Southeast - Commute from Lindberg Station, Buckhead to Discovery Malls, Lawrenceville

Not sure if this belonged in the commuting forum or not, figured you guys would know the area better.

Anyone have any tips for planning a commute for this route? I'm going to take the 410 XPress bus out and then ride back.

Work is 1 mile from the Lindberg Station, home is 3 miles from Discovery Mills.

Google Maps Walking Directions suggests this:
http://snurl.com/3rkb7

Which seems to go through a lot of residential streets. Too many driveways?

Google Maps No-Highways Directions suggests this:
http://snurl.com/3rkbt

Which is just "straight down Bufford Highway" I'm not very familiar with this road, at least not out near Buckhead.

Any thoughts?

Good Luck with that. I'm sure RonH or some of the real Atlantans will know if it's a good idea.

Regardless of the route you choose, ride like they can't see you.

Michael

Work is 1 mile from the Lindberg Station, home is 3 miles from Discovery Mills.
Work?? Brad, I thought you worked from home. ;)

When I worked in Norcross I commuted from home (Decatur). My route was 14.5 miles one way.


On the google walking map:
Cheshire Bridge, Sheridan, Chamblee-Tucker, Tucker-Norcross, Singleton, and parts of Steve Reynolds are ok.
Briarcliff is mostly two lane and very busy. I've ridden it before and it will scare the crap out of any cyclist will little experience riding in traffic.
Henderson Mill and Evans both have a few GOOD hills.
My route to Norcross was along Lavista to Chamblee-Tucker. Much safer IMHO. Skip the turn on Henderson Mill and continue on Briarcliff to Lavista. Depending on the time of day you may see several commuters on Lavista. Follow Lavista to Chamblee-Tucker. Turn left onto C-T and follow it to Tucker-Norcross. Then continue on your route along Singleton.


On the google no-highway map:
Not sure if I would recommend riding on Buford highway. :eek: Most of the distance on is 4, 6, or 8 lanes but is very busy, especially between Buckhead and where it crosses Clairmont.

Have you driven on the full length of Buford Hwy? How about the other roads on the walking map?


If it will make you feel better :rolleyes: a few years ago a friend who lives in Grayson invited me out his way to accompany him on a Saturday "training ride". I thought we'd be riding on the back roads out his way. No!! We rode down Sugarloaf Parkway from Grayson to Discovery Mills. Went a few more miles and then turned around. :eek:

Send me a PM or email (ronhorne@att.net) if you want more info.

Awesome, thanks Ron! I swear, you must know every road in Atlanta. I haven't driven either route yet. I used to ride a bit of Bufford Highway, but it's much different out here in Gwinnett County, just one lane each way, mainly used by big rigs. I don't ride on it anymore.

I'll drive this tomorrow on the way home, it's the walking route with the Lavista to CT change:

http://snurl.com/3rmvv

Wednesday is the first day I can try this, by bike, so I've got a few tries to alter the route and drive it again.


Work?? Brad, I thought you worked from home. ;)

Someone made an offer I just couldn't refuse. It's a fun project but it sure is a change working in an office again! I haven't had to wear shoes in years, and why don't they make it so office windows open? I'm used to working with a breeze.

On the plus side though, I'm looking forward to commuting. If all goes as planned it's a guaranteed ride every day. Working from home I had a ride "planned" every day at 4:00. And, of course, every day at 4:00 the client would call with an urgent issue. :notamused:

Glad I could help. Hope you like the route. Let us know how it goes.

Not to hijack the thread, but I have been curious about starting to commute from my apartment downtown near Georgia Tech to the office which is pretty much on the corner of Roswell Road and Johnson Ferry in Marietta. Google maps shows that it is an 18 mile commute avoiding highways and is pretty much a straight shot up Peachtree then veering left when it forks off into Roswell Rd. in Buckhead. From there, I just turn onto Johnson Ferry and follow it out to the front door.

The thing that scares me most about this commute is that none of these roads are low-traffic by any means. Also, how much climbing are these roads going to involve? Do any of you Atlanta commuting gurus have a tip?

The thing that scares me most about this commute is that none of these roads are low-traffic by any means. Also, how much climbing are these roads going to involve? Do any of you Atlanta commuting gurus have a tip?
Most bike commutes DO NOT follow the usual roads you'd take if you were driving. Try google maps (don't ask me how 'cause I don't know but Brad does ;) ) or look on an Atlanta map to find direct or sort of direct roads that head in the direction you're going. Try to avoid traffic and hills whenever possible -- for both the morning and afternoon commute.
I'll look at a map and see if I can come up with a workable route.
Maybe Brad or another map guru will come up with something.


Do you mean Roswell Road and Johnson Ferry Road in Marietta or in Sandy Springs?

I have been curious about starting to commute from my apartment downtown near Georgia Tech to the office which is pretty much on the corner of Roswell Road and Johnson Ferry in Marietta.

Here is what Google maps shows for walking directions:

http://snurl.com/3saq9

I'm not familiar with any of the roads though.

At first glance it looks like a good route.
I guess I'm gunna have to learn how to use google maps. Are there any tutorials on google's website?

Most bike commutes DO NOT follow the usual roads you'd take if you were driving. Try google maps (don't ask me how 'cause I don't know but Brad does ;) ) or look on an Atlanta map to find direct or sort of direct roads that head in the direction you're going. Try to avoid traffic and hills whenever possible -- for both the morning and afternoon commute.
I'll look at a map and see if I can come up with a workable route.
Maybe Brad or another map guru will come up with something.


Do you mean Roswell Road and Johnson Ferry Road in Marietta or in Sandy Springs?
In Marietta.

Thanks for the directions, tbdean. Does the walking option factor in hills and low traffic roads?

bastarling,

I would just take Northside Drive up and then follow the second half of directions posted by tdbean from around Chastain Park. I believe parts of Northside drive in Buckhead even have bike lanes. That would be a nice commute!

bastarling,

I would just take Northside Drive up and then follow the second half of directions posted by tdbean from around Chastain Park. I believe parts of Northside drive in Buckhead even have bike lanes. That would be a nice commute!

I think I'm going to try doing this tomorrow, but I'm going to take Marta to the Dunwoody station and then bike the other 8 miles as opposed to doing all 18. I think it would probably be best to start out a little slower than to just go from a 0 to an 11 overnight. I might make it a goal to go one station less each week or so until I'm doing the whole thing. I don't think it would be impossible to do, I just don't want to underestimate the commute and then show up to work 2 hours late.

sashap, welcome to the Southeast Regional subforum and BikeForums. :beer:
What bike(s) do you ride and what parts of town do you ride in?

Thank you! I am actually fairly new to taking bicycling semi-seriously. Yet to do my work commute route on a non-weekend :) I live in Morningside and work around Windy Ridge/Windy Hill (not too far from Cumberland mall) area. I'd love to find a bike buddy who'd have a similar commute so we could ride in a small group once or twice a week to/from work. I have a Jamis Coda Sport bike and it's been good to me so far :thumb: