Best place to ride your bike

Atlanta has always been known as a car-centric city. And with its endless hills, dangerous intersections and crazy drivers, it’s never been a particularly hospitable place for cyclists. Yet, despite all hindrances, BIKE CULTURE persists and even thrives here. And it’s not simply spandex-clad racers or gear-headed mountain bikers taking to the streets. The current two-wheel craze has become a low-tech, egalitarian social movement that embraces all kinds of bikes — three-speeds, fixies, cruisers, road bikes, junkers — for the purpose of riding for recreation and basic transportation. Neighborhood rides have become commonplace all across the city, most notably the monthly Critical Mass gatherings, in which sometimes hundreds of riders take over the streets of downtown Atlanta. Because that’s how we roll. less...

Named after a passenger train that ran along the same route from 1947 to 1968, the SILVER COMET TRAIL is a gorgeous stretch of pavement with a pastoral feel that’ll make you wonder whether you pedaled through a time warp into bygone, rural Georgia. The path runs 60 miles west across three counties. That’s right, 60 freakin’ miles. Bikers, runners and walkers are free to do their thing without dodging traffic, and the scenery is breathtaking. The rails-to-trails project is an ambitious undertaking: When it’s completed, Silver Comet will connect with Alabama’s Chief Ladiga Trail to form a continuous, 93-mile path from Smyrna to Anniston, Ala. If you try to ride the whole thing, just remember: You’ll either need someone to pick you up at the other end, or your trip length will have gotten 93 miles longer. less...

A few years back it was the poor man’s Stone Mountain, but thanks to DeKalb’s much-touted greenspace program, ARABIA MOUNTAIN TRAIL has come into its own. The county is completing an ambitious trail network through the 2,000-acre nature preserve that includes elevated boardwalks through forest wetlands, well-marked paths across huge expanses of open granite, and a picturesque covered bridge. The concrete trails, open to hikers and bikers, extend north to Stonecrest Mall and downtown Lithonia and, eventually, south to Panola Mountain. Once in the park, mountain bikers can go off-road to find some challenging rock-hopping.
''www.arabiaalliance.org. www.pathfoundation.org/trails/arabia.cfm.

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