Planning on heading for Rolling Thunder. Leaving the Pensacola, FL area and thinking of following US 29 all the way to Fairfax, VA. Can anyone tell me what to expect going thru Atlanta, even Charlotte, NC.

 

Over the past 15 years I have NEVER had a good riding experience through Atlanta. Charlotte is not as bad on the Interstates when you are at least 2 hours away from rush hour traffic and miss lunch hour also. 29 is great through VA... I would recommend you start out 29, 80, 441, 29 and miss Atlanta altogether. Madison has some great antebellum homes that were left alone during the Civil War due to their beauty.

 

Used to go there years ago for work...it was horrible...went through there 2 months ago, and it was worse...I would avoid if possible.

 

Pick up 441 in Macon and go way around, Madison is great and worth the time

 

441 is a good ride.

 

I go around Atlanta coming from Lake City taking 441 and sometimes the 285 bypass but, coming from the Pensacola area on 29, I'd go around Atlanta on the 285 bypass and pick up 29 on the east side.

 

 

Can't help you through Atlanta. I don't think there is ever a good time to ride through there and no good roads to do it on.

But I can say that I ride 29 frequently between Greensboro, NC and Fairfax. You will enjoy that ride. There are now bypasses around most decent sized towns. The one choke point that remains (and they are working on it with overpasses etc.) is Charlottesville, VA. It's better than it used to be, but you'll sit at lights for a bit. The other, which is almost completely fixed by ramps and overpasses these days is Gainesville (there's still one bad intersection), but by then you are almost there.

One caution I give to everyone riding through Virginia is DON'T GO OVER 80 mph! Due to a weird quirk in the law, going over 80 is, by law, "reckless driving" REGARDLESS OF THE SPEED LIMIT. I.e., even if the limit is 70 (which it is on the bypass around Lynchburg on 29) and you're only doing 11 over, it's still reckless. Reckless is a criminal misdemeanor, not a speeding ticket, requires a mandatory court appearance (no just paying the fine) and comes with high fines and possible jail time and high points on your license. Not worth messing with!! And the state troopers look for it.

An added kick in the teeth I learned about a year ago. My buddy got a reckless charge a couple years ago and, because it is "criminal" it kept him from being able to ride into Canada. Again, don't mess with it.

 

I would not take Hwy 29 thru the city. It passes through some pretty rough neighborhoods. Like others have said, its not necessarily the best town to ride in/through. Get on I-85 around Grantville and pick up Hwy 29 around Lawrenceville where it merges with 316. Depending on the time of day, going North through the city (take the HOV Lane) is not bad. If you don’t want to take the chance, I-285 is an alternate, but, traffic can be just as bad on it... The “best” time to go through the city is between 9:30am & 2pm.

 

Never ever go through Atlanta . Last time we rode there we almost got run over .
Traffic is ridiculous always . If you can change your route & go through Lake City
and pickup 441 N then follow it all the way to Cherokee NC . Then pickup the BRP
and go North into VA .