. There are quite a few rides that start just north of where you may be, even within riding distance. In "Atlanta Time" (my term), 10 minutes means a mile or two, in your car. 10 minutes on a bike is about the same distance--if there are rides within 10-15 miles from your front door, the extra miles are usually quite enjoyable. It literally takes me only about 10-15 minutes longer to ride to Stone Mountain than it does to drive and unpack my gear and bike (and Sandy Springs, at its closest, is only about 4-5 miles north of me). There are also some rides out near Lake Lanier--that whole area is pretty nice to ride in, which is just a bit north of you as well.

Check out http://www.cyclingforums.com/t151483-.html this link is an old thread with some info on riding in Atlanta too.

Jeff

 

10 miles north of I-285 up GA400(just east of Exit8-10) is the Alpharetta Greenway. This is my primary riding place. Its a nice paved path along a creek. And you only have to cross one road the rest of the crossing go under main roads. The only thing to worry about out there is high traffic times(weekends)when family are out with their little kids.

Also, once you get out Peachtree Industrial Blvd(about 5 miles north of 285) a little ways it offers some nice shoulder room, but the cars still go 65+.

But the Silver comet and Stone Mtn both offer some great riding. I head to these when i have time on the weekends.

As far as the traffic in the Sandy Springs area it can be bad depending on what direction you go. If you go against traffic(heading north on 400 in the morning) its not bad. But that same 10 mile drive I mentioned earlier heading south on 400 in the morning can take close to an hour. I-285 tends to be bad either way both times during the day in the Sandy Springs area. ALways best to find a way to go against the flow of traffic.

let me know if you need anything more. and good luck.

 

I used to live in Sandy Springs in an apartment complex called Amli at Spring Creek. I worked 8 miles north of there and it would take me 40 minutes to get to work in the mornings going against traffic. Driving home was always worse for some reason. Plan on getting an overpriced membership at an overcrowded gym to avoid the madness. I spent many evenings propped up at a bar at Applebee's waiting for the traffic to die down. Fridays are the worst.

The people offering suggestions haven't really stated that you can just hop on your bike outside of your home and go for a ride. There's probably a reason for that. You can't. Plan on group rides to avoid getting mugged. Atlanta has one of the highest crime rates in the country.

Oh, by the way, I hope you speak Spanish. You'll need it.

 

As just about everyone who lives in Atlanta can agree, the time it takes to get places is 100% dependant on when and where you are trying to go. If you are trying to go into town at 8am on a highway, forget it, it will take a while. If you are trying to go out of town at 5pm, same thing. Keep in mind this is talking about cars too. Tell me another city with a population of 6+ million people where this isn't true.


Actually, I do ride from my apartment to Stone Mountain, as I stated in my earlier post. Many of my riding buddies do the same, although mostly on weekends. I see plenty of people riding their bikes every single day on my way home from work as well, and know of many group rides that individuals ride into also.

As far as the crime rates go, I agree Atlanta has a high crime rate, but I'm not sure that its any higher than any other large city with an extrmemly mixed population. I don't speak Spanish and I get along just fine, and I have never been approached by anyone while on a ride, and really havn't had many problems to speak of, and I even consider myself an asshole when I ride in traffic.

Jeff

 

You must have better luck there than I did. The last ride I went on some guy threw an apple at me. Fortunately, it didn't hit me or it would probably have knocked me down. He really whipped it good! That was on Roswell Road near my apartment. I just had lunch with a friend of mine nearby and my car was already in Indianapolis so the only mode of transportation I had was my bike and a cab. I was on the sidewalk too so it's not like I was in anybody's way.

When I lived in Buckhead a couple of years earlier I was walking to my car after a few drinks and noticed a group of guys following me. They looked pretty young, probably high school age, so I knew something was up. I ducked into another bar that happened to be on the way and they moved on. It was just too creepy.

I used to live there in the mid-to-late 80's and loved it back then. It was a really great place for a single guy to live! American Pie and Confetti's were my stomping grounds back then. But when I moved back there in the late 90's it was a totally different place. Too big and too crowded. The people seemed a lot meaner then too. My Brother is still down there and can't wait to retire and get the hell out. He's had enough of it too. If you ask me it's just a cluster phuck every where you go - work, grocery, bank, whatever.

Guess I've just had enough of the large, over populated, heavy traffic, high crime cities. I just want to live in a little Burg near Clearwater or something. That's my idea of perfect now. When I was younger I was still trying to find it, now that I'm a little older I'm trying to get away from it all.

 

I would have to disagree with the Dr. on this one. So maybe Atlanta is the perfect Edward Scissorhands picture of Suburban life but I do believe that this is a great city. I mean you can head to the mountains in 2 hrs on weekends or whenever the need hits you. There are plenty of mountain bike trails within 20 mins. of downtown. Hell there is even a small 2 mile trail loop within 7 mins of my house at the Old Dekalb waterworks. Also I can literally ride .5 miles from my house and hope on the Stone Mtn. Bike Path that runs to Stone Mtn. (obviously) and its a 25 miles ride round trip with a few lane crossings and stuff but definately a great ride. He is correct on traffic, it sucks but doesn't every big city have problems with traffic. MARTA is a great way to get a around as someone else mentioned they allow bikes on the train and all the buses are now equipped with bike racks too. Now I will say I know nothing about the Sandy Springs or Marietta area but if there some stuff near my house by Little Five Points I would assume that up there would be alright too. Anyways, Atlanta may not be the most friendly bicycle town in the country but it's Ok by me.

Also I have had no problemos with any muggings or any crime. For the record I don't speak spanish either and I'm doing fine.


Peace ,
Dz

 

Check out Roswell bicycles in Roswell,they have group rides on sundays to get you started,Atlanta is a great cityI lived in Roswell 89 thru 96 and back then you could MTB in the loacl parks Soap creek and vickery creek but I think these parks are closed now.Bull Mtn. is less than an hours drive from Sandy Springs on weekend mornings and the best place to ride MTB in GA. Good luck!