dspilot

I will be making a trip to Chatt. this weekend to see some family, and the wife has granted permission for me to take my bike along. I will be staying in Hixson at my bro. in law's house. I have often seen riders in the area on Robert's Mill Rd. and Levi Rd. I was just wondering if anyone could give me some good routes to ride in the area (20-30ish miles). I looked at the area on google, but am just not sure about traffic and such. Any help would be appreciated. Looks like the climb on Robert's Mill could be a good one!!

JustinThyme

Take a look at https://www.chattbike.com and look for the Red Bank routes. The Chattanooga Bike Club is a very active organization. If you visit Chattanooga a lot with an opportunity to ride get to know the members, it's very easy to do, and you can pick up a ride just about any time you visit.

Menel

I bike Mountain Creek Rd -> Suck Creek -> up Sequachee Valley -> Taft highway up over backside of Signal a lot.

Or sometimes out Mountain Creek and hook into the 3-State 3-Mountain Metric option route -> over Suck Creek, out around Nickajack lake, dip down into GA and back in through Chattanooga -> Manufacturer's Rd -> Pineville -> Runyan and then back to Mountain Creek.

Longer than 30 miles... but if I'm in the area, I'm gonna get some good climbs in.

All good low-mod traffic routes if your riding 7-11amish on a Sunday morning, at least that's my experience.

dspilot

Thanks for the help guys. I had two really good rides. My brother in law actually lives right on the Red Bank 20 mile ride that is listed on chattbikes website, so I did it the first day in the freezing cold early morning hours. I even talked him into tagging along for a small part of it. It was good to see him get his old Trek mountain bike out and knock the cobwebs off. The second day (Saturday), my niece and nephew had soccer games up on Signal, so I loaded the bike up and went along with everyone. After the games were over, I did some riding up there, and made my way back to his house. This one ended up being about 30 miles of absolutely gorgeous riding. And the descent down 127 was a blast too. Thanks for the advice.

Menel

That's gotta be a violation of some unspoken cycling rule, must not use motorized assistance to ascend a climb just for the thrill of descending it =P

I demand you return and climb 127 from both sides, and toss the W Road climb in there too!

dspilot

Actually, I was wondering after the fact, what would be the safest way(on a bicycle) to get up Signal. We drove up Roberts Mill, which does not seem bike friendly (for the climb anyway). I guess 127 might be OK being that it is plenty wide with passing lanes and all. I know the back end of 127 (up from Dunlap) would probably be OK, but that is way out of the way just to get up Signal. I don't know anything about the W road, or any other routes up the mountain.....what says the hive?

Menel

I've biked up the W Road first thing early in the morning when traffic is almost zilch. I wouldn't do it after 10 or 11am.

As mentioned before, I've gone over Suck Creek, and then come back over signal from the Dunlap, backside on 127 and it's fine. Only descended on the Chattanooga side of 127.

dspilot

Hey Menel, what about decent rides around Atlanta? I will possibly be there for a few days in December with some time to kill. I might even be able to bring my bike. I would be in the area of the Peachtree-DeKalb airport.

Velo Vol 

I remember seeing the W Road in my youth. Where is it?

Menel

Goes up the south side of Signal from Mountain Creek Rd.

Menel

That airport, and up and down Buford highway is major ghetto.

West of there in Brookhaven neighborhoods is nice, and far east across the interstate in N Druid Hills area (where I live) is nice.

If I'm looking for a fast solo ride, I ride out from there to Stone Mountain, do inner or outer loops, very hilly, good hill repeats, isolated from traffic. Or head south from there down to Arabia/Panola mountain area.

Very popular to ride from Decatur area to Stone mountain, there is a dedicated PATH, MUP that goes between them... but it's crappy and unsafe to be cycling on. Roads are much smoother. Locals use this route or some variation of:
https://www.mapmyride.com/route/us/ga...29003497546405

More social, I ride intown. Down through Decatur, Emory campus area and over into downtown Atlanta via Edgewood occasionally.

bikesbl.org has a calendar of rides. Rides going on almost every day of the week. Most are more social/casual pace. 10 to 14,16 mph though. But a neat way to see the various parts of the city.

Color coded maps of bike suitability of roads
Downtown/Midtown bike suitability map:
https://www.atlantabike.org/sites/def...bikemapBIG.pdf
Emory area:
https://bike.emory.edu/wp-content/upl...tymapfinal.pdf

dspilot

Thanks for all of that. I generally have an option on where to stay hotel-wise, I don't necessarily have to stay right at the airport, so I can get closer to some of these routes. I knew that the area right around the airport pretty much bites, so thanks again for the help.

JustinThyme

Mowbray Pike is a decent road to climb Walden's Ridge (Signal Mountain) but it will place you pretty far north of the Town of Signal Mountain. I'm not much of a climber so I haven't tried to tackle Roberts Mill but have been told to avoid it on descent because it's very hard on brakes. The W Road is probably the best place to climb and descend if your destination is the Town of Signal Mountain.

jbholcom

I know this is a little late, however I thought I would post anyway. I don't recommend traveling up or down the W road. It's slick, steep (on the W itself), and it's not wide enough for cars to pass simultaneously on the curves. I've seen people do it, but I wouldn't recommend it. I would go straight up the front of the mountain during the morning time (non-rush hour) and you'll be fine.