General Cycling Discussion - Question for Atlanta area riders

I have a friend who has recently emigrated from
South Africa to Atlanta and he is interested
in getting into some organized group rides in the
Atlanta area. I would imagine he is looking for
a fast paced group.
As far as I can tell he hasn't blundered in here yet
although I told him all about BikeForums.
any help would be appreciated.

Marty

Marty,

Here are a few websites with contact, calendar, and ride information.

MACC (http://www.maccattack.com/contact.html)

http://bicycletech.com/atlanta.htm

Bicycle Club of Atlanta (http://www.bicyclesouth.com/bicyclesouth/index.htm).
Click on "community" for BCA.

Southern Bicycle League ride calendar (http://www.bikesbl.org/calendar/viewcal.html).
Click on a date for rides that day. There is contact information for each ride and type of ride (moderate, strenuous, training) information is listed.

There is also a large group (at least 50) that meets every Saturday morning at Tucker High School. They leave promptly at 10am. They are not very friendly (sociable), they are into hard riding! They average 20-22 mph and ride about 45 miles. There is no contact information, just show up. If a rider can't keep up he may be dropped. Not good for someone new to Atlanta. These guys are 20-25 years old. Too young and too fast for me. :(

What part of town will he be living in?
Hope this helps. If he wants more information you or he can send me a PM or email.

Ron

Marty,
Most LBS know where the local training rides take place. Also, a search on cycling Atlanta at yahoogroups.com turned up 4 cycling email groups in Atlanta. Might be a place to start.
Regards,
Raymond

Hello;

Ron H gave the best resource which is the SBL site. Here in Atlanta you can always find a group ride. I'm new to Road Biking and I found that the Coffee and Bagel Ride out of Marietta Square on Saturday mornings is a great ride. So it really depends on where your friend is located and he will need to try some of the rides out to see which ones will fit his level. For example the Buckhead Bellyache on thursdays is a real hammer of a ride from what I hear. Anyways here is the C&B Home Page.
http://www.coffeeandbagel.com/

Tell Your Friend to come out and Ride, New riders are always welcome.

If he wants to travel a little North West of Atlanta tell him to check out cvca.org. Some very nice riding and pretty fast groups.