I will be traveling through Atlanta this weekend and need to get in a four hour ride. How is the trail that leaves Midtown and goes to Stone Mountain? If I get our early enough, is it feasible to ride the path with limited foot traffic? Bike paths aren’t ideal but I’m wondering if it will work in lieu of finding low traffic roads.
Thanks for the feedback.
Well like you said, bike paths aren’t ideal but it could work. I frequently jumped on the road that ran parallel to it. Felt safer there. Then I’d do several laps around SM.
You could always hit up the silver comet trail on the NW side of town. That would take care of 4 hours easily.
If you have a car and can start on the Comet at Floyd Rd after a 15 minute warmup you can pretty much hammer out towards rockmart. Very low traffic early in the morning. the first 4 miles of the comet are the busy parts
I’m not sure which part of Atlanta you are staying, but I would strongly warn you against the bike paths. They turn into zoos on the weekends.
Just outside the perimeter on the west side there is some very good, low traffic riding. Here is a link to one of the marked routes: http://www.sadlebred.com/maps/silksheets2.pdf
About 45 minutes outside the perimeter on the north-side there is very good riding in Cartersville out of the Budweiser plant. There is a 15, 33, 68, and 100 mile options that are all really well marked. Here is a link to the location of the brewery where you can park: http://goo.gl/maps/LhkpX
Of the two, the Cartersville option is easier to navigate, but both are very well marked.
Hope this helps
I would go Cartersville from a pure riding standpoint. Great mix of hills. Plus, the storm this past weekend hammered the Silver Comet Trail and there were about 6-7 trees down and tons of debris in a 8 mile section of the trail (mile 11-20ish). I don’t know if it will be cleaned up by the weekend. Probably but you never know.
If you go to SCT plan on starting by 6:30 AM and cooling down the last 7 miles. As another person said, it gets to be a circus out there on the weekends.
I did the midtown to stone mountain ride earlier this year and thought it was a fun route. The path wasn’t that crowded the day I was on it. My favorite route is the silk sheets ride another poster linked to earlier.
4 hr ride in ATL is gonna be a hassle. Even if you go to Stone Mountain, too many loops to get that time in, IMO.
Several options, as others have recommended well. Silver Comet Trail, Silk Sheets, NW Atl has good rides, and I’m over by Lake Lanier and we routinely knock out 3-5 hr rides on good roads with little traffic headaches. We ride early if you wanna join.
Are you looking for a group ride (see the previously mentioned sadlebred link) or just steady time in the saddle?
It’s an hour north, but these are the pride of Atlanta.
http://www.cyclenorthgeorgia.com/index.php/the-rides/six-gap-century
Also see http://sadlebred.com/ you could add miles to the Vinings Saturday ride or Sunday Airport ride.
Are you comfortable on a fast group ride (75+ people)? If so, Tucker is your answer. Ride starts at Tucker High School at 9am. Actual ride will be 2 hours or less depending on how fast we roll. There are a ton of people who ride out from town, do the ride, and roll back. Will be right around 4hrs.
Full disclosure, ride is fast roadies. If you have a TT bike, hang towards the back for safety of all.
If you are interested, let me know. You can roll with a couple of us out to the ride. We leave town at 8 and am back in the door just before 12. Best bang for your buck ride.
Cheers
JW
The only issue with this ride is if you get dropped and you don’t know the route. It is not really marked at all. It can be FAST depending on who shows up.
Silk Sheets and the map link above is a great ride. You will definitely see other riders, can go at your own pace and is really rural - with rolling roads and farm land. You can easily get a 4 hour ride here.
If you like group rides- there is a Tucker ride- approximately 46 miles- with a Faster Group that leaves Tucker, GA (intersection Main St and Lynburn in Tucker GA at 9:00AM. There is a slower group that leaves at 8:30AM. The faster group can have over 100 riders and the slower group can have over 40 riders. Average Pace is 24 ish and 21 ish for the rides respectively. Rolling terrain. These rides are mainly roadies, so if you have aero bars, just don’t use them while in the pack.
Map of the ride: http://www.sadlebred.com/maps/Tuckercue.pdf There is actually another 4 miles that is from Irwin to Farmer Rd (the ride has been extended since this cue sheet was done)- but this cue sheet should help you if you get lost.
They’re right. The Tucker ride would be perfect cuz it’s in the same vicinity as what you started this thread with. Yes, it is aggressive. Those who aren’t familiar with it often start strong and fade. If you choose to go that route, it might be wise just to stay in the middle of the pack since you don’t know which rollers are longer, etc. Most of the wrecks in that group have to do with folks overstaying (and overcooking) in the front and then decompensating soon after.
Point is… as an out of towner, blend, don’t go out there to impress.
note: I fully understand that you could be as strong as Taylor Phinney and could crush everyone out there, lapping them twice. I’m assuming that you’re strong enough to do well but not that kind of well. Forgive me if I’m wrong.
Go north to Cartersville and ride from the Bud Plant (just do NOT pee or get naked in the parking lot!). Marked routes of 15, 31, 48, 66, and 105 miles - rolling hills, country roads, low traffic, but watch for the occasional dog. Here is a link to the website for the century ride (Beautiful Backroads Century) that includes cue sheets for the routes, but really you can just follow the road markings: http://bikebbc.com/?page_id=31
Here are directions:
From the South: I-75 exit 296. Turn right off exit and turn right at first light. Follow Busch Dr. to brewery. Turn left into brewery and right into the parking lot.
The “path” from Midtown to Stone Mt isn’t a solid path the whole route - some of it will be on the path and some on the road. I ride out to Stone Mt a lot to ride from my house (but only on the road, none on the path) but as someone else said, you’ll be doing a lot of laps once you get to the park for a 4 hour ride and deal with a lot of traffic lights on the ride out and back. The Silver Comet is okay since you really can’t get lost and there are bathrooms and water along the path, but it’s flat, boring, and near the main trail heads you’ll have to watch for runners, walkers, families taking up the whole path, dog leashes stretching across the path, etc.
I am in North Georgia about 2 hours outside of Atlanta, which is probably out of the way for you, but lots of great roads…(6 gap)…on Sunday however, a group of us meet at the velodrome in East Point for a motorpacing, etc., workout (weather permitting)…we are usually there 4 to 6 hours if you want to check it out…
Are there ever any organized groups that meet to do 6 or 3 Gaps on the weekends? Would love to have a group as I do not know the routes.
I’d be interested as well.
There are some rides that leave from my restaurant or from the bike shop in Blairsville, GA., and they tend to hit the gaps once or twice a month…I will talk with some of the guys and see what’s up with the gap rides…