dru_

Depends upon what you want. There is a group over in Roswell/Milton that rides year round on Thursday nights @ 6:30PM. Yes, they start in the dark in the winter and ride a 20 mile loop of the area. Good lights and some cool weather gear and go. Very welcoming. It is not a ride about who can go the fastest, but instead about the people, the rehydration at the pub after the ride and mostly just getting in some miles. The skill levels are all over the map, but that doesn't matter.

I am in the Milton area, and I've been riding in and around metro Atlanta for 3 decades now. I've ridden in a bunch of other cities around the US, and truthfully, it's not any worse here than in other cities ( Orlando is arguably worse, tourists #facepalm ).

By the way, I personally 'Respect' the damage a car can do to me, but I think that riding 'in fear' is more dangerous than anything else. Too often fear leads us to ride in a manner that makes it easy for cars to not see us, or worse to believe that we are giving up our space in a lane.

But more to your point, you are fearful because of the incidents you hear about, but consider the sheer number of accidents and fatalities in that same space in cars. The difference? they are not newsworthy, and so we don't hear about them. Much of our fear stems from this. We get into cars without thinking about the risks, and yet it 1 in 100 of us will die in a car.

Feldman

Around here (Portland, OR metro area) there is no road cycling situation that can be remotely as scary as driving a car on the local freeways. I don't think the ignorance of speed limit signs is limited to the Atlanta area. And, turn signals while changing lanes on northwestern Interstates must be perceived as a sign of weakness--turn 'em on and watch the drivers of raised pickup trucks and Audis with black windows pounce!

DTownDave22

I tend to put out all of what I have to say in one post so I don't have to keep track from post-to-post what I did and didn't say, so I just say mostly all I have to say on a subject or question in fewer posts.

One difficulty when communicating about cycling in a medium such as an online forum about a topic like this, is that there are variables related to cycling that can make it difficult to communicate in a more detailed fashion what a particular person may be dealing with and referencing; in this case, the conditions of where you are riding.
Variables like:
(1) traffic volume/ traffic capacity (how easy is it for cars to pass a cyclist, which is usually the case, is there more than one lane if a road/street with higher speed limits)

(2) traffic flow (how much traffic calming, for example, lights and signs that may decrease average speeds, or is it practically like a rural one-lane highway or suburban 2-4 lane surface road highway

(3) the physical road conditions (structural and surface material like dirt, gravel, glass , etc.) Roads that often have traffic volume near the infrastructure’s capacity with higher speeds are not much at all friendly towards cycling—one is trying to stay up to a respectable speed, while also having to slow down, not only be looking for traffic, but also maneuvering around road obstacles.
So, it’s difficult for me to simply give a suggestion of “Work your way up from safer roads to higher risk roads”, because I know in the U.S. in general, our infrastructure is not nearly as safe as other countries and in general, most areas in the U.S. do not have networks of segregated infrastructure that greatly reduces accident risks.

While again, it’s difficult to determine, even having looked @ Google Maps Street View, you may live in an area where a large percentage of the roads have high traffic volume/capacity, and the other undesirable variables as well.

The first two roads I looked @ near your given location, there are some indicators that they may be a little higher risk, though not unbearable.

Piedmont Rd. has a change in direction (winding), short sight lines because of vegetation close to the road (trees) as well as change in elevation and a relative lack of traffic calming (traffic lights).

Whereas Canton Rd. isn’t as winding, but has some change in elevation, and probably has a fast/steady stream of traffic in some of the areas, based on the adjacent properties to the road, that brings that road to a moderate to near capacity. However, the roads appear to be in decent physical condition, but it's hard to tell on Street View.

I’ve oftentimes thought to myself, “Boy, I’m lucky I have at least a few crumbs”, as in somewhat seamless roads that are not incredibly dangerous and which drivers can pass me on. If all I had available to me were more rural roads, with 1-lane each way, I probably wouldn't ride my bike nearly as much as I do--maybe only a few dozen miles/month from April-October instead of a few hundred.

Paths: Personally, I find the effective speeds on many of the paths/trails are quite limited (I like to maintain a speed say around 10-15 MPH and crank it up here and there up to 20-30 MPH for a couple of miles at a time), because many of the off-road paths are winding, somewhat narrow and have shorter sightlines due to vegetation, and those conditions are not stimulating enough to suffice as my sole infrastructure upon which to ride, though I do ride them relatively often. I also am averse to riding on 1-lane roads (40MPH and above) that makes it difficult for automobile drivers to pass me.

Suggestions
Even given that the roads you ride on are a little iffy, they don’t look like they are incredibly dangerous (though Piedmont is one that looks like it could potentially be dangerous), and I would make a few suggestions for when riding on more suburban/higher risk roads. A few things regarding equipment/accessories I have decided to do, to reduce my risk, even during the daylight hours:
1.) Bright Clothing: After my first close call (it was at an intersection in Detroit proper) I tend to wear brighter colors, like a mesh vest, bright shirt and/or jacket and the like.

2.) Front Lights: After my first minor accident (from the front), I use a front flashing light on busier roads (a kind user on here actually shipped me his Dinotte amber light for free as he no longer used it, which I use on flashing, and will also sometimes use an additional steady white or flashing white light)

3.) Rear Lights: After hearing of fatal automobile-cyclist accidents here in my state in Michigan (albeit mostly on types of roads I avoid, 1-lane/higher speed, though lower traffic) I tend to use my rear flashing lights to gain the attention of drivers on roads with more risk factors, primarily to help get the attention of those who are in a hurry, are inconsiderate and feel the need to use their phone and/or are addicted to it (I observe people when riding on 2-lane roads with little traffic behind me or in de facto bike lanes, on their phones behind the wheel far too often than I’d like to see).

4.) Mirror: I also use a helmet mirror to have an idea of who’s behind me, and it allows me to know when it would be better to ride closer to the right curb to allow vehicles to pass, as well as avoiding obstacles in the road and changing my line of travel and knowing who’s behind me when doing so.

5.) Airhorn: I also have an air horn by Airzound that I use to help get the attention of drivers that may be a threat, or to get their attention if I’m riding in the road and taking the lane and they have not yet moved over a lane to pass me, as I keep tabs on them behind me with my mirror.

Regarding riding, the biggest piece of advice is to balance efficiency/speed with safety. I have almost no experience sharing the road with cyclists as an automobile driver because virtually no one around here rides in the road, but in my experience riding on the road, it’s not at all uncommon for drivers to either a.) not see me, or b.) misjudge my speed (and turn in front of me).

So, for example, when approaching intersections, instead of going through at more near “full speed” for that context on that particular road’s effective speeds, I will proceed at a moderate speed, try to establish eye contact or determine they are likely aware of my presence by where the driver that may be making a left turn is looking as I’m going straight and have my hands ready to apply my brakes.

I also am MUCH more cautious and survey intersections, as my head (and eyes, so to speak) is on a swivel. With the manner in which far too many people drive, they don’t take an extra few seconds, and treat stop signs or stop lights when making turns, almost like yield signs. For example, this Street View of an area that I ride is more from on of the middle lanes, though I usually ride furthest to the right. If you were to for example, look at the image, and focus your vision on the car in the front, you can potentially lose sight to an extent, of potential threats pulling out from the right from an intersection, from businesses, or from the "Michigan left" turn around to the left.

There are rather short sight lines for an individual coming from side streets or businesses here, as well as higher speeds and more traffic, so it can be a greater volume of traffic that other drivers also have to process a little faster if they want to merge with traffic within a tighter window.

Some of the other suggestions I saw here as well are helpful. Riding with other people, whether some of the time for fitness or commuting or as a way to get yourself comfortable with doing so before you ride on your own in the road.

Lastly, don't think that riding in suburban traffic is just easy peazy or free of stress. I enjoy cycling enough that even though riding in suburban traffic can be moderately stressful, I enjoy it enough that it's a tradeoff I accept for being able to ride in conditions that are a little more seamless and faster as opposed to stop/slow and go residential areas w/ stop signs or somewhat limited paved paths that I referenced.

It's also somewhat like a sport for me, in that riding in a manner that is a little faster in higher risk roads, I tend to hyperfocus to maintain speed and also try to reduce my risk, though I prefer riding in Detroit proper and such conditions where there is little traffic for the most part, which is much safer re: traffic safety because of the relative excess road capacity, oftentimes less traffic and lower speed limits.