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Commuter Story: Commuting in Atlanta
June 18th, 2007 by Tim Grahl 
Ed - This story from Chris of Atlanta, GA.
Share your story by emailing diggers@commutebybike.com.
My commuting by bike story starts like many others. My car broke down. What I believed to be the need for a simple tune-up repair evolved over the course of two weeks into a warranty fight with the dealership. I started commuting by bike to get back and forth to work until my car was fixed and have discovered all kinds of great benefits from riding. (my car is still in the shop, and I could care less) I have 02 Jamis Hybrid mountain bike that has served me well in the casual ride department and is working great so far as a commuter (although it is a little heavy). I ride my bike three miles to the MARTA rail station, ride MARTA to the closest stop and bike the rest of the way (another two miles). I get more exercise in the rail station by carrying my bike up and down long stairs to and from the platforms. While my actual ride time is not great, Atlanta is fairly hilly and most of my riding is up or down a hill. When I get to work I am awake, my metabolism is humming, and I feel great.
The real challenge for me has been getting to work and still dressing in suit/tie every day. As a lawyer, I don’t have the luxury of sitting around in shorts all day. I have to dress professionally most days and that requires some forethought and planning. Here is how I am doing it. Once a week, my wife brings a load of dry-cleaned shirts to work. I keep three pairs of pants, one sport coat and two pairs of shoes/belts at work. On the bike, I take a towel, underwear and whatever else is required for the day. When I get to work, I go to the office gym (a shower is essential), work out just one body part with the weights, and then shower. At the end of the day, I put back on the same clothes I biked in on, pack up the worn dress shirt and I am on the bike headed home.
Here is a partial list of benefits I have experienced since I started cbb:
- Exercise – for the first time in a long time I am getting meaningful daily exercise which is productive as well!
- Money Savings – I spend $52 a month on MARTA pass, when my car is fixed, I will sell it and save over $400 per month.
- No After Work Drinks – I used to stop on the way home and have a couple before getting home, it was expensive and bad for me, now I ride home and even if I wanted to get a drink I am too sweaty to go anywhere but home. I am exercising and saving money!
- Stress-Relief – I have experienced that wonderful calm you get when you are freshly exercised. This is important in my field where stress kills!
- Positive Esteem – It feels great to know that I am not wasting money on gas, polluting the environment with smog, noise, etc.
These are just a few of the things I have noticed in the weeks I have been commuting by bike. There are lots of unknowns, but I suspect I can make this a real change in my lifestyle that will have all kinds of wonderful benefits.
Atlanta is a car heavy city and my commute takes me into the heart of Midtown – the financial center. I often ride on the sidewalks because there is no room on the road and I am not ready to ride fully in traffic just yet. I am taking it slow, I have a wish to get to work safely – not a death wish. I have been shocked to see how few people actually commute by bike in this town. MARTA is great for bikes you can put them on the train or bus for no additional charges. If more people knew how much bang for the buck they would get out of commuting by bike they would do it.
June 18th, 2007 at 10:48 am
I too have recently become an Atlanta bike commuter. I commute from Roswell to downtown Atlanta. My commute is a 3 mile ride to a MARTA bus stop. Bus takes me to the MARTA train. I then get off at the closest stop from work and ride another 1/2 mile. I have not driven my car in about 4 weeks. It feels good!
June 18th, 2007 at 11:06 am
Congratulations on the new habit, I frequently commute from the west side of the city into downtown. I have found that most drivers in the city are fairly tolerant of bikes since there seem to be quite a few bike messengers and students that ride around in town. I can’t say the same for buses, most of my close calls have either been from MARTA or school buses. I think the MARTA drivers just have an apathetic view of the road and don’t care enough to make concessions for bikes on the shoulder and the school bus drivers feel that their cargo is too precious to waver anywhere near the center dividing line. I have been run into a ditch by a school bus on Moores Mill road on two separate occasions, I was lucky enough to catch up to the driver on both occasions and verbally abuse them in front of a load of students, I have no idea if anything I said actually sank in. Good luck out there.
June 18th, 2007 at 3:11 pm
I live close to Chattanooga,
Before winter go ahead and buy things like gloves for different temperature ranges, shoe covers, a good bicycle jacket and other cold weather/winter gear. Why start now, sales and time to research. Being this far south studded tires aren’t needed.
Rain gear (I like the Carradice Pro Route Cape year round) and a helmet cover (also good to help keep head warm in winter). Riding in the rain is nice most of the time for the other days having something to keep you dry and not sweating too much is nice.
I also love my touring bike w/ front and rear racks, carries a lot, fast and fun with a hub generator powering the lights for rainy days, fog and short winter days, fenders not just for rain but after rain and the liquids cars leak, a real all weather commuter bike. I do have the drop bars a little high, so I can see better in traffic and still be able to get pretty low for head winds.
Also a mirror is great, I like the helmet mounted type, a quick turn of my head and I see everything behind me. I find my dela airzound (horn) helpful when motorist don’t see me or are talking on the cell.
All this may seem expansive but will serve for years and making your commute comfortable for every day and will never be questioned after a couple of uses.
When your tires need replacing, get tires with reflective sidewalls and Kevlar.
Don’t for get the tools, pump and patch kit.
Last, your first defense is visibility, put reflective tape on your crank arms, helmet, palms and back of gloves and anywhere that help motorist see you as far off as possible.
Oh, practice looking back while riding a straight line.
Our children are going to pay for our car-culture
June 18th, 2007 at 6:01 pm
My husband and I just started commuting to work by bicycle about a month ago when our car broke down and we were too lazy to get it registered. We love biking! We both hate going to the gym to work out, so this is the best way for us to get exercise. Plus, you’re saving money and bettering the environment.
Currently I am riding around on a Gary Fisher mountain bike. It’s nice and light and takes the hills well, but I am looking for a bike with a U-frame (so it’s easier to get on and off), upright handle bars, and a comfortable seat. I’m looking for a bike that combines the features of my Gary Fisher and a “cruiser” type bike. Any suggestions out there?
June 18th, 2007 at 10:16 pm
Go to “http://www.dinottelighting.com/dinotte_store.html” to get a super bright tail light for night, dusk, dawn, and/or bad weather. It is a little bit pricey, but what is your health and life worth?
June 19th, 2007 at 7:05 pm
I’ve been commuting in Atlanta for many years and since I actually count the number of cyclists I see each day, I can say the numbers keep increasing.
My cycling corridor is favorable for cycling. I live between Midtown and Decatur and perhaps more significantly, between Georgia Tech and Emory. All four areas have good numbers of bike commuters, high motorist acceptance of cyclists, and several good routes (as long as you don’t mind hills).
It sounds like you might be aware that riding the sidewalks is more dangerous than riding the road so I’ll just say I’m glad you’re out there riding and I hope you continue to enjoy it, and maybe I’ll see you on the road one day.
June 21st, 2007 at 7:12 pm
I live and work in Norcross, Gwinnett county (NE Atlanta). Fortunately, since I’ve just moved here I was able to find a house close to work (3 miles). Coming from a bike friendly city (Ottawa), I was quite surprised to see the complete lack of people walking on the streets here (except in parking lots).
I’m now determined to showcase to my colleagues a different way of commuting to work (like what all of you have done). I’ve purchased a used Montague MX folding bike for a few hundred dollars. This is a great folding full sized mountain bike that rides, functions, and looks very cool. I’m also purchasing an electric hub motor with controller, charger, etc (lot of hills where I am so it will be nice to have a flex-fuel bike - electricity or mangos). I know I don’t really need a motor (albeit electric) to go to work but I want to extend my range to go even further on bike for other activities.
I’ll then be setting up solar panels in the backyard of my home to showcase sustainability living for both commuting and powering the house.
The cost for the electric bike solution will be around $550 or so for a very nice high end foldable commuting electric-motorized bicycle (with a range of around 20 miles on electrons alone). The solar panels will be more of course but they are also for the home. I should be up and running on the bike shortly (the solar panel system is a more long term endeavor).
I figured a sustainable commuting solution should be completely functional/practical but also look good/cool especially to encourage the younger generations to embrace sustainable practices.
I hope that over time, I won’t be the only one riding a bike on the streets of Norcross…
Keep up the good work, y’all.
July 30th, 2007 at 5:07 pm
I commute 6.9 miles each way from my home in Smyrna to my law office (what is it with us lawyers?) near downtown Marietta. I joined the Marietta YWCA, .4 miles from my office, for $36 per YEAR so I can use the shower. I leave my work clothes at the office, and when the weather is bad I drive my car and swap out the dirty work clothes for clean ones.
My route is very hilly, and very bumpy — I spend a lot of time on sidewalks, because there are no bike lanes and the drivers around here just aren’t bike-conscious. Sidewalks means a lot of up-and-down when traversing driveways. Between that and hopping curbs, my knees were hurting using a hardtail, so I finally switched to a full-suspension bike. (A high-quality used one I got on eBay.) I love the fact I don’t even have to break rhythm when going in and out of driveways and over bumps, and my knees love it!
I run Specialized Nimbus Armadillo 26×1.5 tires at 80 PSI and love them. Only one flat in over a year, compared to frequent flats on the old Kendas with Mr. Tuffy liners I was using before. I have a seatpost-mounted cargo rack.
I also have an old, beat-up car I leave at the office for occasional mid-day errands or driving home when the weather is bad at the end of the day.
August 1st, 2007 at 10:24 pm
I’m glad to read of so many fellow bike-commuters in the area. I ride from near Marietta Square to Kennesaw State U, about 8 miles. Much of the ride is through neighborhoods or on the Cobb County bike trail, but a few miles are on four-lane roads with sidewalks that are often littered with trash (flatted out just last month).
When I have the time I ride up K Mtn, adding a good workout to the hilly commute.
I feel fortunate to be in a green building, complete with a shower to encourage alternative commutes. Two of my colleagues also commute; we hope to encourage others. Perhaps our school’s increased parking fees will help…
November 13th, 2007 at 11:13 pm
I’ve been researching gas/electric bicycle conversion kits for the last month. So naturally I look for any dealers in Atlanta - and I’ve come up with a big zero. With all the hills here I can’t believe there’s no market for a few bicycle shops to add this to their offering. There are people with disabilities where an electric bike would bring alot of joy and help to their lives- not just us out of shape ones guys. What a great way to extend your usual route too. Does anybody know of anyone who sells electric or gas powered conversion kits for bikes here in ATL ?
April 22nd, 2008 at 9:21 pm
[...] Other bloggers have similar top 10 lists. [...]
April 22nd, 2008 at 9:22 pm
I agree! Check out my top 10 reasons to commute by bike
http://felfoldi.wordpress.com/2008/04/23/top-10-bike-commut/
May 31st, 2008 at 10:02 pm
I live in midtown and have to commute to Sandy Springs (Northside Dr/Powers Ferry intersection) so the closest Marta station (Sandy Springs) is nearly 6 miles away. I wanted to bike the 6 miles but I know 2 people who have gotten hurt biking (one hit by a car, another hit something in the road and was flipped over the handlebars) so I was just too scared to ride on the road. Atlanta especially just has so many bad drivers that don’t care…I wanted to ride on the sidewalks but I kept hearing that was actually against the law and more dangerous anyway. Reading how many people actually ride on the sidewalks is giving me a renewed inspiration that maybe I can do it afterall.
July 14th, 2008 at 7:25 pm
Hi Tim. It’s been over a year how is your commuting going? I started commuting to work in 2004. I travel 9 miles each way. I mostly started for the exercise but now it’s a contest for me to keep my pickup truck in the driveway. (Only 500 miles on it last year). Atlanta is intimidating to ride but I was used to riding around the streets of West Palm Beach as a teenager so was able to acclimate.
I’ve met some of the nicest folks riding (Jett for one) and would miss the exercise, scenery and connection with the world that driving a car cuts you off from. When was the last time a mockingbird momma gave you a warning peck on the back or a rainshower cooled you off while driving from work? I even enjoy the challenge of extremes in temperature (101F-17F) that I have ridden in. Now, on the rare days that I have to drive a car, I feel deprived.
Sue, I don’t believe it’s actually against the law to ride on the sidewalk in GA. However, IMO it’s generally a very bad idea. I suggest you look into an Effective Cycling class by the Atlanta Bicycle Campaign. Adult utility riding is a bit different than what we learned as children. It may help give you confidence and encouragement to join in the fun.
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