Southeast - How's the cyling scene in Athens, Ga

Greetings all. I accepted a job with the USDA in Athens, Ga and am moving down there in a few weeks from the Chicago area. Looking to rent on the Southeast side of town. Any suggestions, recommended bike shops, clubs. I am mostly a roadie.

Athens has a great cycling community. The Hub is well thought of. Check out www.winterbikeleague.com.

Athens has a great cycling community. The Hub is well thought of.
+1

http://www.bikeathens.com/
http://www.cyclenittygritty.org/

There are some great state parks for riding in neighboring counties too if you're more interested in off-road...check out Watson's Mill (Madison Co) and Fort Yargo (Barrow Co). :)

http://gastateparks.org/info/watson/

http://gastateparks.org/net/go/parks.aspx?LocationID=61&s=0.0.0.5

I hope you enjoy the job and the town! You should enjoy the weather in the winter... in the summer, it's brutal, but biking will acclimate you. I lived in Athens for 15 yrs and moved an hour away a couple of years ago, so I'm not up on rentals, etc. but I would avoid any of the big apartment multiplexes as they tend to be rundown and inhabited by students and some complexes are quiet, but you never know... so I would just rent a house. You won't have any trouble finding one especially if you're looking now. It gets crazy in the spring, but you'll always have the advantage over a student.

As far as biking goes, they have some really good biking groups. They have a critical mass ride that goes out once a week and you'll find info on that at flagpole.com... it's a free newspaper that you can find all over town. I do business with cyclesports on Baxter Street and I love their products, but the salespeople seem to be disinterested college students... but that's the worst thing I have to say about them... I've been to the Hub (which is a small shop at the intersection of Lumpkin Street/Milledge Avenue.... at the back of the Aroma coffee/winehouse. Hard to find at first.) and they were friendlier, but I've never bought there. Back in the day I went to Sunshine Bikes which is downtown at the Washington St/Pulaski St intersection, I think.

In April there's a big bike fest... The Twilight Fest. They have a bike race downtown which is really exciting.

As far as the streets of Athens, go.. yikes! the southeast side of town would be Lexington Rd (too busy for bikes), Gaines School Rd (maybe but still busy), etc. In fact there aren't many streets I feel comfortable riding on... but when the students are gone it's doable. Everybody drives too fast so I would be leery unless I was doing a critical mass ride... but I do ride in neighborhoods and will event take busy roads when conditions are right... and you see people riding so I guess some have better nerves than I do.

Anyway, sorry for the long post, but here are all of my Athens area links:
http://www.bikesbl.org/ biking in Georgia
http://www.georgiabikes.org/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabid=74 bike tours in Georgia
http://www.georgiabikes.org/
http://www.georgiabikes.org/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabid=30 bike ride calender
http://bicyclegeorgia.com/gac.html
http://www.coastalcyclists.org/regional.htm
http://www.a1trails.com/biking/bk_evso.html
http://www.bikeathens.com/about/board.htm
http://www.blueridgebicycleclub.org/links.html
http://www.greenvillespinners.org/
http://bikeathens.blogspot.com/
http://web.georgia.org/events/
http://btp.smugmug.com/Sports
http://www.n-georgia.com/bike_trails.htm
http://www.clarke.public.lib.ga.us/
http://dawgfood.wordpress.com/
http://www.dailyhangover.com/
http://athenscine.com/intro.php
http://www.carriagehouseathens.com/42/dsp_agent_page.php/21658/Property_Management/Athens_Ga_Condostownhousesand_homes_for_rent
http://www.nancyflowers.com/homes-for-rent-1.html
http://www.weleaseathens.com/
http://www.offcampusrealty.com/rental/index.html

BRAG - Bicycle Ride Across Georgia second week in June. Goes through Athens this year.

Go say hi to Fred...the Fred.. the Original "Fred".


Athens resident and University graduate Fred Birchmore has done more in one lifetime than most people could even imagine.

He was the first man to ride a bicycle around the world

http://www.onlineathens.com/stories/072107/gymnastics_20070721041.shtml

http://media.www.redandblack.com/media/storage/paper871/news/2005/02/21/News/Daring.Athens.Native.93.Years.Young-2572547.shtml

As a Gator I hate to say it, but Athens is an awesome town. And you will be a very short drive from the 6-Gap area with some very nice climbing.

And you really need to check out the Twilight Crit, even as a spectator. You will be amazed.