When Raleigh’s Neuse River Greenway reaches the Johnston County Line in the spring of 2013, it’ll have company. “It should be done by this time next year, if not sooner,” Bob Mosher with the NC Department of Transportation’s Division of Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety said Thursday. “It” is a four-mile stretch of greenway now under construction that starts at the Wake County line near Mial Plantation Road and extends downstream…
The first 8-mile stretch of the Neuse River Greenway in Raleigh is on target to open this September, Raleigh senior greenway planner Vic Lebsock said Thursday. “Yes, I am,” he replied when asked if he was confident of the late summer opening. The 8-mile stretch, from Falls of Neuse Road just below the Falls Lake dam south to the WRAL Soccer Complex, is part of the Neuse River Greenway, which…
Saturday is National Trails Day, a day set aside for paying homage to the nation’s more than 200,000 miles of trail. In most cases, that involves grabbing a rake, a pickax, a shovel and sprucing up the trails that on the other 364 days of the year we love to death. It’s a day underscoring that without volunteer labor, our trail systems simply wouldn’t exist. Last year, for instance, 190,350…
The map told me to expect a long ride. And even though it was most recent version, it couldn’t keep up with the system’s expansion. Instead of seven miles to explore, I was getting a bonus mile and a half. At 8.5 miles, I was now getting to explore the Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation greenway system’s longest stretch of interconnected trail. Located in northeast Charlotte near the UNC-Charlotte campus,…
There’s a bike ride in the east, a biathlon in the west, and a survivalist 5K in between this weekend in North Carolina. Coast The northeast corner of North Carolina may be the best-suited part of the state for cycling: two-lane country roads meandering past forest and cotton fields with little automotive traffic to compete with. Yet how often do you find yourself riding a bike there? Not very, I’m…
I am rudderless — unless I have a goal. Stick a carrot in front of me and I can usually get it done. Case in point: earlier this year I vowed to start using my bike more for utilitarian purposes. To date, I believe I’ve gone for coffee on it twice. Appalling as that is, it became even more so when I pulled up a map of everything within a…
It’s a weekend that needs no introduction … . Coast Can it already be competitive 2-on-2 beach volleyball season? Yes it can, apparently, at least in Emerald Isle where the “2v2 Beach Volleyball Tournament – Summer Series” will be in full swing Saturday morning. Competition begins at 9, runs until noon, at the Western Ocean Regional Access. Fee is $55 per team, players must be 16 or older and pre-registration…
Say you’re driving through the Triad, you have some time on your hands and you think, “Hmm, I wonder if there’s a state park around here where I could do some rock climbing?” Used to be you’d have to be content to keep driving, keep wondering. Now, there’s an app for that. The N.C. Parks Department this morning unveiled its Pocket Ranger app for iPhones and Droids that answers such…
No matter where you plan to be in North Carolina this weekend, you can hook up with a good bike ride. Piedmont Often when you move into new digs there’s so much going on you don’t have time to throw an open house. A couple months may pass before it dawns on you, “Oh, yeah … .” That’s sorta the case with the East Coast Greenway Alliance. In February, the…
On this spring weekend, take a serene paddle or work up a sweat at a festival. Coast Warmer weather means more paddling opportunities. Saturday’s three-hour guided kayak trip down the Lumber River, for instance. Bring sunscreen, drinking water, a snack “and any other necessary items,” says trip organizer Eric Siratt, a ranger with Lumber River State Park. It’s free, but space is limited for this trip that shoves off from…