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I'm moving to Atlanta (I'M MOVING TO ATLANTA!!!)
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As the subject suggests, I will be relocating to ATL (from NYC) in mid to late March and I am looking for some guidance on the local swim/bike/run scene.

A little about me before we get started: 32 year old male, Australian, looking to live in the midtown/old fourth ward area, focused on 70.3 and full distance events (with the odd running event sprinkled in).

Masters Swimming: from what I can gather, the two main groups swim out of Georgia Tech and Emory. Does anyone have recent feedback on either group? Are any of you active members of these groups?

Running: are there any good run groups in the downtown area (inside the perimeter?)? Are there any particularly good spots for track workouts in the downtown area?

Riding: are there any group rides I could jump on? What's the good word with regards to outdoor riding in the A (it looks like a lot of freeways from what I can see on google maps)?

Local Bike Stores: any guidance on quality local stores and mechanics would be super helpful.

Aside from the above, any insights any of you could share on the local tri scene would be greatly appreciated.
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Re: I'm moving to Atlanta (I'M MOVING TO ATLANTA!!!) [jimmyh49aus] [ In reply to ]
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I live out in the suburbs, so my experience is greatly different than what yours will be. That said, I believe Atlanta Triathlon Club is very active inside the perimeter. Check out Swim Atlanta and Dynamo Swim Club for masters swimming, and I'd suspect there's a group at GT but not sure. I can't envision any easy outdoor riding launching from Midtown, but I'm no super familiar with what's down there. Definitely lots of group rides around town, but you may have to drive to get to them. In the Spring/Summer, there's a very fun one in Roswell on Thursday nights - about 30 miles, no pressure to maintain pace lines, kind of a free for all. Tons of great riding up north (Burnt Mountain, the gaps, etc.) LBS - no clue what's in Midtown, but if you're OK with a 20-ish minute drive, you can't go wrong with Cannon Cyclery in Roswell - Curtis Henry is a super guy. Good luck with the move!
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Re: I'm moving to Atlanta (I'M MOVING TO ATLANTA!!!) [jimmyh49aus] [ In reply to ]
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I'm outside the perimeter, but I'll toss in a bit of information.

First, I do most of my long rides on the Silver Comet trail. From the 4th Ward, you're only about 10 miles from the Cobb Trailhead (http://www.silvercometga.com/). It's 61 miles from the Cobb trailhead to the state line and is a fully-paved, rails-to-trails with many miles through WMAs and the like. No cars to contend with and, accept for the first 2-3 miles at the start of the trail, very little congestion at all, even on busy weekends in the spring and fall. There are facilities at some of the trailheads and several places in rural areas where there is convenience store within site of the trail. Also, downtown Rockmart (mile marker 37) has a bike-friendly downtown with some food options. If you really want to go long, the Silver Comet trail hits the Chief Ladiga trail at the Alabama line and continues on to Anniston, AL - a total of 99 miles one way. You'll see plenty of cyclists and triathletes on the trail, although as mentioned, there are several sections where you are miles from a trailhead and deep in the woods, if that is a concern for you.

Second, there are the rides near the Budweiser plant in Cartersville. This is about 30 miles from downtown, but with lots of open country, rolling hills (and a few decent little climbs) and mostly-friendly country drivers. The Budweiser plant is quite friendly to cyclists (you can park there) and even hosts a couple of Fondos/Century events each year and there are a variety of common rides there, from 15 miles to 100 or more. You can find more info here: https://rootsrated.com/...d-plant-ride-cycling .

You can ride on the Beltline trail (and it is a great, safe running trail intown) but on spring and fall weekends, it would be impossible to really train there due to the crowds it draws. ( https://beltline.org/visit/trails/ )

Hope this helps you a bit, although it doesn't directly answer all of your questions. I'm just laying down some of my favorites. Oh, and welcome to Atlanta; I think you'll like it.
Last edited by: thickasabrick51: Jan 29, 19 7:09
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Re: I'm moving to Atlanta (I'M MOVING TO ATLANTA!!!) [jimmyh49aus] [ In reply to ]
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Welcome to the ATL. I was born and raised in NJ but have been living in Atlanta since 1992, and have lived in midtown for most of the past 19 years, training for IMs that entire time. Feel free to PM me with any more specific questions.

In terms of masters, there's also a great group at Dynamo with practices in the early mornings, lunchtime and evenings. There are so many triathletes at Dynamo that they actually call the program "Masters & Triathletes" and there's a large multisport club affiliated with the program as well. The pool has a cycling room (with the option to store your bike there) and offers indoor cycling classes after the mornings swims. I swim there mostly in the evenings, but the morning sessions are the most popular, with an average of 35-45 swimmers. During the masters sessions the pool is divided in half, one side for triathletes swimming just freestyle and one side for swimmers doing all 4 strokes. Lots of triathletes cycle and/or run after the morning sessions. The drive to/from midtown is only about 15 minutes with no traffic but with traffic it's a whole other story. You can try the program for free for three classes then pay by the session, month, quarter or year, or you can buy a 10-visit pass. I believe there's also a masters program at the Mercer campus up 85.

There are group runs from the Big Peach running store in midtown, but I don't know the details other then that they have an early morning Saturday run every week. The Atlanta Track Club also has lots of organized group runs. There are also group runs from West Stride running in the Vinings area. I know that the track at Marist High School is a popular place for track workouts but unfortunately don't know the details of which groups use the track or the schedule.

Some of the bike shops have organized group rides, including Atlanta Cycling intown. There's the informal Saturday morning offseason ride intown, called the "airport ride," and lots of other impromtu groups that meet up for rides as well. Podium is a big triathlon shop in town and they offer indoor cycling classes and if I recall they may also organize outdoor rides.

The Atlanta Triathlon Club also offers a lot of group workouts in intown.

Good luck with the move and let me know what other questions you have,and I'll do my best to help!
Last edited by: Iron Dukie: Jan 29, 19 7:56
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Re: I'm moving to Atlanta (I'M MOVING TO ATLANTA!!!) [jimmyh49aus] [ In reply to ]
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for track workouts lookup Cheney Stadium. just south of old fourth ward. little bit west of the zoo. It's a public track and as far as I can tell rarely very busy. Just resurfaced in 2017 I believe.

Silver comet trail is good for brick workouts. you do have a fair number of street crossings but not the end of the world.
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Re: I'm moving to Atlanta (I'M MOVING TO ATLANTA!!!) [jimmyh49aus] [ In reply to ]
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Atlanta has a very active multisport scene. You should be able to find everything you need.

Clubs / Groups you should definitely look into: Atlanta Tri Club, ITL Coaching and Performance, Dynamo Multisport. Check out the race series Tri the Parks, really well organized sprint races that a lot of the local clubs come out to. Would be a good place to meet a lot of like-minded folks.

Swimming - Atlanta Tri Club swims at Mercer and Washington Park and has all ability levels. I know a couple of people who swim Emory Masters and enjoy it. Dynamo as well. ITL Swims super early at Concourse Athletic Club.

Running - There are a ton of run groups around, mostly based out of running stores. If you're in O4W or Midtown, the Beltline / Piedmont Park will be super convenient for running. Cheney Stadium is a great open to the public track.

Riding - There are some intown rides, depending on your comfort level. Atlanta isn't set up super well for intown riding, getting better though. Riding out to Stone Mountain and back is pretty straightforward and there are good routes. Gets your hills in too. Bud Plant, Gaps, Burnt Mountain up north, Silk Sheets down south for weekend rides.

Atlanta Cycling, Peachtree Bikes, Kinetix Cycling (in the Dynamo Complex) and Podium Multisport for shops.
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Re: I'm moving to Atlanta (I'M MOVING TO ATLANTA!!!) [jimmyh49aus] [ In reply to ]
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Welcome...all good info already provided. Emory masters is crowded when university swim team trains (early morning & afternoon Sep - March). Masters only gets few lanes but great pool as is GA Tech (think Swim Atlanta runsvthat one). Both Tech & Emory fairly close to your planned living area. Piedmont Park is decent for running and have .5 mile gravel oval on interior of park for intervals. VA Highland used to have group runs from George’s Deli on Wednesday evenings with beer to follow. grant Park ok area for running with the previously mentioned tartan track close by (used as training site for ‘96 Olympic Games). Podium Multisport shop close to Emory area and can clue you in on rides and is complete tri shop. Coach Hal has running group that has structured sessions on couple of tracks I believe. Google him.

On historical note, Australian Tony de Leede opened Australian Bodyworks in 80’s in ATL, made a bunch of $ and returned to Australia where think he is still active in health club community.
Last edited by: tyrod1: Jan 29, 19 9:51
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Re: I'm moving to Atlanta (I'M MOVING TO ATLANTA!!!) [ In reply to ]
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thickasabrick51 wrote:
Second, there are the rides near the Budweiser plant in Cartersville. This is about 30 miles from downtown, but with lots of open country, rolling hills (and a few decent little climbs) and mostly-friendly country drivers. The Budweiser plant is quite friendly to cyclists (you can park there) and even hosts a couple of Fondos/Century events each year and there are a variety of common rides there, from 15 miles to 100 or more. You can find more info here: https://rootsrated.com/...d-plant-ride-cycling .

In addition to the Bud Plant there is Sosebee Bike Park which has now taken half or more of the cyclists / triathletes with port-o-johns, changing rooms and seating areas. It is a few more miles from the Bud Plant. Located here https://goo.gl/maps/JQDabXuoeW82

I usually head to the Bud Plant since I live in that direction, but as others have mentioned living in mid town you can drive out to an urban area on about any side of Atlanta and find groups or long stretches of low traffic back roads. I often see several big tri clubs heading out from either location when the weather warms up. More of solo diehard or small groups during the colder months.

I also use the Comet when it suits me.
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Re: I'm moving to Atlanta (I'M MOVING TO ATLANTA!!!) [jimmyh49aus] [ In reply to ]
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Oops it was Coach Carl who has structures speed sessions. https://www.runningcoachcarl.com/group-workouts/
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