Greenway Grind

            The Greenway for most people in Winston-Salem is their favorite ride, probably because there aren’t all those scary cars hunting to run you down on the scenic little hideaway from the rest of the city. I’ll admit that if I’m wanting to get in a longer ride, and I don’t really feel like exploring the surrounding country side for fear of rabid chicken attacks, I’ll pedal down the Greenway toward the Salem Lake Trail.

            There’s a couple of good spots to get to the Greenway that leads to Salem Lake. The first is the parking lot of the Market Place Mall. You know, where the 2.50 theater is. Well if you can’t afford fancy pants headache inducing 3D movies than you’ll know what I’m talking about. This would be the spot that I would choose if I was going to drive down to this ride. There’s always plenty of parking and from this start it’s about 18 miles round trip or so.

            The second spot is much more rider friendly, because you don’t have to ride down Peter’s Creek Parkway. It’s just a cruise through Ardmore while making your way over to Link Rd. turn left onto Hutton and then right down the access road to Washington Park. The gate is closed unless there is a softball game going on so if you’re going to drive then I suggest you go to the Market Place side. If you're on your ride though it's easy to ride between the gates and speed bumps. This is also a good way to go if you’re cycling and want to get to the 2.50 theater or the Market Place mall, just cross the bridge and keep to the right instead of going left past the dog park, and you’ll be there in no time.

            I prefer the Washington Park access since I don’t like the idea of driving some place just to ride my bike around that and I don’t have a way to carry my bike on my car. I’ll stick with the first excuse though.

            Until recently, the only hazard on this route was other Greenway users and the occasional deranged homeless man, but because of construction on a significant portion of the Greenway there is a detour that leads you up two monster hills and by Winston-Salem State University by one of the busiest roads in the city. I can’t see anything wrong with that. During the trip towards Salem Lake I always think optimistically “Well these hills aren’t so bad.” On the trip back, I’m cursing my mother for birthing me.

            After this little detour around the campus you jump onto a bridge and you’re back on the Greenway.

            Some people don’t like the Greenways because you have slowpoke, well, everyone and you can’t ride fast. This doesn’t seem to stop the spandex clad racers I see flying down the trail and glaring at my fenders and milk crate. The other danger is people who don’t know the etiquette of the trail. One thing is not walking/ riding two or three abreast down the trail. It’s annoying and a safety problem, since these people usually freak out, wobble and then almost knock over one of their companions when they see someone coming the other way. If you’ve got a little bit of skill you can ride two abreast, but you really need to be aware and have a plan for someone coming the other way. The walkers are sometimes even worse because they almost refuse to stay aware of their surroundings. I’ve had bells ringing, shouted and blown whistles and they’ll stare straight ahead, until I ride slowly by and their jump like a materialized from nowhere.

            Other than these very few drawbacks, the ride is pretty awesome. Around the lake itself there are only three portions that I would call hills and I hesitate to even say that, because with just a little bit of cycling know-how you can negotiate them without breaking stride. Just make sure you’re aware of anyone walking their bikes up.

            I think my favorite part of this ride is that it’s very easy to imagine that you’re on the forest moon of Endor on a speeder bike. Yes, I’m that dorky, did you really have any doubts?

            The absolute number one reason to ride this route is that you usually come across several very attractive people in very little clothing running down the trail. If that's not a reason to get outdoors more than I don't know what is.

            Anyway, mash those pedals and try out this ride. It’s a pretty stress-free way to get some mileage in. 

Here are a few photos from my last ride. You'll have to forgive some of the quality, because I've adopted a kind of drive-by spray and pray type style of shooting that I haven't really figured out yet.

 Yes, they're brifters, but they are damn convenient, so suck it.

 This is probably the only spot where there might be a real road hazard. After a downpour this path can have a foot of water over it. I've still ridden over it though.

 One handed riding while going down a hill at speed ending up on loose dirt and gravel on road tires while snapping pictures, what could possibly go wrong?

 Oh yeah, there's that whole lake thing. I think you can rent paddle boats, which I'm sure me and my wife would rock at. Just saying.

 It's pretty convenient because it's designed to fill your water bottle. On the other hand I'd been using the regular water fountain right next to it, which doesn't have a sign, so what the hell have I been drinking?

 Probably duck shit.

 The most likely place to come across a deranged homeless person.

 Hill of torture.

Hurray, bike lanes. I know they make cyclists feel safe, but I don't really like them too much. I think they reenforce the idea that cars own the road.