Once a year Atlanta holds a chairity bike ride where the Georgia 400 highway is closed for an hour and bicyclists are allowed to take to the streets.

I went on the ride this year and it was an absolute blast - well worth getting up at before the sun (the ride is held early in the morning so as to not inconvenience as many motorists.)

I wasn't able to maintain the posted 45 mile-per-hour "minimum speed," but I did get my bike pretty close until I had to slow down due to a wiped-out cyclist ahead of me.

This was my first large bike ride. When the group started, there was a clattering of gears popping all around. You could also almost always draft behind another rider since there was always someone just a little faster than you. The reduction in wind resistance was pretty fun.

For more photos, see the official event web site. I was a little too busy to take many photos.