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I live in Cary and just acquired a hybrid road bike. I'm a beginner, unfortunately completely out of shape, looking for flat paths to ride my new bike. At this point I would be able to ride 3 or 4 mi if the path is flat.
I recently went on a bit of the Black Creek trail, leaving from Maynard Rd near Godbold park. Ended up trying to come up Harrison Rd and had to walk my bike. I cannot do hills at all at this point, I just don't have cardio capacity or leg strength, even on the granny gears.
I rode a small part of the ATT a few days ago, but the crushed granite surface is not a good fit for my smooth road tires and my road bike felt unstable. But it was flat and that was good and the shade was nice since it was a warm day.
Thought I'd throw this out there to the community to see what others suggest in terms of potential paths for this rank beginner. Paved and flat are the magic words.
That's where I rode the other day. Parked at the White Oak entrance. The path is that crushed concrete stuff -- great for mountain bikes. Not so great for road bikes/smooth tires.
If you want to trek further east the Neuse River Trail offers 32 miles of fairly flat, all paved, mostly shaded, no traffic trails, along the Neuse River... it runs from Neuse River Dam to Ckayton... I've risen many trails around the country, it is one of the nicest.
Keep after it, force yourself up the hills, even if you have to walk them, and soon you will see and feel everything getting easier, especially as the weather cools down and gets less humid.
Good for you for getting out there! Keep pedaling and be safe!
Neuse River Trail is a good thing to work toward, but just starting, you may not want to drive that far.
I would suggest going to Regency Park the first time. It's a mile or two around the lake, and flat. Lot's of people (so you have to be in control) but that is a great place to get your legs under you and your confidence up.
After that, try Apex Community Park (Lake Pine). It's a 2-mile loop, mostly flat, but a couple short hills. When you get bored of that, then you can revisit some of the greenway trails.
Another place to try is Park in Bond Park. Black Creek to Castalia is pretty flat, as is White Oak to the end at Mac Arthur. Note, however that the part of White Oak that is below the dam, but before Cary Parkway has some root damage, which creates some bumps. You can do it on a road bike (I do), but if ATT bothers you, so will this (I ride ATT on a road bike too, but would prefer bigger tires as well.)
Another place to check is to park at Lassiter Falls Park (Lassiter Mill Road, just below North Hills by a couple miles). You can cross the road and enter the Crabtree Creek Greenway and ride it to the wooden platforms that are around Capital Blvd or therabouts. (Not sure, may be Atlantic or Wake Forest Rd?) Anyway, you get about four miles out, and four miles back of mostly flat ground.
I give these examples as an experienced cyclist, but with a daughter who is starting from the same place as you.
As for encouragement: Stick with it. You'll be surprised how quickly you will be able to do more if you ride at least once, hopefully 2-3x, per week. Just once a week, and add a half a mile or a mile each time, you won't notice it, but will be doing longer rides and ENJOYING it before you know it. The further you can go, the more cool things you can do and see. I promise you if you do a full bike tour of Raleigh (about 20 miles loop, 90% greeway), you'll have a new appreciation for our great city, and will see it in an entirely new light.
And thank you for the encouragement and good cycling tips. Last time I rode a bike it was about 20 years ago and many pounds ago as well. Contents may have shifted during flight! ;-D
Last edited by EnjoyingNC; 08-17-2014 at 04:07 PM..
Sorry about White Oak entrance, I thought it was part of the 1/2 paved-1/2 not paved area. Up in Durham the trail is paved. Park at the Herndon Park on Scott King Rd (don't park at the trail entrance along the road) and the trail around there is paved. The biggest elevation change might be on the bridge over I-40.
I'll explore the Durham and Chatham sides of the ATT. I think the Chatham side is also paved (according to info on the web site). The Wake County portion is all that crushed gravel stuff.
If there is a (big) elevation change or even a medium elevation change, chances are I'll either turn around and go back or end up walking my bike up any elevation. Right now I simply do not have the physical conditioning needed (either cardio or muscle strength) to tackle more than very slight elevation.
I'm hoping with cycling I'll be able to maybe shed some weight along the way. Carting around an extra 30 lbs does not make for easy biking, that's for sure. Middle age sucks... sigh...
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I cannot do hills at all at this point, I just don't have cardio capacity or leg strength, even on the granny gears. 
