Several of you have inquired about the status of Raleigh’s House Creek Greenway. At not quite 3 miles, the greatly anticipated House Creek Greenway is of far more significance than it’s length might suggest: When House Creek is completed, it will link the nearly 10-mile* Reedy Creek/Gorman/Rocky Branch greenway with the 11.7-mile Crabtree Creek Trail greenway. I’ll get to what exactly all that means in a sec. First, the answer…

Resolve to be more active in 2011 by checking out one of these three events this weekend. Mountains Frankly, I can’t think of a better way to get the juices flowing the second week of January than on a hike, a mountain hike. A 9.8-mile mountain hike that gains 2,000 feet of total elevation, flirts with an elevation of one mile, takes in frozen waterfalls and promises great winter views…

We were hiking a new section of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail along the Eno River today when we came upon an old rail line, which I realized was the Norfolk Southern line that, for a while, looked like it might turn into a rails-to-trails project running from Person County south to downtown Durham. Downtown Durham and rails-to-trails projects reminded me of the American Tobacco Trail, the northern end of which begins…

The physical therapist hesitated, then issued his edict. “Maybe. If it’s a short hike. And if the trail doesn’t have a lot of rocks.” He hesitated again, “I dunno … .” “What a bike ride?” I asked. It was Marcy’s first meeting with a PT to deal with a nagging case of planter fasciitis. She’d been hobbled off and on by the annoying muscle irritation; her most recent flair-up courtesy…

Friday’s Cross Triangle Greenway bike ride showed just how far the Triangle’s greenway system has come — and how far it has to go. The ride was the first of what promises to be an annual event. The ride — a 39-mile excursion from the N.C. Museum of Art in Raleigh to the entertainment Mecca of downtown Durham (American Tobacco Complex, Durham Bulls Athletic Park, Durham Performing Arts Center, the…

Wanna do something more fun than work tomorrow? Wanna do something … epic? Like ride your bike from Raleigh to Durham, mostly on greenways? Friday at noon, 40 bikers/greenway enthusiasts will set forth from the N.C. Museum of Art on a 39-mile bike ride that will wind up five hours later in downtown Durham, at the American Tobacco Complex/Durham Bulls Athletic Park. It’s part of an effort to boost support…

I had just said hello to Vic Lebsock when the inevitable happened: A woman walked up and wanted to know the status of a greenway planned through her neighborhood, a greenway years from construction, she knew, but she just had to know the latest. Lebsock excused himself and dutifully walked the woman over to an aerial map of her Lake Johnson neighborhood for “the latest.” Such is the life of…

Thursday evening, Sig Hutchinson and Vic Lebsock shared their respective visions of the Triangle greenway scene at the monthly meeting of the Sierra Club’s Capital Group chapter. Hutchinson represented a more future-oriented, farsighted approach that deals in both reality and hopeful thinking both necessary to The Big Picture, Lebsock with the laser-focused nearsightedness required keep things advancing day to day. Their respective approaches showed how two people can both look…

Lately, I’ve had a gift for divining cool, off-the-radar municipal parks. First, there was the new White Deer Park in Garner (off the radar, perhaps, only because it only opened in November). A week later I rediscovered Cedarock Park in Alamance County. This past Saturday: Main Street Park in Rolesville. The latter was perhaps the most surprising find. Marcy and I had set out to take in spring at the…

Over the years, I’ve written several pieces attempting to match the right bike with the right person. I’ve written about the right bike for aspiring commuters, I’ve written about the right bike for roadie wannabes, I’ve written about the right bike for people who want to take a spin on their local greenway and the right bike for folks curious about mountain biking. One bike I haven’t written about, though,…