I will be moving to Alpharetta, GA tomorrow and I am looking for some advice on where to train, for swimming I can see there is a life time fitness gym about 5min away and also a YMCA, any thought on those? how about monthly fees? For reference I am staying close to the north point mall, also I’m looking for natural trails to run on week days (40 - 60min) I try as much as I can to avoid concrete or paved streets, any track open to the public? I was checking on google maps there are some schools near me but not sure if the track is accessible to visitors, I see Web bridge middle school, Alpharetta HS, St Francis HS, Cambridge HS, anyone running in any of those? also I can see for long rides there is the Silver comet trail, is it good to be on aero bars all the time and at constant speed? and for long runs any scenic place or long trails worth the driving? I don’t mind driving up to 45min on weekends for long runs. Also would be interested in joining a tri club. Any help is appreciated!
Good location. Many triathletes - especially out of Lifetime Fitness. LA Fitness options too.
Running/biking trail near there called Greenway I think. Might be a better place to run on the ground next to the trail rather than bike. There is a better bike trail that goes from Alpharetta to Cumming except for a slippery stretch over a wooden bridge.
There is Mary Alice Park in Cumming GA where triathletes swim at the beach and then hop on their bike or run from there. Bathroom facility is primitive though. My favorite is Bolding Mill Park near Gainesville GA where I swim around the island, ride Cool Springs Rd and then run from the park. Let me know if you are in the area.
Roswell is a great cycling town as the mayor is a cyclist. Check out Roswell Bikes as there are fast rides put on by that shop. Also along the Chattahoochee River in Roswell and Cobb County, there are parks and bike lanes for several miles that are heavily used.
North Atlanta is very tri-friendly and All-3-Sports and the Concourse Club serve the high end triathlete. Roswell has a Performance Bike. Plenty of bike stores.
You will be in good shape.
There is Mary Alice Park in Cumming GA
One of the few things I miss about living in GA, that and Taco Mac.
Great place to be moving to. Check out Swim Atlanta’s masters program (located just north of Alpharetta). I also believe there is a new aquatics center in Swannee with a 50 meter pool. A good number of triathletes in the Swim Atlanta group that can help with ride routes and will ride after swim occasionally. Dynamo use to run a outdoor masters program during the summer in Alpharetta which was great as well.
Lots of riding options leaving from Alpharetta. LTF use to run weekday rides and were open to members and non-members. Could catch a few rides to get your bearings on the ride routes and then start expanding from there as you become familiar with the area. I never rode silver comet as it can get congested with runners, etc.
Most high schools use to keep track open but that has seemed to change recently. Alpharetta HS was my go to location.
Like everyone else said, the Alpharetta/Roswell/John’s Creek area is a great place to train.
Dynamo offers masters practices at 2 different locations–one in town and one in Alpharetta. Swim Atlanta has a pool in Roswell (about 10 minutes from North Point Mall) and one in John’s Creek, and there is also a brand new aquatic center in Forsyth County. Many of the gyms around there (ie: Lifetime, LA Fitness) also have pools. For open water, I like Mary Alice Park and Redtop Mountain. Boat traffic is heavy in the summer, but many of the local tri clubs have OWS workouts on weekends.
There are good biking options locally and a short drive away. The area along the river has miles of bike lanes and connects to some lower-traffic residential areas like Mountain Park. There are markings at turns for a few of the local routes. Columns Drive is also really popular with the triathlete crowd and has a gravel running trail as well. Bike Roswell offers a few group ride options during the week, as does Reality Bikes in Cumming. Many weekends you will find groups driving to Cartersville or the gaps to ride. The Silver Comet is ok, but I find that it is either incredibly isolated or overly crowded depending on where you start your workout.
High school tracks are typically open on weekends and some days after school, but their track season starts soon and many of them will be closed for practices or meets. The Greenway is a multi-purpose trail that extends 8+ miles and has bathrooms and water fountains. It does get crowded, but I like to use it for long runs and speedwork early in the mornings. The Greenway also connects to Big Creek Park, which has a 1.4 mile packed gravel pedestrian trail and miles of mountain biking trails–great for trail running and hill workouts. As far as other locations with soft surface running options go, you can check out Leita Thompson Memorial Park (~2 miles), Sweetapple (1 mile gravel loop–use it for mile repeats), Roswell Area Park (1.5 mile trail–they also have a LCM pool), and Webb Bridge Park (used for county XC meet). The area along the river also has a trail system that is a mix of pavement and dirt.
I live in Smyrna, so I can’t help with local stuff in Alpharetta, but I can tell you that there is no shortage of opportunities for rides & runs in the metro area. Here are a few thoughts:
Swim - I belong to the Buckhead Y, but I can swim at almost any Y in the nation with that membership. Membership for my whole family is about $60 a month. When it gets warmer, there are open water swims about every other weekend (or more) in both Lake Allatoona & Lake Lanier. I go to the ones at Red Top Mountain. Shoot me a PM if you want the contact info to get on their mailing list.
Bike - The gaps, the Bud Plant, Silver Comet. There is no shortage of places for good long rides. I live on the SCT, so I ride there often. You can get aero pretty easy. On nice weekends, there are more people (walkers, joggers) to avoid, but they are almost always at the trailhead, so once you get out a few miles, it’s all open.
Run - Join the Atlanta Track Club. You get free races all year with their Grand Prix, guaranteed entry in the Peachtree Road Race, & it’s the best deal you can get in the city. Plus, it is the second largest track club in the nation.
Clubs - There are several really good clubs. I belong to the Atlanta Triathlon Club. There is the North Georgia Tri Club, Peachtree Tri Club, and several others. I’m biased in that I think ATC is the best one, but it all depends on what you want in a club. We have an info session on March 7th if you are interested in learning more.
Also, if you need a bike guy, I can’t recommend Curtis at Cannon Cyclery more highly. He’s the only one who can touch my bike. He is more of a service guy than a bike shop, but he can get stuff if you need it.
Added bonus, he is located right by where you are moving.
If you’re going to be riding group rides close to where you’ll be living you’ll most likely end up on Campground road. It’s 3 or so exits up 400 from the mall. It’s a nice pretty flat stretch for 8 to 10 miles. And there’s a lot of spurs you can take off of it. Lots of people riding aero on the weekends.
Saturday mornings there’s the Webb Bridge ride that leaves right across from Lifetime Fitness. You can get pretty much all you want to eat there. A1, A2, B rides.
And the Wednesday night ride at Reality Bikes is typically a good time with groups of all levels. And I hear tell they’ve got a really good tri team. 
Check out this link for rides around town.
Alpharetta has some great areas to train. You’ll end up getting pissed off at the group rides (Lifetime Fitness, Reality, Webb Bridge) that ride 3 abreast on Campground, the friggin foreigners swimming at the local LTF, and the fact that if we get an inch of rain, the Greenway is flooded. Other than that, it’s swell.
I just moved from that area not too long ago. My wife worked at the Lifetime on John’s Creek while we were there. It’s a super nice facility, but a bit pricey. I think membership is something like $110 per month. However, it is a 24 hour a day club, so you don’t have to plan your training around anyone’s schedule. There are also some ultra distance run groups that do weekly runs. Most of where they run is out a place called the fish hatchery trails near Lake Lanier. Good group. They will do loops out there so you don’t have to commit to a ridiculous number of miles to run with them.
I think what you’ve probably gathered from all of this is that, yes, there is plenty of places around here to train.
Much will have to do with your commute, work hours, family demands.
There are group rides everywhere. Good ones, and bad ones. Good rides, with a few bad riders, who you will learn of quickly. And, bad rides that have some very experienced & strong riders. Every night when it warms up. All within riding distance or driving distance. Rolling hills everywhere. Double yellow lines that get ignored everywhere. Please make the group you ride with look good by doing your part.
Swimming, masters workouts all over the place, from Dynamo to Swim Atlanta to Y’s to Lifetime Fitness. Lifetime’s pools are 24/7 so if you’re an early riser or late after work, that’s helpful.
Running, go to any of the local running shops and they’ll point you in the direction of group runs or trails.
I’m not gonna toot anybody’s horn b/c they all are very helpful and encouraging to new peeps, in my experience.
Basically, once you settle in, try a couple of those rides listed in sadlebred. Hit up the running store. Plenty of places for you to try swimming, just use the world wide web to find facility/hours/commute easiest for you.
And, in that area, you may not need anything more than talking to your new neighbors. Odds are that you’ll notice pretty quickly someone/some people zipping along on race rigs or dancing up the hills in their running gear. Just introduce yourself in a non creeper mode and see where/when they train!
Welcome.
http://www.cyclenorthgeorgia.com/index.php/the-rides/six-gap-century
The Gaps are 25 miles north and worth the drive for cycling.
http://www.dynamoswimclub.com/
Dynamo for Masters & Open Swim (Alpharetta location)
http://www.nps.gov/kemo/index.htm
Kennesaw Mountain about 40 minutes West, but great trails for runs of 5 - 22 miles.
I live off Waters Road, train at LTF Alpharetta or Johns Creek depending on my day, run the Greenway and bike out of Cartersville Bud Plant. Awesome setup. I pay $68 per month for single membership at Alpharetta, and can use JC whenever.
I stopped riding campground and other local rides because too many drivers are either distracted or looking to buzz cyclists. Cartersville is beautiful farms and cow pastures with few cars. It’s a haul, but well worth it. My LBS is Cycleworks, guy named Amos who rides competitively.
The greenway is fantastic. Some sun, some shade, curves, quiet, water fountains to refill everything you’d want to get lost in a long run. Some folks bike it but I find there are too many dogs, kids, and people not thinking.
PM me if you have specific questions.
I will be moving to Alpharetta, GA tomorrow and I am looking for some advice on where to train, for swimming I can see there is a life time fitness gym about 5min away and also a YMCA, any thought on those? how about monthly fees? For reference I am staying close to the north point mall, also I’m looking for natural trails to run on week days (40 - 60min) I try as much as I can to avoid concrete or paved streets, any track open to the public? I was checking on google maps there are some schools near me but not sure if the track is accessible to visitors, I see Web bridge middle school, Alpharetta HS, St Francis HS, Cambridge HS, anyone running in any of those? also I can see for long rides there is the Silver comet trail, is it good to be on aero bars all the time and at constant speed? and for long runs any scenic place or long trails worth the driving? I don’t mind driving up to 45min on weekends for long runs. Also would be interested in joining a tri club. Any help is appreciated!.
Check out north georgia tri club. They seem to be more long course oriented, but lots of FB posts looking for group S/b/r. Wouldn’t recommend Atlanta Tri Clu unless you plan on driving into Atlanta for all of their events and group activities. Lifetime Alpharetta has a bustling Tri scene.
Last I checked, you could get onto the the Alpharetta HS track and it is close to both Lifetime and the YMCA if you wanted to double dip. The old Milton HS near downtown Alpharetta has a track that is open, but it is a bit dilapidated. I like to run on the Forsyth Greenways vs the Alpharetta Greenways as it has a lot of wood Boardwalk. Some concrete sections in between the boardwalk. The Big Creek mountain bike trails has good trail running as well. A little rocky and rooty though. Better trail running a bit north at Haw Creek, Sawnee Mtn and Charleston Parks. South at Sope Creek. A little further NE at Gainesville college and Chicopee Woods. Kennesaw mountain is worth a drive, but it’s a haul. A few posts above addressed the soft surface trails: Webb bridge, Roswell area park, Leta Thompson, sweetapple (exactly one mile trail-both Roswell and Milton HS track and XC use this often), and there is a short one down by the Chattahoochee river. Milton HS’s on-site XC course is good as well, but known as one of the tougher around.
Tons of group rides, but as another post above stated, law abiding is optional. Seems that I hear about a crash on a group ride about every week too. Silver Comet is perfect for being in aero at a constant speed. Be careful for the first 4-5 miles if you begin at the start, especially on the inward bound leg. Lots of kids, dogs, and people on phones. Would second the recommendation for Curtis Henry at Cannon Cylcery for fit and maintenance. Most knowledgable wrench around and won’t nickel and dime you.
GA Trail runners at www.getguts.com. Good trails near you at Jones Bridge NRA along the Chattahoochee and up near Fish Hatchery at Buford Dam (ran there today). Also trails at Lake Lanier, Sweetwater State Park, Red Top Mtn, Ft. Yargo State Park, Dawson Forrest, and hundreds of miles in N GA along the AT. Fantastic trail running. Plus easy to get up to Chattanooga or Asheville for weekend adventures.
For swimming, folks already mentioned Mary Alice at Lanier, or around Buford Dam at Lanier. LFT, LA Fit, Y, Cumming. Tons of places.
Biking you have easy access up GA400 to Gaps. Annual 3 and 6 Gaps rides in Sept. Can’t miss them. Century rides most weekends in the summer.
Join ATC as somebody mentioned for road racing. 2nd largest club in the country. Peachtree is largest race in the US.
Tons of good tri and bike shops and clubs.
Tri the Parks is local tri series that runs through the summer. Easy access to races in FLA, NC, SC, TN, AL as well. Today it was 67, so plenty of rides in the “winter.” Good luck
I visit Alpharetta frequently for work, Taco Mac, not impressed.
Then again, I pretty much live in Mexico, so there’s that.
I visit Alpharetta frequently for work, Taco Mac, not impressed.
Then again, I pretty much live in Mexico, so there’s that.
What does Mexico have to do with wing place?
LMAO, confused Taco Nun with La Perrilla, had to Google it. Co-worker suggested Taco Nun and ended up at the Mexican food place, got them confused.
Carry on. (It has to be better than Wild Wing, I think you can smoke in there, staaaank).
Thanks everyone for your replies, definitively I have all the information I need to get started.