Decatur is often times one of the places where we start rides in to Atlanta by paralleling the Marta line. There is also the "Decatur Death Ride" -- a must do event.

Anyway, Atlanta is a big urban city.... so like all big urban cities it does have its warts. Discourteous drivers, congestion on the main arteries during peak traffic hours and when ever there is construction, rain or an accident -- the latter almost always accompanying the two former conditions. However, as big as it is, the traffic is not nearly as bad as Los Angeles or Chicago. What is perplexing are some of the driver habits -- such as insanely fast traffic flow speeds (75-80ph common in 55 - 65mph zones) and the occasional ultra-speed freak snaking through traffic at 90+ with 2 or three idiots trailing behind under the premise that the lead car will get the ticket.

There's an old joke about Atlanta's vehicle speeds on the highways that goes something like this, "A guy flys into Atlanta and hops on the 285 loop to get to the North side of town and is immediately overwhelmed by the speed of the traffic as it screams past him even though he's 10mph over the speed limit. Like many 1st timers to Atlanta he misses his exit and decides to pull off the "Loop" to get directions at a gas station. When he pulls in to the station, four guys run out to his car, jack it up, change the tires, fuel it up and throw him a bottle of Gatoraide and tell him -- don't worry, you'll get the hang of this thing in a few more laps".

Anyway, back to cycling and Atlanta, I've lived here since '91 and believe the cycling opportunties are as good and plentiful as any major city in the US. You can ride in-town on Sundays with relative ease and there are some very challenging inside-the-loop rides on the North side of town -- the Airport Ride is the racer-boys Sunday ride and the Buckhead Bellyache is one of the most popular weeknight rides. However, in-town riding is not the place to "learn" how to ride. Urban cycling demands sharp bike handling skills, fast reaction time and an intense amount of attention and metal alertness. Therefore, beginners and intermediates should look to hone their skills by hooking up with an existing organized ride group -- inside or outside the loop. The Atlanta Cycling bike shops all have weekend rides that cover in-town residential areas, e.g., The Vinings Loop through Buckhead, the Brookhaven Ride, the Sandy Springs ride, etc.... Keep in mind, many of the in-town rides around Atlanta are quite challenging as Atlanta has more than its fair share of hills. We've hit 53mph coming down Northside Drive on our tandems.

Outside the loop you'll find that almost every major suburban area -- Marietta, Roswell, Gwinnett, Peachtree City, Tucker & Covington -- has at least one major weekend and/or weeknight ride.

Off-road single track is available within 30 minutes of Atlanta in several different directions: Yellow River & Conyers Horsepark to the East, Newnan to the Southwest, Blankets Creek to the Northwest and if you're willing to drive an hour or so you can find excellent riding throughout the North Georgia mountains.

For road riding, once you are outside of the 285 loop almost every major city has a loop that head away from town into more rural areas that are also excellent, although urban sprawl is catching up and putting more "family traffic" on these roads. We can easily ride a metric century from our doorstep on a Saturday morning and we'll see a car about once every mile or so on average. Silk Sheets is a popular ride in South Fulton County and, again, you may see a car once every 5 minutes or so over 60 miles of riding. If you're willing to drive an hour or so from downtown the options are even more incredible -- the North Georgia mountains, Rutledge/Social Circle/Madison/Buckhead to the East, Covington to the West, Fayetteville to the South and Cartersville to the Northeast all provide some great routes.

Even though I'm not a fan or user of them, there are some excellent MUPs in Atlanta -- The Atlanta PATH and the Silver Comet Trail.

So, yes, if you want to focus on the negatives associated with large urban areas then Atlanta does indeed suck. However, if you can look past the negatives the positives are plentiful -- even for cyclists.