I mentioned in a previous post that I've been exploring bicycle routes to various destinations from our house in south Cobb. This is a description of today's errands by bicycle.
I had a bit of uncertainty about titling this post, since today was quite an adventure for me. I not only cycled in Cobb County, but in Fulton and Dekalb Counties as well. My objective was to familiarize myself with the route from Oakdale Road to the Hamilton Holmes MARTA station, but I needed an errand to justify the trip. Monday is my day for shopping at the Dekalb Farmer's Market, and the Avondale station on the East line is very close to that market, so I decided it would be an excellent time to check out the route.
Google Maps came up with the following simple route, which was the route I'd have guessed would be most efficient. I simply took Oakdale Road to Veterans Memorial, which becomes Donald Hollwell Parkway after crossing the Chattahoochee River, turned right on Hamilton Holmes, took a right alongside I-20, and entered the station. Here's the map:
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All in all it was a pleasant ride. Traffic moves pretty fast along Veteran's Memorial, but there are two lanes of ample width, so cars and trucks were passing me with plenty of clearance room. Hollowell Parkway narrows inside I-285, but it isn't far from there to Hamilton Holmes.
The trip from the Avondale Station to the Farmer's Market was even more straightforward. One of the exits from the station empties onto Ponce De Leon, and the Farmer's Market is about a mile from the station.
After shopping I rode back to the station, and discovered that a medical emergency at the Georgia State station had stopped train service between Candler Park and the Georgia World Congress Center. MARTA was providing emergency bus service, but rather than hope that a bike rack was available on one of those buses, I decided to cycle to the GWCC station. This added quite a few overall cycling miles to my day.
After I put away the groceries from the Farmer's Market, I had one more errand. I rode to the Lewis Ray branch of the Cobb Public Library on Oakdale Road.
My final cycling mileage for the day was 48 miles. I'm feeling it at the moment, too.