Places to ride in Atlanta?

[kelrunran]

Anywhere to ride in Atlanta? I heading there for a conference and would love to take my bike!

[skibum]

There are plenty of places to ride in Atlanta. It depends on what you are looking for. I think that the best option for a visitor who is not so familiar with the city would be to ride on either the Silver Comet Trail or the Atlanta/Dekalb trail system.

You can find info on both of these on the PATH foundation website: http://www.pathfoundation.org.

If these paths aren't quite what you're looking for, let me know and I'll see what I can do to help out.

Beth

[kelrunran]

Thanks for the information. I have not made a definite decision about bringing my bike with me to the conference.

Kelly

[Pedal Wench]

Sorry for a very late reply -- any other suggestions for places in Atlanta? I'm just getting into it here. I travel to Miami quite often, so my road bike lives there, but I just bought a mountain bike that lives here, and I'm looking for some good road rides until I learn how to use my mtb for what it was designed for!

Is the Silver Comet trail very crowded? I'm headed there for my next long ride.

Any other areas/trails/neighborhoods? I'm in the Lenox mall area.

[skibum]

The Silver Comet Trail can get a little crowded at the Mavell Rd trailhead since that's the closest point to Atlanta. Some people like to drive a little farther and get on the trail where it's a little less busy. I usually try to go in the morning when it's less crowded and then park at Mavell Rd anyways.

Some other areas than can be nice to bike in are: Piedmont Park, Stone Mountain, the neighborhoods around Decatur and Virginia-Highland. I've been doing a lot of group rides lately that go through various parts of Atlanta. But, the rides are fast (for me) and I regularly get dropped so, depending on your experience level, that type of ride may not be for you. I am trying to build my skills so I want the challenge of trying to keep up with the group.

I don't mountain bike (yet) so I can't help you with any trails for that. I hear there are some good ones.

[Pedal Wench]

I did a group ride that started at Atlanta Cycling a few years ago - I should call and see if they still ride from there. I was real slow, but I think I've been getting faster. I'm probably older than most of those folks, but it was still fun. I'm pretty fast on my road bike, but it lives in Miami, and I was amazed at how much slower my mtb is on the road.
Do you think the groups would look down at me if I try to ride with a mtb?

[skibum]

The group I've been riding with goes out of the Atlanta Cycling shop in Vinings. They have rides on Mon night, Wed night and Sat morning. They also run the Buckhead Bellyache ride out of Buckhead on Thurs nights. You can get the info on these rides at Atlanta Cycling .

There's always a few hard core roadies who will look down on someone with a mtb on a road ride but my feeling is who cares what they think? We're out there for some fun and exercise, not to win races. I would think the main challenge would be to keep up with the group (the routes are well-marked so it's not a big deal to get dropped though). Like you said, the mtb is naturally slower on the road than a road bike.

[Pedal Wench]

Thanks so much for the info. I feel like I need one of those license plates, "My other bike is a road bike!" This weekend though, I get to ride her down in Miami. They know how to do bike lanes!

I might join up on one of those rides. Just look for the lady struggling to keep up!

Thanks again!