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Green Level to Durham Road and/or Green Level Church road is near some trails and it is horrendous when a glut of bicyclists are on the road. Even one or two makes it very tight on that tiny road.
I'm new to the area and am wondering if there any bike parks in Wake County . . . . .
When you say "bike parks", are you referring to skate parks, which are parks built for BMX bikeriders, inline skaters, and skateboarders? Cary has one, but it is the only one that I know of.
We started in 2002 as the first public skatepark in Wake County for skateboarders, in-line skaters, and BMX riders. Sk8-Cary's course features 12,000 square feet of ramps to shred, a mini-ramp to master, rails to grind, and ledges to slide. All ramps are made with Skatelite Pro as the skating surface, giving us the opportunity to change up the park as opposed to an unchanging concrete park. Programs are offered year-round by our experienced instructors. Whether you're just starting out or you're a seasoned pro, enjoy the atmosphere and the course at Sk8-Cary!
I'll incorporate a greenway into a bike ride sometimes, but I don't find it a real replacement for riding on the road. Greenways around here are usually fairly short, so you aren't going to get a great ride in. I usually end up just coasting along them, otherwise my speed is higher than allowed. Many have wooden bridges or walkways, and between splinters and nails they don't play well with bike tires. And dogs, kids, strollers, etc. can all be fairly unpredictable. And then there is the issue of getting to the greenway itself. I'd much prefer to just take off from my home than have to load up and drive to a greenway.
If I've got to drive anyway, I'll just drive to Umstead or the American Tobacco Trail which have less pedestrians and are wider. And they are large/long enough for a decent ride.
I'll incorporate a greenway into a bike ride sometimes, but I don't find it a real replacement for riding on the road. Greenways around here are usually fairly short, so you aren't going to get a great ride in. I usually end up just coasting along them, otherwise my speed is higher than allowed. Many have wooden bridges or walkways, and between splinters and nails they don't play well with bike tires. And dogs, kids, strollers, etc. can all be fairly unpredictable. And then there is the issue of getting to the greenway itself. I'd much prefer to just take off from my home than have to load up and drive to a greenway.
If I've got to drive anyway, I'll just drive to Umstead or the American Tobacco Trail which have less pedestrians and are wider. And they are large/long enough for a decent ride.
Reps to this!
Add on that the speed limit for the greenways is 10mph. There has been a lot of emphesis in this thread on following the rules. 10MPH on a bike is around 1/2 speed for an experienced cyclist.
(That said, I LOVE doing some greenway rides, but that is usually more of a social thing with buddies, and it involves a couple pubs, a big lunch, and more of a tour around the city than a focused ride. It's very hard to get more than 30-35 miles with greenways being the majority of the miles... Not much of a ride.) <-- my preference is still to be on a mountainbike, in the woods.
I would think it is unsafe to be going 10-20mph on a road where 30-40 is the minimum expected, whether you are on a bike, or in a car.
I agree with the person who said that Hilton Head is great! I'm not sure if there is another community like this. I like the Raleigh greenway though. It would be better if it were finished - they have several planned routes like the Neuse River Trail, and a second connection to Umstead park. There are 63 miles of trails right now. That is a whole lot more than most places.
This may not be considered a "Raleigh" issue but that's where I see it quite a lot. And I'm not trying to start a fight but it is getting out of hand here.
Bicyclists. You ride in your large groups down the highways. Whether it be three of you or 30, you take up a whole lane because you believe you have just as much right to the roads as autos do. You consider yourself a vehicle and therefore, its your road, too.
I wait patiently and when its finally safe to pass, I do so in a manner that no one gets hurt and all is safe. You with me so far?
But THEN, we approach a traffic light. As we all are sitting there waiting for the light to change, you all have decided to go from traffic laws to pedestrian laws, I guess. Your whole group cruises through the waiting cars and you just stroll right through the red traffic light as if it was your world and the rest of us has to stop. Then of course, the light turns green, all those cars catch up to you, and we have to wait patiently to pass you AGAIN.
Don't pick and choose your traffic laws. Yesterday when that group of about 25 bicyclists was riding across Hwy 64 in Cary, some of you decided to do the red light thing. After about five of you made it across the four lane highway, my light turned green and the rest of the gang slammed on brakes. Good thing. We were rolling up to the light as it turned green so I was back on the gas as this occurred. My 26,000 lbs. of truck and RV would never had been able to stop in time had the rest of the gang decided to just mock the traffic laws and do their own thing.
If you want respect on the highways, earn it like the rest of us. But I promise you this. If trying to avoid your red light running self puts my family in danger, you're going under the truck. I'll do all I can to save your life even when you don't care. But I'm not unnecessarily risking my family's safety for your arrogance.
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Raleigh Bicyclists
