Questions about Alpharetta
 

Just had an on-phone interview with a company in Alpharetta. They seemed to like me.

So now I want to know more about Alpharetta. I'm mostly a utility rider but do the occasional recreational ride.

How are the bike stores?

Is there a local advocacy group?

What is the terrain like?

How are conditions for commuting and utility riding.

What is the local cycling community like?

How are the local trails?

Please just describe them, don't try to frighten me. I grew up in Florida and now ride in Arkansas, I know all about 3" bike lanes at the edge of the road and 20% grades on the commute. ;)

How are the bike stores?
There are a few really good shops on the north side of town.
Cycleworks
Free Flite
Roswell Bicycles
Peachtree Bikes (not near Alpharetta) but a GREAT shop.

Click here to see most all the bike shops.


Is there a local advocacy group?
Atlanta Bicycle Coalition
Georgia Bikes
Southern Bicycle League - a semi cycling advocacy org with a great ride calendar.


What is the terrain like?
rolling to hilly


How are conditions for commuting and utility riding.
Not the best. Very few bike lanes.


What is the local cycling community like?
Everything from hard core roadies to mtn bikers to commuters to SSFG hipsters to recreational riders. You'll see riders of all ages.


How are the local trails?
Mtn bike trails? See www.sorba.org. There are a few great mtn bike trails that I been to. Blankets Creek is a favorite. Georgia International Horse Park has a good trail system. http://www.gwinnettcounty.com/portal...ellowRiverPark
is another favorite

Paved trails? See www.pathfoundation.org.
Silver Comet Trail is on the NW side of town. Great trail once you get about 8-10 miles out. It connects with the Chief Ladiga Trail at the GA-AL state line.
The Atlanta Beltline is still under construction. Some sections are complete.
The Atlanta-Stone Mtn trail runs from downtown Atlanta to Stone Mountain. SM is a popular destination for roadies and recreational riders. Free admission for walkers and riders. You have to pay to drive into the park.

Thanks Ron,

I had discovered Bike Alpharetta already. Sounds like the terrain can't be worse than west Little Rock which is in the foothills of the Ouachita mountains. As I am mostly a utility cyclist and car-free, the big variables for me were the conditions of the roads and the temperment of the drivers. Your description helps.

Most drivers think bicycles are toys and don't belong on the road. Even though GA has had the 3 feet when passing law since last July, too many motorists pass REALLY close and often too fast.
Atlanta was voted the least bicycle friendly city in the country in 2003/4? by Bicycling magazine so what would you expect.
Roswell (just south of Alpharetta) is a bronze level bicycle friendly community.
--> http://www.bikeleague.org/programs/b...iendlyamerica/

Alpha Bikes is just around the corner from where I work and they are pretty good.
But Ron is correct about the Alpharetta/Atlanta bike friendliness. Lots a big SUV's and clueless soccermom's not paying attention to the road. There is the Big Creek Greenway in Alpharetta which will eventually connect to another greenway in Fulton. Should be over 30 miles once its complete. For an area that really isn't very cycling friendly, they take that greenway pretty seriously and they are always working on it.

http://www.bigcreekgreenway.com/index.php/maps/

That's good. I also threw out this question to the forums at City-Data. Very consistently, they felt that being car-free was a nobel yet quixotic idea. I assume that none of the posters have actually been car-free though.

Thank goodness for Google maps. I just spent a little time looking at the roads near the company address. It's pretty much what I was expecting, 3" wide bike lanes on the right of the white stripe.

I did notice that there's talk about building the Marta rail out to Alpharetta, but it sounded like talk is as far as things have gotten. I go out for a face-to-face interview in a couple of weeks, maybe then I can check things out a little better.

If Little Rock is anything like NW Arkansas then you won't have much trouble with the hills around Alpharetta. I live in Roswell (right beside Alpharetta) and the mayor is a fan of cycling so there is a lot of effort to promote cycling. However, the traffic is nuts all over metro Atlanta so you're always going to run into impatient and frustrated drivers that view cyclists as just another obstacle slowing them down. I do know a guy that used to commute fairly regularly from Marietta to Norcross although he did get hit by a car (broken arm - it didn't stop him from continuing to commute). I've never commuted to work due to reluctance to fight traffic but on the weekends and after say 6:30pm, you can find some great rides in Roswell, Alpharetta, Hickory Flat, etc. And you can get to the north GA mtns in about an hour if you want to inflict some pain to the legs and get some great views.

Little Rock isn't quite as hilly as NWA, but the side I live on is in the foothills of the Ouachita mountains, so it's not exactly flat. The other side of Little Rock is in the Mississippi delta and it's very flat. The streets in Little Rock aren't the best. They are what pushed me into bicycle advocacy. Though I notice that straight streets are fairly hard to come by in Alpharetta, which I assume is because of the terrain.

Alpharetta has the Big Creek Greenway. About 8 miles now from the Windward developments south to the edge of Roswell. There is a speed limit and it is busy with pedestrians in the evenings, but it is a very nice ride. Will eventually connect to Big Creek Greenway in Forsyth County, That is currently 7 miles. It has a lot of wooden board walks as it goes through a lot of wetland habitat. Skinny, high pressure tires are out for that stretch, but the 26X1.5 that I roll on work fine. The total when complete will be about 35 and will go from Roswell to near Cumming.

If your place of work would be near one of these greenway trails it might very well be possible to find an apartment, house or condo near the trail allowing a pleasant commute.

Looks like it is fun to ride. It looks like work is a ways north of the trail. My regular commuter is a streetified mountain bike, so it should do fine.