health & fitness FACTBOOK 2011
Prestigious Sharing Continued from P. 89
Continued from P. 89
WellStar began offering cardiac surgery in 2004, and offers a comprehensive cardiac program, with the exception of transplant services. The program is housed at WellStar Kennestone Hospital, where Cooper practices Cooper said this was the first year WellStar was not combined with Emory in its evaluation by the three organizations, as he and others in the program wanted to “get a clear picture of how we are performing as a standalone program.” Cooper said the program began as a partnership with Emory in 2004, though he and other surgeons perform their work at WellStar Kennestone. “This allows us in some ways to set the record straight,” Cooper said. “This is validated, looked at independently, and gives us a much clearer picture of how well we’re doing based on the severity of the patients we’re caring for and gives ample consideration to those factors that have not always been considered.”
The off-road trail at A.L. Burruss Park, at South Cobb Drive and Cobb Parkway in Marietta, is another good place to ride, said Brian Genter, who like Burr is a member of the Bike Cobb group. That park has four trails available to bikers, runners, and walkers totaling just over a mile, while the entire park covers almost 50 acres. Helmets are required for all cyclists there. For those looking for places to ride, Genter suggests first looking for fellow cyclists. “For new cyclists, I would say find some buddies that ride, and ride together. The easy way to do that is to get affiliated with your local bike shop, find out where they do group rides. You can meet a lot of people that way,” Genter said. One such club, Smyrna Cycling, is based out of A Trail of Wheels bike shop on South Cobb Drive. Websites of organizations such as USA Cycling, Southern Bicycle League, the Georgia Bicycle Federation also list clubs and teams to connect cyclists.
Cyclists can find Web resources to join up on rides and events with fellow cyclers, or join organizations such as Bike Cobb. Genter said Bike Cobb exists to “make roads safer or incorporate bicycle-friendly things like share the road signs and bike lanes.” Bike Cobb is one of the largest organizations of its type in Cobb County, and members can blog about local events on the organization’s website and its Facebook page. Bike Cobb hosts many events, forums, and group rides to get cyclists together, visible to the rest of the community. “There’s safety in numbers and more power in numbers,” Genter said. Other organizations, such as The Commuter Club in Marietta seek to improve cyclist safety and offer classes for bicycle commuters to learn the road rules of etiquette. Offered through the Atlanta Bicycle Campaign, these safety classes teach bikers how to keep their rights and space on the road. Commuters can find resources on the club’s website to plan their commute, including walking, biking and bus directions, by companies such as A-TRAIN.
The Ranger Unit of the Cobb Police Department is responsible for patrolling the Silver Comet Trail, Columns Drive, trails near Kennesaw Mountain and elsewhere. All 10 members of the unit must take a 40-hour training course, said Sgt. R. Sorrow. The Silver Comet Depot bike shop, at the Floyd Road intersection of the Silver Comet Trail, caters to all types of cyclists and trail users. The location is the original Silver Comet Depot train station, but it has been restored for daily use. They offer bike rentals, sales, fittings, and equipment available. Eric Mortensson, the service manager for the Depot bike shop, says the initial Cobb section is the busiest of the trail. They see “all types of riders,” from families seeking to rent bicycles to cyclists training for races. “We do a shop ride Monday evenings. We try to get everybody here at 5:30 and wheels are on the ground at 5:45. It’s a 22-mile ride, and it can go a little bit longer depending on the group. Sometimes we might split up into two groups, a faster and a slower group,” he said. At the Silver Comet Depot, they also hear some of the com-
plaints from the trail. The trail has no steep hills, only railroad grades, and is really good for sprint training. Mortensson says, “You get the people who do a lot of hardcore training out here and they ride really fast, especially on this little section, where it is so congested, every now and then you’ll hear some people irate because people come by them so fast.” On July 1, the “3 feet 2 pass” law took effect, requiring drivers to give bicyclists adequate space when pass. Genter, too, lamented that in Cobb, “you have to drive to ride your bike somewhere.” Cyclists are not permitted to be on the sidewalk, because Georgia law considers bikes to be vehicles. He works at Lockheed Martin and is a part of the Lockheed Martin Leadership Association. The Leadership Association sponsors the Lockheed Martin Cycling Team with a tent at some of their rides. The Leadership Association even sponsored a team jersey for the Tour de Cure ride, Genter said. A group of cyclists within the team sometimes ride together on their day off, meeting in a parking lot and planning a route from there.
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