Category Archives: Walking

Triangle close to 50 miles of connected greenway

The Triangle’s greenway system is a tiny step closer to becoming a complete network.

Joe Godfrey, parks planner with the Town of Cary, tells GGNC that a 1.3-mile missing link of the Black Creek Greenway should be finished mid-April. The stretch would extend the existing 5.6 miles of Black Creek Greenway running south from Lake Crabtree to Chapel Hill Road on to Maynard Road. A short stretch of the sidewalk/greenway will run alongside Maynard before it crosses High House Road. From there, Godfrey says another short missing link should begin construction soon and will link with existing greenway into the heart of Bond Park. read more

New signs give Raleigh greenways direction

I pulled over on the greenway and stared at the sign, puzzled. Puzzled not by the sign’s message, which was clear. Puzzled by its mere existence.

For years, the Triangle’s greenways consisted of strings of half-mile and mile-long bits of elbow macaroni, scattered about. Signs — signs showing you where you were and where you could go — weren’t a priority on a path that simply went from Point A to Point B. But as those greenways grew and those bits of elbow macaroni joined to form longer and interconnected noodles, the need for direction, for signs, increased. For the past decade or so, the main complaint about local greenways has been the absence of signs. read more

A complete American Tobacco Trail by the end of 2011?

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 downtown, near the American Tobacco Complex. The ATT reminded me of a gaping gap I’d been wondering about lately, which reminded me to call Dale McKeel when I got home. Which I did. read more

Exercise your right

You’ve got more important things to do today than read a long, windy blog. Like vote and get in some exercise — which you can likely do at the same time.

I just got back from fulfilling both my obligation as a member of the greatest democracy mankind has known, and my obligation to my body. Walked about a mile to my polling place, voted, walked another half mile to Starbucks where I celebrated the privilege of being part of the greatest democracy mankind has known with a little caffeine, walked a mile and a half home. Fulfilled my duty as a citizen, did my heart and assorted other body parts good in the process. And, a caffeinated beverage. Is this a great country or what? read more

Listen (to someone else) whistle while you work(out)

You’ve seen people jogging on the greenway or plodding away on the treadmill, oblivious to all but the ear buds pumping a driving beat into their ears. And, according to science, pumping an extra boost of juice into their workout. The American Council on Exercise recently reviewed seven studies conducted since 1999 that all agreed that listening to music has a positive impact on your workout. (There’s a caveat, but first the facts.) read more