If you start at the beginning of the Comet on the weekend you will come across a pretty busy first few miles, there will be kids and rollerbladers and joggers. There are also plenty of traffic crossing areas in the first 10-15 miles, if you wanna get in 80-90 thought hats about where you'd need to start for flat riding, once you get out to Dallas and before Cedartown it is really hilly for awhile. Plenty of bathrooms and water fountains along the way though, and easy access to stores if you want something else along the way.

Yes, I do this regularly for exactly this type of ride. If you start at Mavell Road, then you see more pedestrian traffic. That mostly clears up after about 8 miles. There are no intersections for the first four miles, then there are lots of intersections from about mile 5-10 (if memory serves me correctly). After mile 10, there is little pedestrian and intersection interruption. There is a great bottle refill and restroom stop at mile 20 and then at around mile 38. The course gets kind of crappy after mile 40 (lots of hills, intersections & stuff) for a while. Not sure how far, because I have only ridden 50 miles out to date.

You are in no-man's-land from mile 20 to mile 38. There are sections without cell coverage.

For 80 miles, I would start at the Mavell road trail head and go out and back 40. The first few with more pedestrian traffic is not a big deal and only represents a small percentage of the whole ride, and it is better than tacking miles on the back end.

I live right near and and I'm on the trail pretty often, the pedestrian traffic should not be bad if you leave early. Get there at sunrise and you can push hard from mile 1. But remember that on the way back you will have a lot of traffic, dog walkers, kids on bikes and slow pokes (especially if it is a nice day) at the end of your ride. You have to treat the last few miles like a cool down and get out of aero with your hands near the breaks.

I usually start at the Floyd Rd. Depot. It has a huge parking lot and is full of bikers at sunrise. Great trail and a great place to get a long one in without having to figure out a route and worry about cars.

If possible you can start at the beginning if you can ride on a M-F. Weekends are another story.

When I go I usually start at the Zero marker mainly because of my driving preference. I use the first four miles (busiest section most of the time) as a warm up and then try to keep a steady pace. As others said the further out one goes the less interruptions, but I always keep in mind that people (on bikes, walking, skating) are unpredictable out there. Last weekend a young lady running with ear buds did a U-turn in front of me without looking back first. I almost clipped her at 25 mph. That happens quite often when I am out there. To me the Comet I far more at alert than I am out on the backroads that I use.

Also I can't imagine what it is like for a cyclist on the Comet that has a FTP upward of 300 watts. Even at my much lower fitness level I can cruise upward 25 mph pretty easy at fairly low wattage. I usually go there on Sunday afternoons for a out and back cruise.

Assuming that you're riding west (and then back) the further from Marietta that you start, the better off you'll be. Note that the trail doesn't really end at the state line; it just changes name to "Chief Ladiga Trail". From the Alabama state line to at least Jackson St. University (which is as far as I've ridden) traffic is pretty light.

If you're going to ride aero, though, please say alert. The trail runs through several small towns (Cedartown, Rockmart, etc.) and local kids, adults with strollers, etc. might be trying to enjoy the outside.

Do not start at mile marker zero due to the amount of stops and traffic. Start at Hiram and ride west. You'll get 23 mostly uninterrupted miles before you hit Rockmart. At Rockmart, you'll have a bunch of turns and then it's twisty and hilly until you get to Cedartown at around 51. Once you get through Cedartown it's flat again. The trail ends at the Alabama border ~mile marker 61ish but then it continues on into Alabama as some indian named trail that I'm too lazy to look up.

The more I think about this, your best bet might be to drive to Cedartown and ride until you get to Jacksonville. There's few people on the trail and it's flat as a pancake. That would be about 60 round trip with few stops and people. Then just do another 15 mile out and back to get 90.

I live in Decatur (only been here a few months) and I like the Silver Comet Trail due to not having to deal with traffic and having available restrooms. as others have said, the beginning is filled with pedestrian traffic and some intersections which give you a brief slowdown. Have you considered some of the other rural rides? The Bud plant rides in cartersville, six flags ride? I have not been to those yet but they seem popular. obviously, there is traffic but since it's rural assuming it will be better. I was disappointed that the stone mountain trail turned out to be a terrible place to get a good steady ride in. so many intersections and connections. I like once I get out to ride around stone mountain but getting there sucks

Picture taken today at the zero marker and usually the most congested area.


Picking good days and a good time to go to the Comet.

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  When it is cold
  
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  When it is super hot
  
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  When it rains or right after it rains
  
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  When the local news says it will rain and it doesn't
  

Today just after the rain passed was 40 miles of mostly just me and damp pavement. I typically go out to the brewery (Bud Plant) or nearby Sosebee Bike Park on Saturdays, but I gambled that no one would be at the Comet and I would not have to deal with traffic.

Welcome to the Atlanta area. If you get out to the Bud Plant and you need any info let me know. I have plenty of routes, but most use the BBC marked route. I have my own route that I use that has low traffic and not many interruptions. Atlanta Tri Club, Try Bike Shop, Team in Training and lot of independent cyclists and triathletes often start out of the brewery. ITL, NARC and a lot of independent cyclists start out of Sosebee parking, which is just a few more miles out.

  Very cool. That is empty for silver comet trail. I don’t mind the beginning being congested as much since it gives me time to warm up. I’m definitely going to hit up the bud plant rides. I’ve been riding out to Stone Mountain since I can ride from my house. It’s a slow triathlon year for me. I did my first IM last year and after doing 5 years of mostly triathlons this is my fun year. I’ve got some sprint tris but this is my fun race year. Some fun gravel events and just really unstructured training. Any recommendations on open water swims when it gets warmer?

I figured the Bud plant would be a very long drive for you and may not be worth the drive. Even though it is another 30+ minute drive north for me it is a place that I feel I can get the most miles with the least amount of traffic (my favorite long route). My wife often wants me to go to the Comet because there are less cars, but I have seen more severe crashes at the Comet than any place.

Hopefully someone else can chime in on the open water swim question since I am not a triathlete.

I hope to extend the miles If it ever gets warmer and stops raining every single weekend....ugh

yeah. it's like an hour for me to the bud plant. so it little far but it just depends on what sort of miles I need to put in. yeah. the beginning on silver comet trail is sketchy with dogs/walkers/runners so I definitely treat it as a warmup. thanks for the strava file link. the rides here that I've done are definitely different from where I lived before in Charleston. either hilly and/or with a fair number of lights to deal with causing stops. It makes it harder for me to get in a rhythm on my rides but I'm guessing the bud plant ride might allow for those long miles without having to deal with a ton of intersections or traffic. I do like the hills and I like riding around stone mountain with the hills as it makes for a good workout.

I know TriColumbia offers some open water swims. I've never done an only swim OWS before (so I can't vouch for their organization, setup, etc.), but I'm going to be doing their Chase the Hooch 2 miler on June 9th.

I know they have another OWS sometime later in the fall.

I knows it not local to the ATL... but the Gatorfest swim is happening on July 28th this year in Augusta. I did the 3.4 mile swim last year and enjoyed it. Gonna try and do it again this year. That being said... they need to do a better job of advertising/marketing it or it's gonna disappear.

I haven't been in a few years, but they use to do OWS at Lake Allatoona, which should have started by now.

Send an email to this address and let them know you are interested in joining up and want to be put on the mailing list?

swim.with.pete at gmail

I dont think they have started yet, unless it was this past weekend. Water temp still in the mid 50s... Fuck. That.

thanks. will definitely check that out.

One more recommendation... lower your tire pressure a lot. After about 8 miles, the surface changes to roughened concrete from asphalt. That surface has high Crr impedance losses, so dropping tire pressure below 80 helps a crapton. Otherwise, you will look at your power and wonder why you were so slow.

I enjoy training on the Silver Comet. I start before mile 0 up near the East West Connector and South Cobb Drive. The first 7 miles are pretty much warmup. Then you can start sitting in the aero bars. A few miles after the railroad tunnel is Coots Lake. Turn left on that road and there is a store stop- don't breath, everybody in that store chain smokes. About mile 38, you weave through some twisty areas, through a graveyard and out. Eventually you hit some more flat sections. You'll hit Cedartown, some turns, and the little train station. You can load up on water there. Heading towards the Alabama border is pretty desolate, but flat.

A buddy and I used to do the Piss on Alabama ride every weekend when we trained for IMFL in 2012. Other than the few congested areas, the few little hills, and switching sides of the train tracks, it is a good flat ride.

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